The news shocked Detroit when the city found out one of its heroes, Hank Greenberg, had been sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates. But the reason for the deal, which happened 73 years ago this week, is even crazier. Mike and Bill dig into the long and eventful life of one of baseball’s best sluggers, his…

There are no excuses, only reasons for what Marty Bergen did 120 years ago this week, when a lifetime of paranoia and mental illness culminated in the murder of his family, and the suicide that shocked a the rural community he lived in, and the baseball community at large. Mike and Bill look back on…

In 1912, Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete in the world. But by the end of January, 1913, he surrendered his Olympic medals in shame after evidence surfaced of him playing pro baseball four years earlier. 107 years ago this week, the most famous man in America to a three year contract. Mike and Bill…

There has never been an infield that has played together longer, more often, or perhaps better than the Dodgers’ incredible combination of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey, a dynamic foursome that lasted 9 years and 833 starts together. But it all came to an end 38 years ago this week, when…

Despite being largely forgotten today, Oscar Charleston was perhaps the greatest and most popular Negro Leaguer of his day and one of the best players in baseball history. With special guest Jeremy Beer, whose biography of Charleston just won the Harold and Dorothy Seymour Medal, Mike and Bill learn about who Charleston was on and…

Bar none, the most iconic style choice in Major League Baseball history is probably Rollie Fingers’s handlebar mustache. The closer’s signature ‘stache was his calling card and, when given the chance to extend his career by shaving it 34 years ago this week, he refused. Mike and Bill look back at one of the first…

It was a punchline across the country 47 years ago this week, when Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich announced they had decided to switch families the previous winter. Like many trades, this one turned out to be pretty one-sided, as Kekich’s life and career were upended in the aftermath. Mike and Bill look…

By far the most successful attempt to create a third major league began in earnest 107 years ago this week in a hotel in Indianapolis. It fizzled out after two years, but left a legacy that still governs the professional game today. Mike and Bill leaf through the short life of the Federal League, and…

In a slight departure this week, Mike and Bill take a listener suggestion to focus on the influenza epidemic that swept across the globe in 1918 and lingered into 1920. That epidemic did have some effects on the game and played a role in further driving a wedge between the players and the owners that…