Dick Allen was one of the most controversial players of all time, a deeply and often unfairly maligned slugger whose own fans booed him mercilessly. Responding to a listener request, Mike and Bill recount Allen’s tumultuous and Hall of Fame-worthy career on the 45th anniversary of his refusal to be report after being traded to…
One of the most beloved broadcasters and beloved people in baseball, Ernie Harwell was an institution in Detroit when, 29 years ago this week, the Tigers told him they didn’t want him anymore. Mike and Bill document the Frick Award winner’s career and how it almost ended, and the backlash that led to its continuation….
One of the greatest Cubs of all time, Ron Santo was almost traded out of his beloved adopted home 46 years ago this week, but turned the tables on his team, becoming the first player to invoke his 10-and-5 rights and forced a trade to the other side of town. Mike and Bill recount the…
Please, if you can donate to help our friend Jen, who is in a very bad situation after being hit by a drunk driver. https://www.gofundme.com/f/drunk-driver-casualties-helping-a-couple
Hoyt Wilhelm did everything unconventionally. He didn’t look like a ballplayer. He threw soft, almost entirely knuckleballs. And unlike other knucklers, he stayed almost exclusively in the bullpen. But he was exceptionally effective, and 35 years ago this week his brilliance on the bump was recognized with an election to the Hall of Fame, the…
Jim Morris was out of the game, teaching science in Texas, when a bet with his high school team led him back on a path to the Majors, where he debuted at the age of 35. Sans Mike, Bill and guest co-host Kristine cross over from their podcast, Dusty+ to catalogue Morris’s brief career and…
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 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…
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…
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…