Category: This Day In Baseball

It took 21 years and 742 starts, but 37 years ago this week, Gaylord Perry was finally caught greasing up a baseball. Or was he? In response to a Patreon request from Jim Gatton, Mike and Bill examine the life and career of...

Dave Dravecky’s comeback was described as something out of a storybook. It was a miracle. It was short-lived as, 30 years ago this week, his attempt to return from cancer surgery on his pitching arm ended on the mound in...

There have been four pitchers to strike out 20 batters in a game, but only one of them did it twice, and the second time that happened, 23 years ago this week, was the last great start he’d make as a member of the Red Sox....

Ruth and Gehrig. Brett and White. Mays and McCovey. There have been so many great pairs of teammates in baseball history. But none of them played together as long or as often as Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, who began their...

We spend so much time talking about the most famous and greatest players to star in the major leagues. But there was a time when our country was full of stars in every small town. For the 65th and 62nd anniversaries,...

The first-year expansion Mets of 1962 are, famously, one of the worst teams of all time, and may well be the worst team to suit up since the turn of the last century. In this shorter, solo episode, Bill tells the story of the...

Lyman Bostock was one of the most dynamic young stars in the American League, compared favorably with Rod Carew and predicted to win multiple batting titles. He was one of the early benefactors of free agency, was quickly...

We’ve talked about the conspiracy and we’ve talked about the trial, but this week, on the anniversary of the last out of the 1919 World Series, Mike and Bill talk to SABR Director of Editorial Content and Black Sox...

John Updike is often celebrated for having written The Great American Novel, but he also may have written The Great American Essay, which was published 59 years ago this week. Printed in The New Yorker, “Hub Fans Bid Kid...

It was only seven years before the Mets won their first championship, but it must have seemed like 70, as they struggled to not to lose 100 games every year. But 50 years ago this week, they finally did, finishing off a miracle...

Normally, of course, when a club wins the World Series, it inspires so much good will that it forges a generation of new permanent fans for a club. But, Wayne Huizenga’s fire sale in the wake of the 1997 win, which began...

From its founding in 1939 through 1973, Little League Baseball refused to let girls play, and was deeply and intransigently committed to that position until a New Jersey court decision forced them to relent only 46 years ago...

Few men in baseball have been as universally beloved as Buzzie Bavasi, who took over the Dodgers front office 69 years ago this week. Joining Mike and Bill to discuss Buzzie’s life and 45 year career is his son, Bob Bavasi...

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...

Monty Stratton was on the way to a distinguished career when a hunting trip abruptly turned into a battle for his career, and for his life. Mike and Bill recount the accident that altered his path forever, and the amazing...

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Dorothy Seymour Mills. It’s probably not fair to say that Albert Belle was misunderstood. But it is fair to say he made anyone who wanted to understand him regret trying. But he...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...