by David Krell | Apr 23, 2017 | David Krell
It was a moment of nostalgia, surprise, and joy. More than 30 years after hanging up his spikes, Luke Appling went yard at the age of 75 in the 1982 Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Far from a power hitter, Luke...
by David Krell | Apr 22, 2017 | David Krell
In 1956, Mickey Mantle won the American League Triple Crown, Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the World Series, and Whitey Ford led the major leagues in Earned Run Average. It was also the year of another World Series championship for the Bronx Bombers, further...
by David Krell | Apr 21, 2017 | David Krell
What if… Charlie Finley hadn’t broken up the 1970s Oakland A’s dynasty? Bob Uecker hadn’t appeared in Major League? there was no Designated Hitter position? the Mets had never traded Nolan Ryan to the Angels? Yogi Berra had played for the...
by David Krell | Apr 20, 2017 | David Krell
In a Strat-O-Matic matchup between 19th century and Yankee ballplayers, the latter emerged with a victory blessed by power—the Yankees smacked four home runs against John Clarkson and the 19th century squad in their 7-1 win. Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle went yard...
by David Krell | Apr 19, 2017 | David Krell
A native of Key West—the place where Pan Am began, the U.S.S. Maine sailed from on its last journey before exploding in Havana Harbor, and Ernest Hemingway maintained a legendary home—John Wesley Powell, also known as Boog, spent most of his 17-season career in an...
by David Krell | Apr 18, 2017 | David Krell
Given America’s roots as an agrarian nation, it is appropriate that the legend of baseball’s birth begins in a Cooperstown cow pasture; Doubleday Field, just a baseball throw from the Hall of Fame, occupies the spot where the myth—long since debunked—of...
by David Krell | Apr 17, 2017 | David Krell
Boosted by cheers from Hollywood stars supporting the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, Gilmore Field débuted as a ballpark on May 3, 1939. Among the famous fans: Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, and Rudy Vallee. “Glamour was furnished in the person of...
by David Krell | Apr 16, 2017 | David Krell
Before he received tomorrow’s newspaper today in Early Edition, before he coached the Dillon Panthers in Friday Night Lights, and before working for the Monroe County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office in Bloodline, Kyle Chandler portrayed the All-American...
by David Krell | Apr 15, 2017 | David Krell
Gene Autry wore many hats, proverbially speaking, besides the cowboy dome piece in his movies: Owner of Los Angeles television station KTLA from 1963 to 1982 Original singer of the Christmas standard Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Army Air Corps officer and Air...
by David Krell | Apr 14, 2017 | David Krell
It is the birthplace of The Star-Spangled Banner, the resting place of Edgar Allen Poe, and the place where a stadium constructed during the nostalgia-soaked 1980s defines the paradigm for retro ballparks. Baltimore. Petco Park, PNC Park, and several others, indeed,...
