Welch’s Wizardry

Pitchers can become overwhelming forces during a season. Denny McLain went 31-6 in 1968. Nolan Ryan struck out more than 300 batters in a season five times. Ron Guidry’s 25 wins in 1978 comprised exactly 25% of the Yankees’ 100 victories. In 1985, Dwight...

The Trade

Christy Mathewson and the New York Giants enjoy synonymity—you can’t think of one entity without the other.  It wasn’t always that way, however. Big Six, as Mathewson became known, began his major league tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.  John Brush owned...

The Amazing Season of Timothy Keefe

In 1888, Timothy Keefe won 19 consecutive games for the New York Giants.  Or did he? On July 16th, Keefe left the mound in the second inning of a game against the Chicago White Stockings—he played the rest of the game in the outfield.  Buck Ewing, the Giants catcher...

Willie Mays Returns to New York

On May 25, 1951, Willie Mays played in his first major league game.  19 years and 50 weeks later, Mays returned to the city that embraced his early career. Entering the major leagues with the New York Giants under the managerial reign of Leo Durocher, Mays became a...

The Most Important Person in Dodgers History?

George Chauncey may not immediately come to mind when discussing Dodgers history, assuming, of course, that he comes to mind at all.  Perhaps he should.  It was, after all, Chauncey who made  front office decision that, in retrospect, drastically improved, enhanced,...