Don Sutton Wins 300

In a city resting on a foundation of glamour, Don Sutton provided a terrific contrast.  With a workmanlike manner, Sutton reigned over the pitcher’s mound with consistency complemented by endurance.  No ego.  No nickname.  No razzle-dazzle. Sutton began his...

Sam Malone’s Lucky Bottle Cap

A guy walks into a bar. It’s an introduction to the classic setup and punch line joke format.  It’s also the way that many episodes of Cheers began. An NBC situation comedy set in an eponymous Boston bar modeled after the Bull & Finch Pub, Cheers took...

Mazeroski, Pittsburgh, and the 1960 World Series

At 3:37 p.m. on October 14, 1960, Bill Mazeroski became a blue-collar legend.  A stellar second baseman with eight Gold Gloves, Mazeroski played his entire 17-year career in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, never more prominent than in the moment he slammed a Ralph Terry...

Lou Costello: Behind the Laughter

Who’s on First? is a comedy bit that is ageless, knowing no boundaries of laughter.  Little Leaguers, octogenarians, scholars, and every other demographic have an instinctive response to this legendary piece of humor performed by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello....

Bay City Blues

Five years before Ron Shelton turned his script for Bull Durham into his directorial dbut, NBC aired Bay City Blues, which introduced millions of people to the pleasures, idiosyncrasies, and slightly desperate aura surrounding the minor leagues.  NBC’s prime...