by David Krell | Feb 12, 2017 | David Krell
During the waning days of World War II, ownership of the New York Yankees transitioned—Dan Topping, Del Webb, and Larry MacPhail grouped to purchase the Yankees on January 26, 1945 from the heirs of Colonel Jacob Ruppert. $2.75 million changed hands for 86.88 per...
by David Krell | Feb 11, 2017 | David Krell
In the ninth month of 1965, baseball fans reveled in the aura of excellence displayed at major league ballparks. Ernie Banks, the jovial Cubs shortstop, whose trademark suggestion “Let’s play two!” indicates pure delight in playing baseball, knocked...
by David Krell | Feb 10, 2017 | David Krell
William Alfred Shea never played in the major leagues nor did he manage, own, or work in the front office of a team. Nevertheless, Shea made an invaluable contribution to Major League Baseball. Without him, arguably, the National League would have had a more...
by David Krell | Feb 9, 2017 | David Krell
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...
by David Krell | Feb 8, 2017 | David Krell
Famed for its portrayal in Jim Bouton’s tell-all book Ball Four, the Seattle Pilots lasted one season—1969. While the Mets inched toward an improbable World Series victory against the Baltimore Orioles, the Pilots went 64-98. After the ’69 season,...
by David Krell | Feb 7, 2017 | David Krell
Carl Yastrzemski is synonymous with Boston, as significant in the city’s iconography as Boston Common, Faneuil Hall, and the Paul Revere House. To be a Red Sox fan is to know pride in Yaz’s representation of New England’s greatest asset—doing a job...
by David Krell | Feb 6, 2017 | David Krell
Lou Costello appeared in two episodes of HBO’s The Sopranos. Sort of. New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano of the DiMeo crime family used Paterson’s statue of the comedian as a meeting spot in two episodes; Paterson is Costello’s home town. In...
by David Krell | Feb 5, 2017 | David Krell
During the summer of Woodstock, Hurricane Camille, and Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind, Ken Holtzman escalated to legend status in the Friendly Confines when he pitched a no-hitter against the Braves. Holtzman finished 1969 with a 17-13 record, 12...
by David Krell | Feb 4, 2017 | David Krell
“I believe in the Church of Baseball.” So begins Bull Durham, a 1988 cinematic voyage exploring the charm of the minor leagues. Written and directed by former minor league ballplayer Ron Shelton, Bull Durham expresses a journeyman’s wisdom and...
by David Krell | Feb 3, 2017 | David Krell
Yankee Stadium owns the patent on ballpark magnificence, Ebbets Field maintains an aura of magic decades after its destruction, and Wrigley Field possesses a charm honed throughout decades of unrealized hope between 1908 and 2016. An Iowa farm ranks among those and...
