by David Krell | Jan 3, 2017 | David Krell
Decades before Willie Stargell’s We Are Family vibe, Bill Mazeroski’s legendary World Series home run, and Roberto Clemente’s demonstrable power, professional baseball in the Pittsburgh area lived in Exposition Park. It holds distinction as the...
by David Krell | Jan 2, 2017 | David Krell
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,...
by David Krell | Jan 1, 2017 | David Krell
On August 19, 1951, Eddie Gaedel strode to home plate in a St. Louis Browns uniform adorned with the fraction 1/8 rather than a whole number, signifying his physical stature similar to that of the folks who set Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road. Gaedel’s cup of...
by David Krell | Dec 31, 2016 | David Krell
Débuting concurrently with the New York Mets in 1962, the song Meet the Mets struck the tone—no pun intended—required to capture excitement for New Yorkers still suffering from the exodus committed by the Giants and the Dodgers after the 1957 season. Music, indeed,...
by David Krell | Dec 30, 2016 | David Krell
Eliot Asinof’s 1963 book Eight Men Out provided the source material for the eponymous 1988 movie written and directed by John Sayles, who also played sportswriter Ring Lardner. Starring Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, Bill Irwin, Gordon Clapp, Clifton James,...
by David Krell | Dec 28, 2016 | David Krell
New Jersey, sandwiched between New York City and Philadelphia, divides its baseball loyalties, typically, with the top half of the state rooting for the former’s teams and the bottom half for the latter’s. Briefly, on two occasions, the Garden State had a...
by David Krell | Dec 27, 2016 | David Krell
From 1928 to 1943, Carl Hubbell, a New York Giants pitcher who enjoyed the nickname “The Meal Ticket” because of his prowess on the mound, built a Hall of Fame career on his left arm. Pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 2, 1933, Hubbell added...
by David Krell | Dec 26, 2016 | David Krell
Not since 1957, when the Dodgers and the Giants vacated Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively, had baseball in New York City suffered an emotional blow equivalent to the impact on June 15, 1977, when the New York Mets committed an unpardonable sin in the eyes of the...
by David Krell | Dec 24, 2016 | David Krell
Stan Musial is a St. Louis icon and a national treasure, ranking with the Gateway Arch, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and Campbell House Museum. Without flash, Musial carved a career of steadiness, superiority, and significance. From 1941 to 1963, excluding 1945 for...
by David Krell | Dec 23, 2016 | David Krell
Like the man whose life it honored, Babe Ruth’s funeral was gigantic. “The Babe is no longer breathing, but the fans will always talk about him,” wrote Hy Hurwitz in the Boston Globe upon the Babe’s passing in 1948. “Talk about him...
