Today, eighty-four years ago, a minor league game was called because both teams ran out of baseballs. On this date in 1937, the Newport Canners and the Johnson City Soldiers played a game in the Appalachian League. But after six innings, the game was called as both teams ran out of baseballs, much to the…
Today, I watched another great documentary on Youtube. This one was about the Brooklyn Dodgers. The documentary started around 1941, the year they won their first pennant since 1920. Of course the move to Los Angeles, orchestrated by villain Walter O’Money is given attention too. This is a long one, about 1 hour and 58…
Back in the old days, even way before yours truly’s days, it was a common thing to give back caught foul balls to the club they belonged to. One incident in 1922 made clubs change this policy. There was a time in which the ball in the game of baseball was a sacred artifact. Umpires…
Did you know that Hank Aaron wasn’t the fastest runner of them all? As a result, he hit only one inside-the-park home run during his career. That happened in 1967 in a game in Philadelphia, when he took on Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning. Aaron took a pitch to deep center field and “raced” around the…
Normally, relief outings last only a few innings with one exception: When a long man is brought in. In that case, a starting pitcher that didn’t make the rotation, is sent to the mound because the actual starter’s stuff isn’t working. 114 years ago, something similar happened with a notable feat that the game ended…
For years, Black baseball fans were only allowed to get seats in the bleachers during MLB games. Slowly teams abandoned that policy. On this day in 1944, the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals are the last teams to integrate seating for fans. It won’t come as a surprise that black baseball fans were discriminated as…
By now you will know that yours truly loathes MLB because they failed to punish those who were responsible for the Astros sign-stealing scandal. The greedy MLB owners rather protect their product than punishing those who participated in this scandal. Instead, they banned the Astros’ GM and manager to save their face. I am going…
For those Dutch baseball fans who thought, the curfew rule in the Dutch hoofdklasse is unique, forget about it. There was a time in MLB when curfews happened more often. But it wasn’t a rule, it was merely an agreement between two teams. The curfew rule in the Dutch hoofdklasse prohibits to start a new…
Today, 48 years ago, the designated hitter made its first appearance in the American League. On this day, there were some firsts regarding this newly created “position.” On the Opening Day game in Boston between the Red Sox and the Yankees, Ron Bloomberg of the Yankees is the first designated hitter in the AL. In…
Nowadays, we don’t know any better. A baseball game lasts nine innings. Except in Europe and during international tournaments where games can last only seven innings due to the mercy-rule (with a ten-run difference). But there was a time in which there was no rule that baseball games had to last nine innings. Read on…
