Tag Archives: Pittsburgh Pirates

DH; or, Designated Hebrew

It’s been forty years (and two weeks) in the wilderness. Ron Bloomberg became the first DH on April 6, 1973. From Atlanta and still living there, Blomberg—whom I (Evander) had the pleasure to meet a year ago—went thro his own … Continue reading

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Predicting the 2013 Baseball Season

The 2013 baseball season, which opens on April Fools’ Day, promises to make a fool of all prognosticators. Nothing new in this. How could one imagine the Fall Classic when spring has barely sprung? To make things even a little … Continue reading

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Earl Weaver, Dead at 82, R.I.P.

Though a great strategist in and of what today is called small ball, his favorite play bluntly remained “the three-run home run.” His all-time winning percentage is .583. He led the Baltimore Orioles to three American League championships in his … Continue reading

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The Unhappy Recap, Part 2

The Players Tom Seaver’s June 15, 1977, exile to Cincinnati represented the apex (or nadir) of the dismantling of the great and beloved Mets teams of 1969 and 1973. Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Ron Swoboda, Nolan Ryan, Rusty Staub, and … Continue reading

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The Pittsburgh Pirate and James Dean

Sixty years ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates completed one of the worst seasons in Major League Baseball history. The Buccaneers finished with 42 wins and 112 losses, to stagger an astonishing 54.5 games behind the National League Pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers. Pirates … Continue reading

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The Home-run Hitter and the Most Beautiful Woman in the World

From the headline of this blog, it would be reasonable to think, Again on Joe and Marilyn, Marilyn and Joe? But there was another slugger, with the second-highest home-run percentage (next to Babe Ruth) in Major League Baseball history, who … Continue reading

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He Jests at Scars that Never Felt a Wound

New York Mets prospect Philip Gregory Humber (not Humbert Humbert or “from Humber,” either), who had a cup of coffee with his drafting-team in 2006 and 2007 before going to the Minnesota Twins in the Johan Santana deal, has pitched … Continue reading

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Gary Carter, Whitney Houston, Many Events

The past several days have witnessed a convergence of many events, unrelated perhaps, but like all things juxtaposed by fate, each gives to the other a different and new meaning. There were the untimely deaths of only the third New … Continue reading

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Evander (Not Holyfield) Meets and Greets Baseball Players and Cricket Fans

The scene today was Fairfield, New Jersey, the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Route 46 East. I arrived with my pre-1974 Yankee Stadium seat to add some autographs and to promote Right Off the Bat. The Crowne Plaza was hosting a … Continue reading

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Matty Alou

One of the greatest batters of the 1960s, and part of a trio of brothers that played in the major leagues (they collectively hold the all-time base-hits record for a family; this includes the three DiMaggio brothers), Matty Alou died … Continue reading

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