Tag Archives: National League

The Walk-down Song

Posted on February 26, 2017 by

In 1880, the National League changed the rules so that eight balls instead of nine were required for a walk. In 1884, the National League changed the rules so that six balls were required for a walk. In 1886, the … Continue reading →

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Ed Reulbach: Pioneering Jewish Baseball Star*

Posted on January 23, 2016 by

In the history of MLB, only one pitcher has thrown shutouts in both ends of a doubleheader. (For cricket fans and the many baseball fans too young to remember or know, the regularly scheduled doubleheader means two games in one … Continue reading →

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Dazzy Vance and W. C. Fields

Posted on December 21, 2015 by

In 1926, W. C. Fields filmed It’s the Old Army Game. The silent movie has something to do with Florida real-estate scams. It is perhaps best known for showcasing the brilliant and complex Midwesterner Louise Brooks before she left Hollywood … Continue reading →

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Not Cricket: “Bat Form”

Posted on June 17, 2015 by

Front-office personnel of the venerable St. Louis Cardinals franchise have plenty of explaining to do as the FBI investigates their hacking of the Houston Astros’s databases. Besides the Times, Reuters has now weighed in to let the rest of the … Continue reading →

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Little Red Scooter

Posted on February 21, 2015 by

To Martin’s Broad Agonistes, I note two Major League Baseball parallels: and our Right off the Bat is thus chockablock, many being downright spooky. On the night of May 7, 1957, left-handed ace Herb Score—called by Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, … Continue reading →

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Good-bye, Mr. Sunshine

Posted on January 24, 2015 by

Ernie Banks is gone. He was the first African American to play for the Chicago Cubs, and has forever since been “Mr. Cub.” A Hall of Fame inductee (1977), Banks is best remembered for his boundless enthusiasm: Let’s Play Two! … Continue reading →

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The United States of Jeter

Posted on November 8, 2014 by

A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps. And then the lighting of the lamps. As summer unofficially ends, the 2014 MLB season concluded with a terrific run of postseason playoff games, it seemed the majority of them decided by a run … Continue reading →

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