On June 17, 1915, the Chicago Cubs tallied a 4-3 victory over the Brooklyn Robins (later known as the Dodgers). George Washington “Zip” Zabel threw 18 1/3 innings of relief in the game to defeat Brooklyn starter Jeff Pfeffer, who pitched a 19-inning complete game. Zabel’s appearance set the Major League record for the longest relief appearance in one game.
Yesterday, we lost one of the game’s greatest hitters, and a huge part of my earliest introduction to baseball. Tony Gwynn was a career San Diego Padre, a 15-time All Star, and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 alongside Cal Ripken, Jr. He passed away yesterday after a long battle with salivary gland cancer.
I see the hitter when he’s moved in the box, like when he’s moved closer to the plate or changed his stance. I see when the batter has moved his feet, and then I make my own adjustment.
~Mariano Rivera
The sound quality and image selection on this won’t impress you, but I am still happy to present the Anaheim Angels version of Cashman’s “Talkin’ Baseball.”
It’s funny how, in one’s mind, a player can get associated with a particular team so solidly. For example, I have always associated Nolan Ryan with the Texas Rangers (probably because that’s where he was playing by the time I was old enough to register the name and what it meant). So hearing his name pop up in this song made my head turn, until I reminded myself that he, like most MLB players, did not play for a single team throughout his career.
Click here for the rest of the “Talkin’ Baseball” collection.
Eddie Mathews hit his 200th career home run on June 12, 1957, becoming the second youngest player in MLB history to reach the milestone. The blast was not enough for the Braves, however, as Milwaukee lost to the Brooklyn Dodgers, 11-9, at Ebbets Field.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen.
~Bob Lemon
On June 10, 1921, Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees jacked his 120th career home run while facing Indians pitcher Jim Bagby. With this homer, Ruth became baseball’s all-time career home run leader — a position he would hold until 1974, when Hank Aaron hit his 715th round tripper.
The labyrinth of sending and receiving signs never grew this complex when I was playing ball, but I think this infographic does a good job of depicting just how much baseball resembles a chess game.
After he lost his pinky toe in a hunting accident, several teams gave up on the race to sign North Carolina high school pitcher Jim Hunter. The Kansas City Athletics, however, signed Hunter for $75,000 on June 8, 1964. Club owner Charlie O. Finley gave him the nickname “Catfish” because he felt the nineteen-year-old needed a flashy nickname. He went on to become a member of five World Series championship teams and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.
Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem.
~Saul Steinberg
