Dan McClellan became the first black pitcher to throw a perfect game in professional baseball on July 9, 1903. The Cuban X-Giant hurler accomplished this feat in a Tri-State League contest against York, Pennsylvania.
This might be the first song I’ve heard where baseball is used as a metaphor for infidelity. The song is very country and also very … well, “bouncy” isn’t quite the word I’m looking for here, but it’s close.
He hits my changeup. He hits my curveball. He hits my slider. I’ve run out of pitches to throw him. I just try to pick the spots where he’s going to hit his homeruns.
~Brian Bohanon, on Mark McGwire
The New York Giants maintained a winning streak that finally got snapped at 18 games on July 5, 1904. The Phillies beat New York, 6-5, in a 10-inning walk-off victory at the Baker Bowl.
Happy Independence Day to all in or from the U.S.! Enjoy the picnics, keep cool, and please be safe.
For anyone who is going to be in the Washington, D.C. area in the near future, this looks like a fascinating opportunity to learn about the Library of Congress’s baseball collections. The LoC currently has a Baseball Americana exhibit featuring items from their collections and from their partners as they relate to the game’s history. You can find information about the exhibit and some of the online collections on their website.
On Thursday, July 12th, there will be a screening of the 1989 classic Field of Dreams that is apparently free to the public. Tickets can be secured here.
Then on Friday, July 13th, the LoC is teaming up with JSTOR labs, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Wikimedia for an event that appears to be a sort of mini conference featuring not only the collections, but also a panel on baseball, data, and American culture. The poster for the event is below, and more information can be found through Eventbrite here.
These are just a couple events associated with the exhibit. More information regarding additional events can be found here. It’s one of those things that makes me wish I had a bit more flexibility for travel, because I’d totally go to check some of this stuff out if I could. If anyone reading any of this happens to attend any (or all!) of these, please report back here!
That moment, when you first lay eyes on that field — The Monster, the triangle, the scoreboard, the light tower Big Mac bashed, the left-field grass where Ted (Williams) once roamed — it all defines to me why baseball is such a magical game.
~Jayson Stark
I am overdue for posting more jokes on here. You can’t really blame me, though, most baseball jokes are honestly truly awful. The ones below are not exempted from that description, but sometimes cheesy can be a welcome change of tone.
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A baseball scout found a remarkable prospect–a horse who was a pretty good fielder and who hit the ball every time he was up at bat. The scout got him a try-out with a big league team. Up at bat, the horse slammed the ball into far left field and stood at the plate, watching it go. “Run!” the manager screamed, “Run!” “Are you kidding?” answered the horse. “If I could run, I’d be in the Kentucky Derby.”
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Did you hear the one about the fast pitch?
Never mind. You just missed it.
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Did you hear the joke about the pop fly?
Forget it. It’s way over your head.
