On May 29, 1976, Joe Niekro hit the only home run of his big league career, and he hit it off his older brother, Phil. Joe Niekro had a total of 973 at-bats in his career, and his one round-tripper contributed to a 4-3 win for the Astros over the Braves.
The Yankees, you see, they’re a money team, they’re the class of baseball. You don’t ever bet against that.
~Jim Thorpe
This graphic is really, really cool. Created via Tableau by Jacob Olsufka and Rody Zakovich, you can access the original, interactive version of the graphic here or by clicking the image below. Created in July 2017, the images take a unique look at the triple plays that had been turned in Major League Baseball history up to that point, and some pretty cool art results from that analysis.
Boston Americans pitcher Jesse Tannehill notched a 3-0 victory over the White Sox on May 25, 1906, thus ending a 20-game losing streak for the Americans. The streak began with a 0-8 loss to the New York Highlanders on May 1, 1906 and included 19 losses at home. The Americans would end the 1906 season with a 49-105 record.
The move of the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles was before my time, and I sheepishly have to confess that I was not aware of this bit of history before I came across this short documentary by Vox. While these sorts of events are certainly not unique to Los Angeles, I do think it is important to ensure that episodes like this stay at the forefront of the public consciousness (or get introduced to folks who, like me, are not aware of these kinds of details).
In this game of baseball, you live by the sword and die by it. You hit and get hit. Remember that.
~Alvin Dark
This song is wonderfully lively and energizing, which seems appropriate given the subject of the song. Listening to this a few times has been a fun way to start out the day.
On May 18, 2004, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson threw a perfect game, beating the Atlanta Braves 2-0 at Turner Field in Atlanta before a crowd of 23,381. Johnson, at 40 years old, was the oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game, surpassing Cy Young who was 37 when he threw his perfect game in 1904. The game was also Johnson’s second career no-hitter, the first taking place on June 2, 1990 against the Detroit Tigers when Johnson was pitching for the Seattle Mariners.
Oh man, I’ve had dreams like this, except mine are about being back in high school, rather than playing ball. I run late for every class, I forget to study for tests (or miss the test altogether), and I get lost in the hallways.
Honestly, at one time I thought Babe Ruth was a cartoon character. I really did, I mean, I wasn’t born until 1961, and I grew up in Indiana.
~Don Mattingly
