This day in baseball: The longest hit streak comes to an end
Posted: August 20, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, history, Joe Wilhoit, MiLB, Minor League Baseball, sports, Tulsa Oilers, Wichita Jobbers 2 CommentsThe longest hit streak in professional baseball history ended on August 20, 1919, when Joe Wilhoit of the Wichita Jobbers was held hitless by the Tulsa Oilers in the Western League. From June 14th to August 19th, 1919, Wilhoit went 153-for-297, giving him a .515 batting average en route to the record streak. The streak included four home runs, nine triples, and twenty-four doubles.
The Sporting News
This day in baseball: Kiner’s home run streak
Posted: August 16, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ralph Kiner, sports, St. Louis Cardinals Leave a commentOn August 16, 1947, Ralph Kiner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit three home runs in consecutive at-bats to lead the Pirates to a 12-7 win over the Cardinals. With this performance, Kiner matched the major league marks of seven home runs in four games, six in three games, five in two games, and four homers in consecutive at-bats.
sabr.org
This day in baseball: Double steal fiasco
Posted: August 13, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Dave Fultz, Detroit Tigers, Harry Davis, history, Philadelphia Athletics, sports Leave a commentOn August 13, 1902, the Philadelphia A’s attempted a double steal against the Tigers. Harry Davis took off from first base while Dave Fultz, the runner on third, waited for the Tigers to make the throw. However, Detroit conceded second base to Davis, thus holding Fultz to third.
Not willing to give up the play so easily, Davis returned to first base on the next pitch. He took off for second base again, this time drawing a throw. Fultz managed to score from third on the throw, and Davis was called safe at second.
Davis was credited with just one stolen base out of the ordeal.
Harry Davis (Wikipedia)
Infographic: Mariano Rivera
Posted: August 9, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, infographics, Major League Baseball, Mariano Rivera, MLB, New York Yankees, sports Leave a commentThis Tier10 infographic on Mariano Rivera is awesome. Not only are there a lot of details and statistics about the man himself, you will also find instructions on how to make a cardboard baseball glove.
Click on the image to get to a larger version of the graphic.
This day in baseball: Satch draws a crowd
Posted: August 7, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Columbus Jets, Miami Marlins, MiLB, Minor League Baseball, Orange Bowl, Satchel Paige, sports 4 CommentsThe largest crowd ever to attend a minor league game, an audience of about 57,000, showed up on August 7, 1956 to watch 51-year-old Satchel Paige at the Orange Bowl. Paige managed to hit a double and to earn the win, leading the Miami Marlins to victory over the Columbus Jets, 6-2.
This day in baseball: Williams’s six-game streak
Posted: August 2, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: American League, Baseball, Ken Williams, Major League Baseball, MLB, Philadelphia Athletics, sports, Sportsman's Park, St. Louis Browns Leave a commentKen Williams of the St. Louis Browns homered in his sixth consecutive game on August 2, 1922, setting what was at the time an American League record. However, the Browns still lost to the Athletics, 8-4, at Sportsman’s Park.
Library of Congress
Baseball Legend Joe DiMaggio, by Geoffrey Giuliano
Posted: August 1, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: audiobooks, Baseball, books, Geoffrey Giuliano, history, Joe DiMaggio, Major League Baseball, Marilyn Monroe, MLB, New York Yankees, sports Leave a commentI came across this audiobook, Baseball Legend Joe DiMaggio, through the local library and spent my lunch break yesterday listening to it. Written and narrated by Geoffrey Giuliano, I wondered at first why this biography came only in audio format, with no hard copy or even ebook version. As I listened, however, the reason quickly became apparent.
The recording opens up with a broad, sweeping biography of DiMaggio, which takes up only about the first five or ten minutes of the hour-long book. This biography serves to set the foundation for the rest of the book, which turns out to be a sort of audio documentary of Joe DiMaggio’s life.
The audiobook features recordings of a variety of interviews, some with DiMaggio himself, others with broadcasters from both that era and the present day. Also included are snippets from actual radio broadcasts during that era. Giuliano provides the context for the various audio clips, which cover everything from DiMaggio’s early life to his war service, his 56-game hitting streak to his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, his relationship with his teammates to his life post-baseball.
Overall, I found it a fascinating experience to listen to the various clips. As I mentioned, the entire audiobook is only about an hour long, which made for an enjoyable lunch break. If you enjoy listening to old interviews and other audio clips, it’s worth checking out.
