On April 13, 1926, 38-year-old Walter Johnson struck out a dozen A’s batters on Opening Day. Johnson’s performance led the Senators to a 1-0 victory in 15 innings over Philadelphia’s Eddie Rommel at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
Southpaw pitcher Rube Waddell died of tuberculosis at the age of 37 on April 1, 1914. The Hall of Famer compiled a 193-143 (.574) record and a 2.16 ERA during his 13 seasons with the Colonels, A’s, Pirates, and Browns.
Hank Aaron made his first start as a Brave on March 14, 1954 in a spring training game against the Red Sox. The opportunity came after Bobby Thomson broke his ankle the day before sliding into second base. Aaron notched three hits, including a home run, in the spring training game, impressing the Braves enough to offer him a major league contract.
Casey Stengel signed a two-year contract to manage the Brooklyn Dodgers on February 23, 1934. Replacing skipper Max Carey, Stengel would finish 43 games under .500, finishing no higher than fifth place over three years of managing the team.
Right-handed pitcher John Clarkson passed away on February 4, 1909 at the age of 47 from pneumonia. Over the course of his major league career, Clarkson compiled a 328–178 record, placing him twelfth on the MLB list of all-time wins. He pitched over 600 innings in a season twice and won a career-high 53 games in 1885. At the time of his retirement from baseball, Clarkson was the winningest pitcher in National League history. John Clarkson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 by the Veteran’s Committee.
On January 27, 1956, the New York Football Giants determined they would be leaving the Polo Grounds, which they had shared with the baseball team of the same name, in order to play their home games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The move by the NFL team fueled rumors that the baseball Giants might also be leaving the stadium soon, an event that did occur following the 1957 season.
On January 11, 1949, in an effort to draw a Major League Baseball team to Milwaukee, a site was chosen for the new County Stadium at the Story Stone Quarry. This location was chosen over the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds due to its proximity to downtown. Construction on the stadium would begin in October of the following year, and the Braves would leave Boston to play in the Wisconsin city in 1953.
I have recently started watching the 1985 World Series. It’s something I’ve meant to do for quite a long time and am finally getting around to. Currently, I am two games in, and the Cardinals are leading the Royals, 2-0.
I am fascinated. I have, of course, seen highlights and heard stories about the 1980s Royals, but there is something about sitting down and actually watching full games that is so much more visceral. Seeing guys like George Brett, Frank White, Ozzie Smith, and others in actual game action just makes it all so much more real, and I find myself wishing that full game footage like this existed from the Babe Ruth years.
What’s more, even knowing how this series is going to shake out in the end, I still find myself getting worked up over the events of each game. When the Royals scored first in Game One, I couldn’t help but get excited. When the Cardinals came back to take the lead in the next two innings, I became upset. That’s the power of baseball, I suppose.
On December 28, 1998, Mark McGwire was picked as The Associated Press male athlete of the year for 1998 for breaking Roger Maris’s single season home run record and for helping save the game of baseball. His home run mark not only served to help the St. Louis Cardinals in their season, but also helped to win back fans for the whole sport following the 1994 players’ strike.
On December 20, 1978, Don Blasingame became the first American not of Japanese descent hired to manage a Japanese team. The former major league second baseman would lead the formerly last place Hanshin Tigers to a fourth-place finish the following season, compiling a managerial record of 180–208–28 during his four years managing Japanese teams.
