This day in baseball: Eddie Mayo

On December 19, 1936, the Boston Braves purchased second baseman Eddie Mayo from the Giants.  Mayo, however, would not see a lot of playing time with the Braves, hitting only .216 in the time he did get to play.  After leaving Boston in 1938, Mayo would not appear in a major league game for five years, playing instead for the Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League.  When World War II broke out, however, and the league was depleted of players, Mayo became a productive player for the Tigers, being named the Most Valuable Player by The Sporting News in 1945.

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This day in baseball: Maris’s free passes

In a game against the Angels on May 22, 1962, Yankees slugger Roger Maris set a Major League record by drawing four intentional walks.  Each walk was granted to Maris by a different Angels pitcher as the Yankees won 2-1 in twelve innings at Yankee Stadium.

I can’t say I blame the Angels.  This was, after all, the season immediately following Maris’s success in breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record.

Source: New York Times