Tag: National League

This day in baseball: Durocher named Manager for the Year

October 23, 2022

On October 23, 1951, Associated Press named New York Giants skipper Leo Durocher as the Manager of the Year. Under Durocher’s leadership, the Giants rallied from a 13 1/2-game deficit in mid-August to win the National League pennant. New York’s comeback was capped off against the Dodgers, in a three-game playoff series best remembered for Bobby Thomson’s fabled home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the deciding game at the Polo Grounds.

Leo_Durocher
Leo Durocher (public domain)

2022 League Championship Series schedule

October 18, 2022

In spite of a couple delays in the Division Series games, the winners of each series have been determined, and tonight kicks off the American League and National League Championship Series. Here is the schedule for the ALCS and NLCS, all times Eastern.

Tuesday, Oct. 18
NLCS Game 1, Phillies @ Padres, 8:03 p.m., FS1

Wednesday, Oct. 19
NLCS Game 2, Phillies @ Padres, 4:35 p.m., FOX or FS1
ALCS Game 1, Yankees @ Astros, 7:37 p.m., TBS

Thursday, Oct. 20
ALCS Game 2, Yankees @ Astros, 7:37 p.m., TBS

Friday, Oct. 21
NLCS Game 3, Padres @ Phillies, 7:37 p.m., FS1

Saturday, Oct. 22
ALCS Game 3, Astros @ Yankees, 5:07 p.m., TBS
NLCS Game 4, Padres @ Phillies, 7:45 p.m., FOX

Sunday, Oct. 23
NLCS Game 5, Padres @ Phillies, 2:37 p.m., FS1 (if necessary)
ALCS Game 4, Astros @ Yankees, 7:07 p.m., TBS

Monday, Oct. 24
ALCS Game 5, Astros @ Yankees, 4:07 p.m., TBS (if necessary)
NLCS Game 6, Phillies @ San Diego, 8:03 p.m., FS1 (if necessary)

Tuesday, Oct. 25
ALCS Game 6, Yankees @ Astros, 6:07 p.m., TBS (if necessary)
NLCS Game 7, Phillies @ Padres, 8:03 p.m., FOX or FS1 (if necessary)

Wednesday, Oct. 26
ALCS Game 7, Yankees @ Astros, 7:37 p.m., TBS (if necessary)

This day in baseball: The last bounced home run

September 12, 2022

In baseball’s early days, a batted ball that bounced once before clearing the fence was considered a home run. The last “bounced” home run in major league history was hit by Al Lopez of the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 12, 1930, at Ebbets Field. At the start of the 1931 season, the National League would join the American League, which had enacted the rule change in 1929, awarding a ground-rule double to the player who hits the ball over the fence on a bounce.

Al Lopez 1956
Al Lopez, 1956 (public domain/Wikimedia Commons)

This day in baseball: The foul poles get a makeover

July 15, 2022

You know how the foul poles at a ballfield have those screen extensions sticking out of them? Those screens were born on July 15, 1939. National League president Ford Frick ordered the two-foot screens affixed inside all foul poles following a dispute between Billy Jurges of the Giants and umpire George Magerkurth. It seems that Jurges and Magerkurth spit at each other after a disputed call down the left-field line at the Polo Grounds. The American League would install the screens on the foul poles in their own ballparks shortly thereafter.

This day in baseball: Rookie Shea wins All-Star Game

July 8, 2022

Spec Shea became the first rookie pitcher to win an All-Star Game on July 8, 1947, when the American League defeated the National League, 2-1. In the game, Shea pitched the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings in relief for Hal Newhouser. The New York Yankees hurler allowed one earned run and was declared the winning pitcher.

Spec Shea in 1953 (public domain / Wikimedia Commons)

This day in baseball: The Pirates’ last game at Exposition Park

June 29, 2022

The Pittsburgh Pirates played their final game at Exposition Park against the Chicago Cubs on June 29, 1909. The Pirates won the game 8–1 in front of 5,545 spectators, with George Gibson collecting the final National League hit in the ballpark. The very next day, the Pirates once again played the Cubs, this time with the team opening up Forbes Field.

Exposition Park in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
Exposition Park in 1915 (public domain)

Mike Schmidt’s Hall of Fame induction speech

June 14, 2022

Mike Schmidt played 18 seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in that time, Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time National League MVP. Over the course of his career, Schmidt hit 548 home runs, including 40 or more home runs in three separate seasons and 30 or more home runs in ten other seasons. He also won ten Gold Glove Awards and was named The Sporting News Player of the Decade for the 1980s.

Mike Schmidt was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. In his induction speech below, I particularly like Schmidt’s discussions on positive encouragement for kids and on the need for baseball to reconnect with its fans.

This day in baseball: The National League is formed

February 2, 2022

The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs formed on February 2, 1876 with eight charter teams located in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. After playing the 1876 season in Hartford, Connecticut, the Hartford Dark Blues played the 1877 season in Brooklyn as the Brooklyn Hartfords before disbanding at the end of the season.

The National League’s formation meant the end of the old National Association, which lasted only five seasons. The remaining clubs in the NA shut down or reverted to amateur or minor league status. 

Hartford_Dark_Blues, 1875
1875 Hartford Dark Blues (Wikipedia)

This day in baseball: Charles Ebbets becomes president of the Dodgers

January 4, 2022

In the wake of the death of Charles H. Byrne, team secretary Charles Ebbets became president of the Bridegrooms (Dodgers) on January 4, 1898. The team’s future owner also managed the Brooklyn team for the last 110 games of the season, finishing tenth among the twelve teams of the National League.

Charles Ebbets, c. 1915 - Wikipedia
Charles Ebbets, c. 1915 (Wikipedia)