Tag: World Series

Edwin Jackson

October 1, 2022
Edwin Jackson, April 2010 (Steven Groves / Wikimedia Commons)

Pitcher Edwin Jackson was born on September 9, 1983 in Neu Ulm, Germany while his father, Edwin Jackson Sr., was serving in the United States Army there. He has the distinction of having played for more major league teams than any other player in Major League Baseball history. Over the course of a career that spanned sixteen years, Jackson played for fourteen MLB teams:

  • Los Angeles Dodgers (2003–2005)
  • Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays (2006–2008)
  • Detroit Tigers (2009, 2019)
  • Arizona Diamondbacks (2010)
  • Chicago White Sox (2010–2011)
  • St. Louis Cardinals (2011)
  • Washington Nationals (2012, 2017)
  • Chicago Cubs (2013–2015)
  • Atlanta Braves (2015)
  • Miami Marlins (2016)
  • San Diego Padres (2016)
  • Baltimore Orioles (2017)
  • Oakland Athletics (2018)
  • Toronto Blue Jays (2019)

Jackson was named to the American League All-Star team in 2009. On June 25, 2010, as a Diamondback, he threw a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jackson was also a member of the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals, though he lost the only game he appeared in. Jackson’s last MLB appearance took place on September 28, 2019 with the Detroit Tigers.

In 2021, Jackson was named to the roster of the United States national baseball team, which qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

On September 10, 2022, Edwin Jackson announced his retirement from baseball.

Edwin Jackson, 2021 (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Robert Jordan/Released)

RIP Maury Wills

September 21, 2022
Maury Wills
Maury Wills, 1960 (University of Southern California Libraries / California Historical Society / Release under the CC BY Attribution license — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Maurice Morning Wills was born October 2, 1932 in Washington, D.C. He began playing semi-professional baseball at the age of 14 and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950, upon graduating from high school. He made his major league debut with the Dodgers, now in Los Angeles, in 1959 and spent most of his career with L.A. He was a member of the Dodgers team that won the World Series in 1959, 1963, and 1965.

Wills was named the National League MVP in 1962, stealing a record 104 bases to break the previous modern era mark of 96 set by Ty Cobb. He was named to seven All-Star teams and was the first MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in 1962. Wills also won Gold Gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. Over the course of his fourteen-year career, Wills batted .281 with 20 home runs, 458 runs batted in, 2,134 hits, 1,067 runs, 177 doubles, 71 triples, 586 stolen bases, and 552 bases on balls in 1,942 games.

Wills was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, serving as a representative of the Dodgers Legend Bureau, from 2009 until his death. Maury Wills died on September 19, 2022, at the age of 89.

Phil Rizzuto’s Hall of Fame induction speech

May 25, 2022

Philip Francis Rizzuto was born September 25, 1917, and he spent his entire 13-year major league career (1941-1956) with the New York Yankees. During that time, the Yankees won an astonishing 10 American League pennants and seven World Championships.

From 1943 to 1945, Rizzuto spent some time away from MLB for a stint in the military, serving in the United States Navy during World War II. During those two years, he played on a Navy baseball team, alongside Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese.

In 1950, Rizzuto was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. He was known as a terrific defensive player, with 1,217 career double plays and a .968 career fielding average.

After his playing career, Rizzuto enjoyed a 40-year career as a radio and television sports announcer for the Yankees. He was particularly known for his trademark expression, “Holy cow!”

Phil Rizzuto was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994. He died in his sleep on August 13, 2007.

Rizzuto’s induction speech is a hoot. Enjoy!

Baseball in space, 2019

November 20, 2021

When the Houston Astros made it to the World Series in 2019, NASA astronauts on the International Space Station celebrated the game with their own game of baseball. Unsurprisingly, playing baseball in outer space looks a little different than it does here on Earth.

The astronauts were rooting, of course, for the Astros in that year’s Series. Unfortunately for the crew of the ISS, the Washington Nationals came out victorious in 2019.

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Braves are World Champions

November 2, 2021

Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves on their World Series victory.

More exciting (for me, as a Royals fan, anyways), congratulations to Jorge Soler on winning MVP honors! Soler is just the second Cuban-born player to win the World Series MVP Award.

Jorge Soler - AP photo
Jorge Soler (AP Photo)

Quote of the day

November 1, 2021

I was told I would never make it because I’m too short. Well, I’m still too short, but I’ve got 10 All-Star games, two World Series championships, and I’m a very happy and contented guy. It doesn’t matter what your height is, it’s what’s in your heart.

~Kirby Puckett

Kirby Puckett - Brittanica
Brittanica.com

2021 World Series schedule

October 24, 2021

The 2021 World Series matchup is set! Beginning Tuesday, October 26th, the Astros and the Braves will be going head-to-head. All games will be broadcast on Fox, and the schedule is as follows:

DATEGAMETIME (ET)
Tues., Oct. 26Game 1 – Braves at Astros8:09 p.m.
Weds., Oct. 27Game 2 – Braves at Astros8:09 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 29Game 3 – Astros at Braves8:09 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 30Game 4 – Astros at Braves8:09 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 31Game 5 (if needed) – Astros at Braves8:15 p.m.
Tues., Nov. 2Game 6 (if needed) – Braves at Astros8:09 p.m.
Weds., Nov. 3Game 7 (if needed) – Braves at Astros8:09 p.m.

World Series schedule 2021: Dates, start times, channels ...

This day in baseball: Athletics win the 1910 Series

October 23, 2021

On October 23, 1910, before a crowd of 27,374, Philadelphia’s Jack Coombs won his third game of the World Series to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2. The victory sealed the outcome of the Series, as the Athletics took the championship in five games. Eddie Collins had three hits, including two doubles, in that final game for the A’s.

Jack Coombs (Library of Congress)

“Lets Go, Go Go White Sox”

October 13, 2021

I’m not a White Sox fan, but I admit I was lowkey hoping they’d at least advance to the ALCS, if only so that I could post this without it seeming awkward. But I also know that if I wait until after the end of the season, I run the risk of forgetting about this altogether, so here’s the White Sox fight song performed by Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers.

This song first appeared in 1959 during the White Sox’s run for the AL pennant, which was the team’s first league championship since the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. The song re-emerged and regained popularity in 2005, the year that the Sox swept the Astros in four games in the World Series.