I love reading about baseball family rarities. You know, things like family members hitting for the cycle (only three times, see list below), or three brothers in the same outfield (only once, the Alous). Today Vince Jankoski tells us about another such family rarity: twin brothers playing on the same major league team! It’s so rare it’s only happened once in baseball history!…
Willie Davis and the 1966 World Series
Watching the Yankees’ excruciating implosion in the fifth inning of Game Five reminded Vince Jankoski of an earlier, similar fifth-inning meltdown – in Game Two of the 1966 fall classic….
Legendary Sportswriter, Shirley Povich
Sprotwrtiers play a major role in our enjoyment of the sport we all love. Often the contributions of even the great ones don’t receive recognition due them. Today, Vince Jankoski turns our attention to one of the most legendary sportswriters of all time with an unlikely first name: Shirley Povich…
Let’s Revist the 1960 World Series!
Today Vince Jankoski takes us on a revisit to the 1960 World Series. Vince takes a deep dive into some of the more subtle reasons the Yankees lost the 1960 World Series to the Pirates despite besting them in virtually every offensive and pitching category…
Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: Luis Arroyo
On September 9, 1961, the New York Yankees celebrated Whitey Ford Day at Yankee Stadium. Ford was in the midst of his greatest season, the only season in which he would win a Cy Young Award. Ford was in the process of being showered with gifts when a car drove up with a giant Life Saver candy package in the rear seat. As the car came to a halt, the lid on the Life Saver popped open and relief pitcher Luis Arroyo emerged…
Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: Johnny Blanchard
A few years ago, I wrote an essay about backup catchers, an important team position that is often overlooked. Today Vince Jankoski sets the record straight with an interesting essay detailing the exploits of the Yankees’ backup catcher in 1961, Johnny Blanchard….
BOB KUZAVA – WAS CASEY STENGEL A GENIUS…OR JUST PLAIN LUCKY?
Today Vince Jankoski returns with an interesting essay addressing the age-old baseball question of whether Casey Stengel was a genius – as many baseball fans think – or just lucky. His decisions in the seventh game of the 1952 World Series will leave you scratching your head…and with good reason!…
The Remarkable 1950 Boston Red Sox!
Today we welcome Vince Jankoski back with an interesting essay on the remarkable 1950 Boston Red Sox. This was all new to me, and I suspect it will be to all but the most ardent Sox fans. I think you’ll enjoy what Vince has on tap for us today….
Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: Eddie Yost
Today Vince Jankoski returns with an eye-opening look at the career statistics of forgotten star Eddie Yost. How can I call a career .254 hitter a forgotten star? It’s because he played 18 years in the Bigs with a .394 on-base percentage, leading the league twice in the category (.435 in 1959 and .414 in 1960). Read Vince’s essay and see if you agree with me…
Joe McCarthy’s Odd Choice of Denny Galehouse To Start the 1948 Playoff Game!
Vince Jankoski returns today with an interesting essay on the choice of Denny Galehouse to start the one-game playoff between the Indians and the Red Sox, the winner advancing to the 1948 World Series. The choice didn’t seem to make sense then and still doesn’t all these years later!…
Forgotten Stars: Staten Island’s Finest, Hank Majeski
Today we welcome back Vince Jankoski with an interesting essay on forgotten star, Hank Majeski. I was familiar with him, but Vince really filled in the gaps as to what a fine ball player Hank Majeski was. I think you’ll enjoy what Vince has for us! -GL
More On “Baseball Goats”: Contemporary Goats
Most of us remember Bill Buckner’s error in Game Six of the 1986 World Series. While Buckner was largely blamed for the loss, there was plenty of blame to go around, especially from the Red Sox bullpen…
Special Category: Gene Mauch – A Managerial “Goat”
Vince Jankoski returns today with an essay telling us that a manager can be a “goat,” too. According to Vince, “Managers, even good managers, make glaring mistakes that cost their teams crucial games”. He cites Gene Mauch as Exhibit One!…
THE DODGERS’ GOATS
Today Vince Jankoski returns with Part Two of his four-part series on baseball goats, focusing on the Dodgers. The first two incidents, involving Mickey Owen and Ralph Branca are well known, but the third involving the great Gil Hodges and his unfortunate – and uncharacteristically poor – performance in the 1952 World Series is not as well known…
THE GREATEST “GOATS” OF ALL TIME
Today, I’m happy to announce that we will be featuring the first of four installments by Vince Jankoski in his series on “Baseball’s Goats.” Today, Vince starts out with two well-known goats from the Deadball Era, Fred Merkle and Fred Snodgrass…
The Classic 1946 World Series: Enos Slaughter’s “Mad Dash”
The 1946 season was a great one for MLB. World War II had ended, the regulars returned, and attendance soared.
The World Series that year pitted the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Boston Red Sox. Both teams were stocked with superior players, including two of the greatest hitters of all time: Stan Musial and Red Sox Ted Williams…
Player Spotlight: The Senators’ Tom Cheney – The Real Strikeout King!
Today Vince Jankoski returns with an interesting essay setting the record straight on who actually is the record holder for strikeouts in a major league game. It’s not someone I ever would have guessed!…
Black History Month Trivia, Part Four!
As our month-long tribute to Baseball and Black History Month comes to an end, here’s Part Four of Vince Jankoski’s trivia quiz. We thank Vince for the great job he did in putting this together…
Black History Month Trivia, Part Three
Today we continue with our tribute to Black History Month with Part Three of Vince Jankoski’s 28 trivia questions. Before we get to the questions, here’s a few words about the Homestead Grays. Photo sent to me by Chris Whitehouse….
BLACK HISTORY MONTH TRIVIA, Part Two
Today, in our ongoing tribute to baseball and Black History month, we’ll continue with Vince Jankoski’s baseball trivia questions. As I mentioned last week, I’ll be posting seven trivia questions each Thursday, one for each day of the week for the entire month…
BLACK HISTORY MONTH TRIVIA, Part I
Many thanks to Vince Jankoski for reminding us that February is notable for two reasons – and no, the month’s terrible weather is not one of them!..
Bud Harrelson, RIP
Today Vince Jankoski shares with us a tribute to recently deceased Bud Harrelson with an interesting analysis of his career. Vince addresses the question of how the light-hitting Harrelson (.236 career average) could have survived for 16 seasons in the major leagues…
KEN MacKENZIE, RIP
Vince Jankoski returns today with an interesting article about a player I’ve never heard of: Canadian-born pitcher Ken MacKenzie. Two things I’ve said many times here on BHCA: One, anyone who makes it to the major leagues is special in our eyes, whether a star or sub; and Two, when you look deep into the career of almost any major leaguer, you’ll invariably find something of interest…
Frank Howard, RIP
We’d be remiss in our duties here on Baseball History Comes Alive if we didn’t take notice of the recent passing of the fine ball player Frank Howard in Aldie, Virginia at age 87…
WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THE YANKEES TO MAKE YOGI BERRA THEIR REGULAR CATCHER?
Vince Jankoski returns today with an interesting essay detailing Yogi Berra’s path to becoming the Yankees’ regular catcher. It wasn’t as clear-cut as you might think, as Vince makes clear…
Vince Jankoski’s Deep Dive Into Double Plays, Part Four
As promised, Vince Jankoski returns today with the conclusion to his four-part series on Double Plays. As always, Vince has done his homework. I never realized one could get that deep into DPs, but Vince has done just that…
Vince Jankoski’s Deep Dive Into Double Plays, Part Three
Today, Vince Jankoski continues his “deep dive” into double plays. In Part Three of this series, he uncovers players who he calls “Double Play Superstars.”…
Vince Jankoski Takes A Very Deep Dive Into Double Plays! Part Two
We continue with Vince Jankoski’s extensive look into double plays and how they affect a team’s standings. Today, Vince examines teams that he calls “double-play machines,” and again looks for correlations…
Vince Jankoski Takes A Very Deep Dive Into Double Plays!
Today we present something new: The first of Vince’s four-part series on, yes…double plays…and how does the number of them over the course of a season affect the team’s standings?
MAJOR LEAGUE VETERANS – KOREAN WAR CHAPTER
Today Vince Janoski turns his “what if” spotlight on major league baseball and the Korean War. He highlights a few baseball stars, among the many who served their country during this conflict…
World War II and Major League Baseball
We welcome back Vince Jankoski will another of his specialties: “What ifs?” Today he tackles “what if” WW II hadn’t rudely intruded on the careers of many of baseball’s biggest stars…
The Case For Eddie Mathews
Vince Jankosi is back today, this time making the case that Eddie Mathews is the best pre-Mike Schmidt third baseman. As usual, Vince has done his homework and makes a very strong case. See if you agree…
Who Was the Better Third Baseman, Brooks or Clete?
Today we welcome back Vince Jankoski with another thought-provoking essay, asking the question: Who was a better fielder, Brooks Robinson or Clete Boyer?…
Part Two: Was Kansas City Really a “Farm Team” for the Yankees?
Those of you who read Part One of this two-part series will recall that Vince Jankoski is doing a “deep dive’ into the trades between the Athletics and Yankees from the early 1950s into the 1960s. Vince is making the case that K.C. serving as the Yankees’ “farm team” is a myth…
Deep Dive Into the Question: “Was Kansas City Really a ‘Farm Team’ For the Yankees?”
Today, we welcome guest contributor Vince Jankoski, who takes an in-depth look at trades between the Kansas City Athletics and the Yankees in the 1950s and early 1960s, dispelling the myth that the A’s were a “farm team” for the Yankees…