Cleveland’s Odd Longevity Record A couple of weeks ago I was watching a ballgame between the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Guardians without knowing that I was watching history being made.

José Ramírez just broke Cleveland’s all-time record for games played, and the details of that go a long way toward explaining why that franchise hasn’t won a World Series in nearly 80 years. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Baseball Remembers: Tommy Holmes Only two players in history have hit ten or more home runs in a season while also hitting at least three homers for every time they struck out.

Tommy Holmes had a great season in 1945, but that was a war year that is often discounted. As a result, I’m not he’s recognized for what an excellent all-around player, and person, he was. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Friday Stuff Milestones in Odd Uniforms Edition

Players are usually identified with particular teams. This week’s Friday Stuff focuses on those moments when something historic happens while wearing an odd uniform, and it just seems wrong. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Forgotten Treasures: Dick Howser Statue There aren’t many teams that have statues of managers at their ballparks.

Not many teams have statues to managers at their ballparks, but Dick Howser made the cut with the Royals. Once you look at his track record, and the trajectory he was on, you can see why.

Two Days That Killed the Big Red Machine The 1977 season broke Bob Howsam’s spirit.

Cincinnati fans knew the Big Red Machine couldn’t last forever, but they really didn’t expect it to be killed off so quickly on back-to-back days in November 1978. @ibwaa.bsky.social

First Gloves: Lou Brock Lou Brock’s career was strange.

Lou Brock had a strange career. He earned a spot in Cooperstown by being so good at so many things. But when he was bad at something, wow, he was REALLY bad. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The King of Solo Homers My son Sam was almost 16 when Mike Trout arrived in the big leagues, and for all but one of his 16 years of life, his favorite team was awful.

No, Mike Trout has not hit the most solo homers in history. Not even close. But there are a few very good reasons why we would should start calling solo homers “Trouts” anyway. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Friday Stuff Ballpark Debuts Edition

A whole bunch of ballparks made their big league debuts this week in history, one of them for the second time. I swear that will make sense once you read this week’s Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Archives: Late Bloomers, Davey Lopes The Dodgers made the sad announcement yesterday that Davey Lopes passed away at the age of 80 from the effects of Parkinson’s Disease.

The baseball world sadly lost Davey Lopes yesterday. I wrote about his delayed road to the big leagues just last year, so here it is again, unlocked for everyone. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Late Bloomers: Harvey Haddix Not many players had their careers interrupted twice due to service to their country.

It’s rarely mentioned alongside his 12-inning near-perfect game, but Harvey Haddix was one of a small group of players who had his big league career interrupted by two different wars. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Baseball Remembers: Mickey Vernon A “professional hitter” is a very particular kind of player in the minds of most people.

We all have a pretty good idea of what a “professional hitter” is. The Hall of Fame has historically treated them well, but for some reason that wasn’t the case for Mickey Vernon. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Forgotten Treasures: George Brett's Fame Forty-six years ago, the internet didn’t exist.

In August 1980, before ESPN, smart phones, and the internet, for at least one day George Brett managed to become the most famous baseball player, and maybe person, in America. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Friday Stuff Mostly Forgotten All-Stars Edition

Even All-Stars sometimes aren’t remembered as well as they should be. We’ll cover a few of the somewhat-forgotten in this week’s edition of Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Trading Reggie Jackson Today happens to be the 50th anniversary of the A’s decision to trade away Reggie Jackson.

Today’s edition is free and is focused on the trade of Reggie Jackson on this date in 1976, a deal that drastically impacted three franchises and was caused by the dawn of free agency. @ibwaa.bsky.social

First Gloves: Jim Piersall Not many ballplayers in the 1950s had films made about their lives when they were still just 27 years old.

Jimmy Piersall is most well known for his battle with bipolar disorder and the book and movie “Fear Strikes Out.” He should also be known as one of the best defensive center fielders ever. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Collusion and Andre Dawson’s Hat Recently the Hall of Fame announced that it was doing something it rarely does.

Andre Dawson is getting a new hat on his Hall of Fame plaque. That’s a good thing, and the reason he fought for it boils down to a one-word answer: Collusion. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Late Bloomers: Johnny Logan In researching players who got later-than-usual starts in the big leagues, I typically find one direct reason why a player was delayed.

A lot of obstacles, from World War II to Alvin Dark, stood in the way of Johnny Logan getting to the big leagues. But when he finally got there, he found himself a home.
@ibwaa.bsky.social

Friday Stuff White Sox Hall of Famer Departures Edition

The White Sox have had a lot of Hall of Famers over the years, and they all had to leave one way or another. We cover some of those departures in this week’s Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Baseball Remembers: Dobie Moore If he’d been a worse citizen and a better husband, Dobie Moore would be in the Hall of Fame now.

Most people haven’t heard of Dobie Moore. But, in between a late career start while serving in the Army and an early end due to some off-field shenanigans, he may have been the best shortstop ever. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Forgotten Treasures: Al Hrabosky Bobblehead Believe it or not, but there was a time when the best reliever in baseball was, well, a bit mad.

With a nickname like The Mad Hungarian, and a signature move that included angrily slamming the ball into his glove, Al Hrabosky deserved a more distinctive bobblehead. @ibwaa.bsky.social

The Deal That Made the ‘84 Tigers As the 1983 season came to a close, the Detroit Tigers had one glaring problem.

The Tigers had one glaring hole going into 1984, but then they acquired a veteran who was transformed by a new pitch and turned their only weakness into a strength. @ibwaa.bsky.social

First Gloves: Roger Maris How much weight should a single awesome accomplishment carry in Hall of Fame voting?

Is one great accomplishment enough to get a player into the Hall of Fame? That’s the question raised by the career of Roger Maris, and the answer is…it depends. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Friday Stuff Transactions That Weren’t Edition

Baseball is full of deals that didn’t quite happen, like the Red Sox trying to buy an ace, or Cleveland almost trading a Hall of Famer. We cover some of those deals in this week’s Friday Stuff. There’s even bowling! @ibwaa.bsky.social

Yankees at Tigers, June 23, 1950 As an old scorekeeper, I am hopelessly biased.

A recent social media post outlined how a 90-year old man still has the scorecard from his first big league game, one that just happened to feature a walk-off inside-the-park home run. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Late Bloomers: Sid Gordon Other than running, Sid Gordon was both a really nice man and a player who could do a little bit of everything on a baseball field, and those things possibly cost him a shot at the Hall of Fame.

Being a nice guy who could do a little bit of everything (well, other than run) probably cost Sid Gordon a couple of years in the big leagues and a shot at the Hall of Fame. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Baseball Remembers: Dave Giusti It’s been a touch couple of months for the Pirates’ bullpen, and the season hasn’t even started.

It’s been a rough year so far for former Pirates relievers. Not only did Roy Face pass away at the age of nearly 98, but Bucs fans also lost Dave Giusti, a critical part of the Pirates in the early 1970s. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Forgotten Treasures: Chet Brewer's Jacket Fun story.

Chet Brewer’s warmup jacket is on display in the Hall of Fame, and while they won’t let me show you the photo I took of it, at least I can tell you the story of why it’s important that it’s there. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Friday Stuff Hall of Fame (mostly) Shortstops Edition

It’s all Hall of Fame shortstops…or at least Hall of Famers who were once shortstops…or at least shortstops who might have been Hall of Famers, in this week’s Friday Stuff. @ibwaa.bsky.social

Don Zimmer's Overcooked Soup Free agency came to baseball for real just before the 1977 season, and the very first player to sign a free agent contract that offseason isn’t the person you’d expect.

Bill Campbell surprised a lot of people by being the first free agent to sign a big contract in the first-ever year of full free agency. And then Don Zimmer promptly ruined his career. @ibwaa.bsky.social

First Gloves: Johnny Pesky The legend in our family was that the first folks to arrive here weren’t named “White.”

We may never know why Johnny Pesky changed his name. All of the legends around that don’t appear to be true. But we do know he was a hell of a baseball player, under any name. @ibwaa.bsky.social