Author: Bill Grimes

I'm from Chicago. I worked in broadcast journalism for much of the 1970's and 80's. In 1990 I became a litigation consultant, retiring in 2017. Around 2005 I recall flipping through the sports section of the newspaper coming across "On this day in baseball history Willie Mays hit his 600th home run." I enjoyed the one-liners, but I wanted more. I wanted a story. I took my news reporting skills and started researching and telling baseball stories, one for every day of the year. TodayinBaseball.com is the result.

May 16 in baseball history: Into the night

MAY 16, 1939 | PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – On this date in 1939 the American League finally played a game under the lights – four years after the National League pioneered the trend. The game took place at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Cleveland Indians beat the home team Philadelphia Athletics (today’s Oakland A’s) 8-3 in ten innings .

Night games are so prevalent today, it’s hard to imagine a time when all games were played during the day. That slowly began to change in 1935. The Cincinnati Reds played the first night game at Crosley Field in Cincinnati May 24, 1935. Crosley was the only park to have lights for more than 3 years.

The Brooklyn Dodgers (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers) was the next team to play under the lights on June 15, 1938. By coincidence, or maybe because of it, the Dodgers first night game was the night Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitched his second consecutive no-hitter – the only time it’s been done.

CONTRIBUTORY SOURCES:
Baseball-Almanac
Baseball Library

OCT 23: Durocher Recognized

OCTOBER 23, 1951 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – The Brooklyn Dodgers were comfortably in first place for most of the 1951 season. They had a 13-game lead on August 11th. That’s when everything changed. The New York Giants, lead by manager Leo Durocher, caught fire. made a dramatic comeback to win the National League pennant, and on this date in 1951 Durocher was voted Manager of the Year.

Leo Durocher was credited with patiently guiding the Giants through a horrible first half which included an 11-game losing streak. Durocher was also in charge when the Giants won 37 of their last 45 games. They tied the Dodgers on the last day of the season, forcing a 3-game playoff . The Giants’ Bobby Thomson settled the matter with the “shot heard ’round the world,” a stunning 3-run home run to win the pennant.

* * *

Leo Durocher was flamboyant, combative and a solid shortstop during a 20-year playing career. He won over 2,000 games in a 26=year managerial career. As exhilarating as the 1951 season was, he felt the opposite emotion managing the collapse of the 1969 Chicago Cubs, a team that seemed headed for the World Series.

Leo Durocher was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Contributing Sources:
Leo Durocher-Stats
1951 game-by-game results/standings
Misc – Wikipedia

Aug 28: Unlikely source

AUGUST 28, 1990 | HOUSTON, TEXAS • Ryne Sandburg of the Chicago Cubs hit his 30th home run of the season on this date in 1990. It helped the Cubs beat the Houston Astros at the Astrodome. It was the second year in a row the future Hall of Famer hit at least 30 home runs, the first major league second baseman to do that.

Sandburg wasn’t done in 1990 either. He ended up with 40 home runs that year. He hit an even 30 in 1989.

Ryne Sandburg played 16 years in the major leagues, his first with the Philadelphia Phillies, but as a result of a classic ill-advised trade on the part of Philadelphia, was sent to the Cubs in year-2 and played the next 15 seasons on the northside. He was a career .285 hitter, appeared in ten all-star games, was National League Most Valuable Player in 1984, and elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. Not bad for a kid from Spokane drafted in the 20th round in 1976.

Contributing Sources:
August 28, 1990 box score
Ryne Sandberg Stats

AUG 27: A star is born

AUGUST  27, 1955 | BROOKLYN, NEW YORK • On this date, Sandy Koufax, a young, raw, Brooklyn-born, former basketball star from the University of Cincinnati, 

got his second major league start for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He two-hit the Cincinnati Reds 7-0. The 19-year old struck out 14.

It took a while for Koufax to be polished into a gem. As a kid, Koufax showed more promise in basketball. So much so that he got a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. In an odd twist of fate, the freshman basketball coach, Ed Jucker, was the varsity baseball coach. When baseball season came along, Koufax pitched a few games for the Bearcat baseball team. He was raw. In 31 innings, he walked 30, but struck out 51. A Dodger scout saw the potential. Koufax was offered a bonus to leave the University of Cincinnati and the basketball team for baseball, which he did.

Once he put it all together, Koufax dominated. He was 129-47 from 1961 to 1966. He won the Cy Young award in 1963, 1965 and 1966 by unanimous votes. All three seasons he led the majors in wins, strikeouts and ERA – the pitching Triple Crown – and was MVP of the World Series in ’63 and ‘65. Koufax threw 4 no-hitters and 1 perfect game.

Unfortunately for him, and baseball fans who marveled at his ability, Koufax’s career ended early. He retired at 31 when arthritis in his throwing elbow threatened permanent disability.

Contributing sources: 
“Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy,” by Jane Leavy, Harper Collins, 2002  
Koufax Reunites with Coach Jucker,” UC Magazine, University of Cincinnati   
Sandy Koufax