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.

August 31- Hodges unloads

AUGUST 31, 1950 • BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS • Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers) became the 4th player in major league history to hit 4 home runs in a game* on this date in baseball history (1950). The slugging first baseman’s four round-trippers and a single helped the Dodgers beat the Boston Braves (now in Atlanta) 19-3. Hodges had 17 total bases that day.

Hodges had at least 25 home runs nine times in his career. He had 100 RBI or more seven times. He finished with a .273 lifetime average and 370 home runs – at the time, the most by a right-handed hitter. Gil Hodges was a pillar of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950’s, the decade they finally came through, after 66 years in the National League, and won a World Series in 1955. Hodges had 27 home runs and 102 RBIs that year.

Hodges finished his playing career with the New York Mets in 1963, and then became manager of the Washington Senators (today’s Texas Rangers). The Mets came calling again in 1968 for Hodges to manage them. He helped turn the perennial last place team into the Amaz’in Mets who shocked the sports world in 1969 by winning the World Series.

*Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies and Pat Seerey of the Chicago White Sox each hit four home runs in one game prior to Hodges, but they needed extra innings to do it.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
The New York Times, Boston, Massachusetts, September 1, 1950

NOV 27: Winning all the trophies

NOVEMBER 27, 1956 | NEW YORK, NY – When Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe won the Cy Young award on this date in 1956 he became the only player in major league baseball history to win all 3 major post-season awards: Rookie of the Year (1949), Cy Young Award (1956), Most Valuable Player (also in 1956).

Newcombe was among a handful of Black Negro League stars finally invited to the “White” majors after Jackie Robinson broke the “color barrier” in 1947. According to SABR (the Society for American baseball research), Newcombe was the third black pitcher to appear in a major league game after Dan Bankhead and Satchel Paige.

Contributing Sources:
Don Newcombe bio
Dan Bankhead career stats
Satchel Paige career stats 
Jackie Robinson’s Legacy 

Dec. 18: Charlie, Oh!

DECEMBER 18, 1973 | NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK – The shenanigans of one time Oakland A’s owner  Charlie O. Finley were entertaining even during the offseason – though not to many of those closest to him. Finley’s manager, at the helm when the A’s won two World Series in a row, did the unthinkable this offseason – Dick Williams resigned. And on this date in 1973 Williams was named manager of the New York Yankees. Oakland Tribune sportswriter Jack Rux reported in the next day’s paper that Charlie Finley “gave no printable response” when asked for reaction to Williams leaving for New York.

Finley filed suit in federal court in San Francisco to prevent Williams from being George Steinbrenner‘s first manager, claiming that Williams was under contract to him for 1974 and 1975. Rather than deal with the hassle the Yankees hired Bill Virdon. And rather than deal with Finley anymore, Williams didn’t manager anywhere, at least at the start of the ’74 season (Finley finally gave the California Angels permission to talk to Williams about becoming their manager in mid-season, which he did).

But why would a manager leave a team he had won two World Series with? Williams, a firey personality himself, had enough of the A’s owner’s meddling. In particular, Williams was upset with Finley’s public humiliation of A’s second baseman Mike Andrews who he fired after he made a couple errors during the ’73 World Series. Andrews was quickly reinstated by Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, but Dick Williams was gone.

Despite the distractions and a new manager, Alvin Dark, the A’s won a third consecutive World Series in 1974.

Contributing sources:
Oakland Tribune, December 19, 1973, By Jack Rux
Oakland A’s managers

Dec 17 – Then there was one

DECEMBER 17, 1891 – INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – The National League (NL) was the only “major” league left standing on this date in 1891 when the American Association (AA) folded. The National League announced at its winter meetings in Indianapolis that four AA teams, the Baltimore Orioles (today’s New York Yankees), St. Louis Browns (today’s Baltimore Orioles), Louisville Colonels (defunct) and the Washington Senators (today’s Minnesota Twins) would be absorbed by the NL making it a 12-team league.

Several other American Association teams had been absorbed by the NL in previous years; the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (today’s Pirates), Cleveland Spiders (defunct), Cincinnati Red Stockings (today’s Reds) and Brooklyn Bridegrooms (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers).

The American Association had challenged the National League as a second “major” league from 1882 to 1891. The two leagues even had seven World Series during those years. While the American Association wasn’t viable enough to survive, the National League must have felt threatened by it, since it eventually absorbed several teams.

The National League’s monopoly of major league baseball didn’t last long. In 1900 the NL dropped the four American Association franchises absorbed in 1891. The Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators became members of the new American League. The Louisville Colonels folded as a major league team. The Colonels surfaced again as a minor league team in the American Association which existed from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997, but it was not connected to the original AA.

Contributing sources:
The Associated Press (AP), Indianapolis, Indiana, December 17, 2008
American Association Timeline
Baseball-Reference

 

Dec 14 – Star with an *

DECEMBER 14, 1985 | HOUSTON, TEXAS – The Man who broke Babe Ruth’s single season home run record died of lymphatic cancer on this date in 1985. Roger Maris was just 51 years old.

Maris and New York Yankee teammate Mickey Mantle gave most baseball fans one of the most exciting summers in baseball history in 1961 as they both chased Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a season.

But as Jerome Holtzman wrote in the Chicago Tribune, “His heroic accomplishment, which began as a dream, turned into a nightmare” because Maris was going against a popular teammate, and the memory of the charismatic Ruth.

Even baseball commissioner Ford Frick, a sportswriter during Ruth’s playing career, appeared to minimize Roger Maris’ feat because it was done during a 162-game schedule, whereas the schedule was 154 games when Ruth set the record in 1927. Frick wanted there to be an asterisk next to Maris’ name in the record books because of that.

Maris later pointed out that that he’d had four few at-bats than Ruth when he hit his 61st home run.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Jerome Holtzman, “Maris dies, a star with an asterisk,” Chicago Tribune, Dec 15, 1985
Baseball-Reference.com