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.

A STORY FROM APRIL 17-YOUNG MANTLE SHOWS OF WHAT HE’S CAPABLE

FOR TODAY IN BASEBALL WE GO BACK TO APRIL 17, 1953 IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Imagine someone hitting a baseball the length of almost two football fields! Sportswriters, and others who claim to know, believe 21-year old Mickey Mantle did just that on this date in 1953. The prevailing belief is that the blast traveled an estimated 565 feet out of old Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. where the old Washington Senators (today’s Minnesota Twins) were hosting the New York Yankees. A young Mickey Mantle showed what he was capable of.

Mantle wasn’t a super star yet. At this stage of his career, he was a young, inconsistent ‘can miss’ switch-hitter from Commerce, Oklahoma.

On this day, Mantle was batting right-handed. On a 1 and 0 pitch, he crushed the ball. According to those present, it not only cleared the regular fence, it sailed over a 55 foot wall 70 feet behind the left center field fence! No one had ever done that before. A ten-year old boy reportedly found the ball in a backyard 105 feet further back.

Almost overlooked in the same game were some of the talents speed helped Mantle bring to his game early in his career. He dragged a bunt for a single and stole a base.

Before a series of nagging injuries, and the toll of many nights on the town, Mantle was clocked at 3.1 seconds from the left-handed batter’s box to first. One of the fastest times ever recorded. But on this date in 1953, a  young Mickey Mantle showed what he was capable of.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Bleacher Report, Mantle hits one 565 feet 

A STORY FROM APRIL 16 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-FIRST AB HR NO OMEN

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO APRIL 16, 1929\  DETROIT, MICHIGAN – What a way to start a career. On this date in 1929 Cleveland Indians outfielder Earl Averill hit a home run in his first major league at bat. He hit an 0-2 pitch off Detroit’s Earl Whitehill to help the Indians beat the Detroit Tigers 5 to 4 in 11 innings.

That first at-bat turned out to be an indicator of a stellar career for Averill; 18 home runs, 96 RBIs that first year. He ended up with 238 career homes, was a 6-time all-star, and was elected into The Hall of Fame.

As spectacular as it is to hit a home run in your first major league at-bat, it has not been a great omen for most players. According to Baseball-Almanac, 120 rookies got the ultimate hit in their first at-bat (30 of them on the first pitch), but 20 never hit another major league home run. For example, the first American League player to hit a home run in his first at bat, Luke Stuart of the St. Louis Browns, not only never hit another, he only had two more major league at bats.

The first-at-bat-home-run-hitter with the most career home runs is Gary Gaetti who retired with 360. Second is Jermaine Dye who hit 325 HR’s in his career. But only 6% of the players who hit home runs in their first at-bat hit more than 200 for their careers.

Contributing Source:
First at-bat HRs

A STORY FROM APRIL 15 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-JACKIE ROBINSON MAKES HISTORY

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK APRIL 15, 1947 – Jackie Robinson made history on this date, becoming the first Black man to play Major League Baseball. He went hitless, but handled 11 chances at first base to help the Brooklyn Dodgers (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers) beat the Boston Braves (today’s Atlanta Braves) 5-3.

Technically, Jackie Robinson was not first Black major leaguer. There were others, but you had to go back to the late 1800s to find them. An unwritten “gentleman’s agreement” created a color barrier in major league baseball from roughly the late 1880s until 1947.

Many point the finger at Chicago White Stockings (the modern day Cubs) star Cap Anson for leading the charge to exclude Blacks. The story is, Anson refused to take the field in an 1883 exhibition game against the Toledo Blue Stockings because they had an African American catcher. Even if true, Anson was certainly not alone in his bigotry. By the end of the decade the “gentleman’s agreement” was in force barring teams from signing Black players. The color barrier lasted until the Dodgers’ Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson in 1947.

Ironically, the Black player Cap Anson reportedly threatened a boycott over was probably the smartest man on the field. Moses Fleetwood Walker studied Greek, French, German, Latin and math at Oberlin College in Ohio before going to law school at the University of Michigan. But on this date, Jackie Robinson makes history.

Additional Source:
Spalding’s World Tour, Page 68, by Mark Lamster, 2006

A STORY FROM APRIL 14 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-FISK IMPRESSES NEW FANS

TODAY IN BASEBALL GOES BACK TO APRIL 14, 1981 IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. Carlton Fisk had little trouble getting acclimated to his new “Sox”. He hit a grand slam home run in the home opener for his new team, the White Sox, after eleven years with the Red Sox. The blast helped the White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-3.

Fisk ended up signing with the White Sox for which he played the next thirteen years – a longer stint than he had in Boston.

Fisk’s move from Boston to Chicago was the result of a strange turn of events. He became a free agent after the 1980 season when the Red Sox failed to mail his contract to him by the deadline.

Fisk ended up signing with the White Sox for which he played the next thirteen years – a longer stint than he had in Boston. And neither Fisk nor his new Chicago fans will soon forget how much he impressed his new fans in that first game wearing a White Sox uniform.

Contributing Sources:
April 14, 1981 box score/play-by-play
Carlton Fisk Stats

A STORY FROM APRIL 13 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-FEDERAL LEAGUE DIDN’T LAST BUT WRIGLEY DID

FOR TODAY IN BASEBALL WE GO BACK TO APRIL 13, 1914. THE LOCATION: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. An insurgent third major league, the Federal League (FL), began play on this date in 1914.  The Baltimore Terrapins defeated the Buffalo Blues 3 to 2 before 27,140 fans.

The Federal League put teams in eight cities, including four where the National or American leagues already had teams. It lured a handful of players from the established leagues, including marquee names Joe Tinker and Three Finger Brown, by waving wads of cash at them. Shoeless Joe Jackson was reportedly offered four times his salary to jump to the new League. The National and American Leagues reacted by throwing more money at the likes of Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Walter Johnson to keep them where they were.

The Federal League didn’t appear to be a fly-by-night operation. All eight teams had new stadiums. Attendance was comparable to the NL and AL.

The FL was also trying to beat the established major leagues in court on several fronts. It sued the American and National Leagues in Federal Court for being unfair monopolies. The judge who presided over that lawsuit was Kenesaw Landis. He later became MLB’s first commissioner.

The parties eventually settled that case out of court. As part of the agreement, a number of Federal League players and teams were absorbed into the National or American League, but not all. The owners of the Baltimore franchise weren’t happy with the settlement and sued. This case went all the way to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Major League Baseball saying it was exempt from antitrust laws, a ruling which for the most part remains in effect today.

As part of the agreement in the original lawsuit, the owner of the Federal League’s Chicago Whales, Charles Weeghman, was allowed to buy the National League’s Chicago Cubs. The ballpark he built for the Whales became the Cubs’ home. That same ballpark is known today as Wrigley Field. So, the Federal League did not survive, Wrigley Field did.

Contributing Sources:
Chicago Tribune, Baltimore, Maryland, April 14, 1914
More on the Federal League