My latest at Baseball Prospectus ($) focuses on the origins of professional baseball in each of the five current NL West cities. Did you know, for instance, that Hall of Fame right-hander Walter Johnson pitched for the San Diego Pickwicks in 1907? I had no idea. Anyway, the whole article is full of stuff like [...]
Tag Archive for ‘History’ 
Me, Elsewhere: Great Duels of the ’70s
My latest at Hardball Times is the fourth and final installment of my Epic Pitchers Duels series. One game involves the Padres (they lost, naturally). Also featured are Dick Williams, Rollie Fingers (making a 7-inning relief appearance), Sandy Alomar Sr., Tony Gonzalez, Gene Tenace, Graig Nettles, and Gaylord Perry. Heck, even San Diegan Ted Williams, [...]
Me, Elsewhere: Pitchers Duels of the 1940s
The second part of my “epic pitchers duels” series is up at Hardball Times and focuses on the 1940s. There is a little more of a San Diego/Padres connection in this installment. Bob Kennedy (father of former Padres catcher Terry Kennedy) merits a mention, as does the pride of Hoover High, Ted Williams. One of [...]
Me, Elsewhere: They Don’t Pitch Like That Anymore
My latest at Hardball Times examines the four greatest pitchers duels of the 1920s and 1930s, including the classic May 1, 1920, battle between the Brooklyn Robins and the Boston Braves that saw starters Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger work all 26 innings of a 1-1 tie. There is no real Padres angle here. Gaylord [...]
I Think I’m In Love
No, not the Eddie Money song. In fact, this costs no money. Our friends at Seamheads mentioned something called the National Pastime Almanac the other day. According to the web site, “The National Pastime Almanac is a Baseball Encyclopedia with statistics, streaks, rankings, records, awards, etc. from 1876 through 2009, regular and post season.” Uh, [...]
Me Elsewhere: Tough-Luck Pitchers
As threatened, postings will occur more frequently this year. If you’re looking for the Jon Garland thread, it’s over here. Meanwhile, my latest is up at Hardball Times. It’s all about pitchers who ended up with losing records despite pitching very well. Dave Roberts’ epic 1971 campaign with the Padres tops the list. Five times [...]
Chris Jaffe on Dick Williams
Over the past year or so, I’ve had the pleasure of reading through and offering comments on drafts of Chris Jaffe’s upcoming book, Evaluating Baseball’s Managers, 1876-2008. This work is both meticulously researched and vibrant, which means you’ll enjoy reading it now and referring back to it many times in the future as a definitive [...]
Me, Elsewhere: A Whole Lotta History
I’m happy to report that my “Players Worth Remembering” series at Hardball Times is finally complete. If you love the history of baseball (and why wouldn’t you?), head on over to learn more about some players from years gone by that might have slipped under your radar: 1969-1989 1947-1968 1925-1946 1901-1924 Others (catchers and infielders) [...]
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