Phil beat Joe for his 20th victory of the 1979 season. It sounds pretty simple, but for the Niekro brothers they joined an exclusive club on Sept. 26. Phil Niekro of the Atlanta Braves and Joe Niekro of the Houston Astros became the second set of siblings to reach the 20-win plateau in the same […]
Category: 1970s Baseball History
The stars were aligned in the right order for the 1969 New York Mets. After seven years of unsuccessful seasons by the Mets in the National League, they became world champions. Three of their stars were set to help make history on Sept. 24. Ironically, none of the players were named Tom Seaver or Jerry […]
Yogi Berra was already a legend. Berra was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. My recollections of Berra have nothing to do with his playing days. Growing up in the 1970s, Berra was a manager and a coach during my formative years. His 1973 Topps baseball card was one of my favorites […]
Cesar Tovar was on the mound for the only pitching performance of his 12-year career on Sept. 22, 1968. Tovar was about to become the second person in major league history to play all nine positions in one game. The versatile Tovar began the home game for the Minnesota Twins by working a scoreless first […]
Being the first do anything in baseball history can be special. Gus Triandos caught the first of his two no-hitters on Sept. 20, 1958. He was behind the plate for his second six years later on June 20, 1964. As a result, he became the first catcher to be involved in no-hitters in both the […]
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ray Washburn had a tough act to follow on Sept. 18, 1968. Future National Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Gibson was in the midst of one of the greatest seasons a pitcher would ever put together for St. Louis. One day before Washburn was scheduled to take the mound in […]
As a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, Steve Carlton was striking out the New York Mets hitters at a record pace. The future National Baseball Hall of Fame legend finished with an all-time best 19 strikeouts in an amazing performance against the Mets on Sept. 15, 1969. Despite setting a new standard, Carlton had […]
Rick Wise is celebrating his 70th birthday this week on Sept. 13. Wise pitched for five different teams during his 18-year career with an 188-181 record. He was also traded for a pair of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Prior to the 1972 season, he was sent from the Philadelphia Phillies to […]
Winning your first game as a starting pitcher is quite an accomplishment, but add a major league record and you can be in a class by yourself. In this case, however, it’s a group of two. J.R. Richard of the Houston Astros and Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers share the big league mark with […]
Ideally, major league baseball trades are supposed to benefit both organizations. In the long run, it usually works out that one team often seems to get the better end of the deal. The Toronto Blue Jays are currently reaping the rewards for a transaction made on July 31, 2009. The Cincinnati Reds traded Edwin Encarnacion […]