October 3 is a big day in our family as our son was born on that date. We knew he would love sports because he chose to arrive on important day in baseball history, exactly two weeks earlier than expected. That Sunday, my football team, the Green Bay Packers didn’t play, so he knew there […]
Category: 1970s Baseball History
One doesn’t have to be a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays to be happy for LaTroy Hawkins. As the Blue Jays clinched the American League East title on Wednesday, Sept. 30, Hawkins was on the mound in Baltimore at the end of the game. Although the Blue Jays were already guaranteed a spot in […]
The Washington Senators were about to leave town and never return. The Senators would be heading west before the end of 1971 to become the Texas Rangers and the fans in Washington weren’t happy about the move. Washington’s final game in Robert F. Kennedy Stadium was far from a memorable event for the action on […]
Walter Alston won seven National League pennants and four World Series titles. Alston was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. He posted 2040-1613 record as the manager of the Dodgers both in Brooklyn and in Los Angeles from 1954 to 1976. The 2,040 victories is currently the ninth on the all-time […]
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 […]
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 […]