January 20th, 1947: Negro League standout Josh Gibson, sometimes referred to as the ‘black Babe Ruth’, dies of a stroke at the of 35. The future Hall of Fame catcher will put to rest in an unmarked grave in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, one of the best players to ever put spikes on died before the he was able to play in the Major Leagues because of the “gentlemen’s agreement” that banned non-white players [...]

January 10th, 1928: The Giants trade Rogers Hornsby to the Boston Braves for Shanty Hogan and Jimmy Welsh. It’s the Rajah’s third team in three years. Why exactly is this trade monumental? Mostly because I find it hard to believe that any team would want to trade one of the best second basemen in the history of the game, especially when he is still in the prime of his career. In 1927 for the Giants, [...]

August 31, 1997: In front of a crowd of 55,707, Don Mattingly’s uniform number 23 is added to the list of retired numbers on the wall at Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park. Don Mattingly will probably be one of the greatest baseball players ever not to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Who is the first person to say that he won’t ever be inducted? The man, himself. I worked a charity dinner in January [...]

November 2nd, 1972: Leading the league in victories (27), ERA (1.97), starts (41), complete games (30), and strike outs (310), Steve Carlton wins the NL’s CY Young Award. ‘Lefty’s’ 27 victories nearly accounts for nearly half (45.8%) of the last-place Phillies wins. Although it pains me to praise the work of a ballplayer that played for Philadelphia, what Steve Carlton did for the Phillies in 1972 was unbelievable. It’s remarkable when a pitcher can win [...]

October 26th, 1940: Tigers’ slugging left fielder Hank Greenberg (.340, 41, 150) is named the American League’s Most Valuable Player with Indian hurler Bob Feller (27-11- 2.61) finishing second. Having won the award in 1935 as a first baseman, ‘Hammerin’ Hank’ becomes the first player to win another MVP playing a different position. Like most avid baseball fans, I’m familiar with who Hank Greenberg is and that he played the majority of his career for [...]