This Week In Baseball History

The decades of baseball in Brooklyn were mostly marked by one failure after another until the club got their act together in the 1940s. Still, the Dodgers seemed uniquely capable of breaking their fans' hearts until 70 years ago this week, when they finally beat the Yankees to claim their one and only World Series in their original home. That moment in the sun was all too brief, however, as they'd pack up and move to the West Coast...

Mike's doing better after his bout with pneumonia, but his voice is still on the fritz this week. So we have one more classic episode of TWIBHistory for you before we get back to business of recording new material. Apologies all around, but the good news is that we get the chance to rebroadcast one of the most compelling and tragic stories we've done.

Lyman Bostock was one of the most dynamic young stars in the American League, com...

So, it turns out Mike has pneumonia. He's getting better. But while we wait for him to complete his rehab assignment, please enjoy this re-release of Episode 168 on Kens Griffey Sr. and Jr. 

Baseball is a game that is most often passed down from one generation to the next. But some of those handoffs are more effective than others, like with the the Griffeys, Kens Sr. and Jr., who hit back-to-back homers 35 years ago this week, the ...

Please excuse Mike this week, as he is dealing with some laryngitis and was on restricted duty during this episode. But Bill certainly stepped up as the pair celebrate the life and career of the great Davey Johnson to mark his passing at the age of 82. Johnson was a star as a player and a superstar as a manager, leading the Mets to their second championship in 1986 and adding significant value to basically every team he helmed. But...

Baseball is a beautiful game when it's played well. But when it isn't...well, you get games like one that occured 103 years ago this week, when the Phillies and Cubs squared off in the highest scoring game of all time. 51 hits, 21 walks, and 9 errors later, the teams had collaborated to produce 49 runs, of which only 28 were earned. What exactly went wrong here and who were the players who had to suffer through such indignity? Mike...

Apologies for an extra re-run this month. Mike is dealing with a personal thing, and we will be back with a new episode next week.

Some people podcast about history. Some people witness it. Melissa Ludtke made it happen, successfully fighting back against Bowie Kuhn and Major League Baseball to ensure women in journalism could be on equal footing with male sportswriters. Mike, Bill and Mike Duncan (@MikeDuncan) talk with her about ...

Perhaps nothing unites more baseball fans than the shared experience of playing Little League Baseball. But, until 1974, only boys were allowed to play. After that, it took until 1984, 41 years ago this week, before the first girl played in Little League's crowning jewel, The Little League World Series. On this auspicious anniversary, Mike and Bill look back at the origins and history of Little League Baseball, and of the Little Le...

Every now and again, Mike and Bill like to take a break from the exciting world of actual baseball history and delve into the much more relaxing regular season games where nothing historic happens to talk about whatever strikes their fancy. The randomizer this week chose September 11, 1987's contest between the Pirates and Phillies. In the process of talking about the game, they share about Kevin Gross, the MLB Corporate All Stars,...

With Mike on vacation this week, we dig once again into our archives to present a classic TWIB History. One of the best ballplayers and most incredible athletes in modern history, Dave Winfield's baseball career should speak for itself. Unfortunately, two figures get in the way of that: George Steinbrenner and a stupid seagull, which was accidentally killed by a Winfield warmup toss 42 years ago this week. Mike and Bill examine all...

Some guys don't get mentioned on baseball history podcasts because they're underrated. This week's guys don't get mentioned on most baseball history podcasts because they are, in fact, properly rated. They, for one brief moment at least, stunk on ice. But they did so in a way that is monumentally rare. They all allowed runs without recording an out. On the 107th anniversary of Harry Heitmann becoming the fourth pitcher to join this...

The 1986 Mets are one of the truly iconic teams in baseball history, with a roster full of unbelievable talent, unbridled machismo, and borderline criminal tendencies. And 39 years ago, several of the mildest mannered of those Mets were arrested in a Houston bar called Cooter's Executive Games and Burgers after a night of debauchery. With certified Mets sicko and Defector Editor David Roth (@davidjroth.bsky.social), who wrote about...

For so long, we've thought that the 4,000 hit club was one of the most exclusive in baseball history, with just two members. But on the 98th anniversary of Ty Cobb's 4,000th hit, Mike and Bill are joined by Sports Reference's Executive Director of Design, Negro Leagues expert and Latin baseball researcher Adam Darowski (@adarowski.bsky.social) to talk about his presentation at SABR 53, and how much larger that club actually is. The...

The 1970s era cool just wafted off of Dave Parker, the gigantic Pirates slugger who was one of the best, if not THE BEST players in baseball in the last half of that decade. Parker's persona, his play, and his essence were all larger than life and are still clear almost 50 years later. That bigness, however, led to problems later in his career, both on and off the field, but ultimately set up a fine career denoument as a productive...

With the boys still recovering from SABR last week in Dallas, it's a perfect time to revisit the great Larry Doby, who never gets nearly enough attention. 

It's probably fair to say that no more important player in baseball history has been talked about less than Larry Doby, the second African-American to break the color line as a player and a manager, which happened 73 and 42 years ago this week, respectively. Mike and Bill try to...

Mike and Bill are off this week at SABR and are getting this classic episode up late. In that spirit, please enjoy this encore presentation of Episode 298:

With the White Sox threatening to leave the Windy City and abscond to Tampa if they didn't get a new stadium 37 years ago this week, and with the Illinois legislative session winding down to the end of its session and the funding bill a few votes short, he weirdest thing happene...

While his nickname suggested otherwise, Paul Waner was good for whatever was ailing the Pirates for 15 of his 20 big league seasons. But 83 years ago this week, after moving on from the Bucs, Big Poison would cement his Hall of Fame legacy by becoming the seventh player to reach 3,000 career hits. Mike and Bill look back on a deserving Hall of Famer and find are surprised to find that his nickname was a misnomer on both ends. He wa...

Don Drysdale was one of the most intimidating pitchers to ever take a big league mound, and his career seemingly reached its peak 57 years ago this week when he broke the record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched just before having the record snapped at 58 2/3 innings. Mike and Bill look back at this icon of the 1960s and are surprised to find out, while he became an ace almost immediately, it took a few years for Big D to p...

When we think of Lou Gehrig, we usually think about one of two things: his tragic early death or his record breaking consecutive games played streak, which began this week 100 years ago. This week, we celebrate the happier of those two aspects of his life and career, looking back at the 2,130 games that made up Gehrig's incredible accomplishment. Through it, you get a sense of just how determined, exceptional, and lucky Laruppin' L...

Due to a personal conflict, Mike was unable to help with a new episode this week. So, in honor of Memorial Day, we are re-running a very early episode of TWIB History, in which Mike and Bill celebrate the life and career of Eddie Grant, an underappreciated Phillies, Reds, and Giants third baseman who gave his life in the Argonne Forest in the closing days of World War I. Grant's sacrifice was commemorated by the Giants 104 years ag...