Author Archive
The New York Yankees Raid Kansas City »
Michael Davis grew up in Kansas City after World War II. He rooted for the Yankees because the Kansas City Blues were the Yankees' top farm team, but all that changed when Arnold Johnson bought the Philadelphia Athletics and moved them to Kansas City. Kansas City Becomes a Major League City In 1955, I finally lived in a major league town. [...]
The 1962 Giants Were Better, but the Yankees Had »
Jackie Howard was a Giants' fan who grew up in Flushing. He was 10 years old when the Giants won the pennant in 1951, but the Yankees beat them in the World Series. That's when Jackie Howard started his hate affair with the Yankees, which grew more intense during the 1962 World Series. I Couldn't Watch the Giants After my team moved, I had to [...]
The New York Yankees and Arnold Johnson: A Yankees »
During the 1950s, the Yankees had a major league farm team named the Kansas City Athletics. Larry Levensen is a Giants' fan who resented the Yankees because he knew that it was almost impossible to beat both the Yankees and their Kansas City farm team. "I Will Probably Die Waiting for a World Championship ." I was only four years old when the [...]
MLB: Waivers, the Trading Deadline, and the Integrity »
The year was 1967. The columnist was Leonard Koppett. The topic was trading a player for "a player or players to be named later." Waiver Deals In 1967, June 15 was the trading deadline. After that date, only waiver deals could be made. In a waiver trade, each team is given the chance, based on reverse order of won-lost record, to buy a player's [...]
How A-Rod Helped the New York Yankees Win the World »
Alex Rodriguez has finally played a significant role in helping his team win the World Series. Until this season, many in the media fostered the belief that Alex Rodriguez was the major reason the Yankees had not been World Champions since 2000, which is patently false. Solid Pitching Wins the World Series The Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 [...]
The Los Angeles Dodgers Dominated the Yankees in the »
Few teams have dominated a World Series the way the Los Angeles Dodgers dominated in 1963. The Dodgers won 99 games during the season, and faced the defending World Champion Yankees in the Series for the first time since they abandoned Brooklyn. Outstanding Los Angeles Pitching Sandy Koufax had the first of his four outstanding years, going [...]
Mickey Mantle’s Final Seasons Were Better Than »
Mickey Mantle's last solid season was 1964, although he did fairly well in 1966. In 1964, Mickey hit .303 with 35 home runs, 111 RBIs, and a .423 on base average. The 1966 season was not as good, when Mickey hit .288 with 23 home runs, and that was followed by two sub par seasons, after which Mickey retired. There is a tendency to excuse or even [...]
Triple Crown Winner Lou Gehrig: No MVP »
There wasn't a murmur of protest. In 1934, Lou Gehrig won the American League's Triple Crown, batting .363, hitting a career high 49 home runs, and driving in 165 runs. Detroit Tigers' playing manager, Mickey Cochrane, was voted the American League's Most Valuable Player. The Tigers Won the Pennant Mickey Cochrane batted .320, hit two home [...]
Allie Reynolds’ Amazing 1952 World Series »
The 1952 World Series is usually remembered for Billy Martin's great catch of a Jackie Robinson pop fly with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning of the seventh game. The catch saved the Series for the Yankees, but the 1952 World Series was memorable in many other ways. Joe Black Started and Finished Game 1 Rookie right hander [...]
Johnny Damon Is No Derek Jeter »
There have been many outlandish claims made when comparing the relative merits of baseball players, but to conclude that Johnny Damon is in the same league as Derek Jeter is as graphic an example of specious reasoning as baseball fans have ever heard. The only way to accept the claim is to facetiously state that they are in the same league because [...]