February 29 In an acknowledgement to that phenomenon known as “Leap Year” we cannot forget those who have a birthday that only comes around once every 4 years on February 29th. To date, only 11 major leaguers have celebrated a February 29th birthday. A couple of very well known players, Pepper Martin and Al Rosen …
Feb 24
Frank Howard belts homer off Lolich 05/19/68 – Video
During a six game stretch from May 12, 1968 to May 18, 1968 the 6’7″ tall and 270lbs, Frank Howard punished the opposing pitchers by hitting a Major League-record 10 home runs in a span of 20 at bats. Frank Howard hits two more home runs off of the Tigers’ starter Mickey Lolich. The home …
Feb 21
4th Annual D.C. Baseball History Meeting
4th Annual D.C. Baseball History Meeting D.C Baseball History and The Washington Baseball Historical Society Present: The 4th Annual Winter Meeting Saturday, February 27, 2016 1:00 P.M – 5:00 P.M. Hilton Garden Inn 7301 Waverly Avenue Bethesda, MD 20814 301-654-8111 The afternoon event is free to attend. Agenda: 1:00 – 1:30 – Meet and Greet …
Jan 04
Numbers don’t tell the whole story – The Jim French Story
To Washington Senators team owner Bob Short and team vice-president Joe Burke, Jim French was a triple-A catcher at best, but the team’s manager disagreed. “He does a darn good job at handling pitchers and gets the ball away fast,” said Ted Williams. “The runners don’t go hog-crazy on him.” Williams also added that in …
Oct 19
Why the Mocking Bird Sang to the Relief Pitcher
Of the thousands of baseball players who have heard the mocking bird sing, only one knew that a bright, joyful, clever mocking bird was singing just to him. When this began to happen, Dave Baldwin’s baseball career took flight. I watched Mr. Baldwin work as a major league relief pitcher, know he has a Ph.D …
Sep 28
Nationals’ season sinks to unthinkable low
How did it come to this? Six months after after Bryce Harper essentially called out a World Series championship in the preseason, the Washington Nationals were eliminated from postseason contention with more than a week to play. Despite Harper’s MVP-caliber season and Max Scherzer‘s Cy Young-caliber first half, the defending National League East champions haven’t …
Sep 14
Nats won’t be judged by 2015 failure, but how they respond
It seems like a natural instinct to judge based on failure, especially in baseball. So it might be easy to label the Nationals as a failure for falling short of their own expectations and those of many fans in the 2015 season. But it’s often in failure where success is born, and that’s how the …
Sep 07
With the season on the line, who would you rather be?
For baseball fans, the season’s final weeks can be a manic-depressive time when fortunes turn on a dime. At least that’s how it’s been for followers of the Washington Nationals. We’ve gone from hope to despair and back so many times in the past few weeks, it’s hard to count. Remember that awful Western road …
Aug 31
Nats get most from Werth in the leadoff spot
When the Nationals learned Friday that leadoff man Denard San would have hip surgery and miss the rest of the season, it was certainly discouraging news. Without Span’s .365 OPB and base-stealing potential atop the lineup, the team’s offense takes a severe hit, and with it their chances to catch the New York Mets in …
Aug 24
Encouraging signs spark memories of Nats’ 2014 run
Funny how quickly your outlook can change. A week ago, many Nationals fans were calling for manager Matt Williams’ head, for the team to cut bait on Jayson Werth and the $42 million the team still owes him through 2017, and for the benching of Anthony Rendon, who had gone more than two weeks without …
