Retro Simba

Whitey Herzog helped Bud Harrelson hit well enough to stay in the big leagues. What he likely couldn’t have imagined is that the scrawny shortstop of the Mets would become a terror at the plate against Bob Gibson. In 16 big-league seasons, Harrelson hit .236 and had a modest on-base percentage of .327. Against Gibson, he turned into the reincarnation of Ty Cobb. Harrelson … [Read more...] about Bud Harrelson was little big man versus Bob Gibson

Sandy Koufax played hard ball when Lou Brock opted for small ball. In a game at Dodger Stadium, Koufax intentionally drilled Brock in the shoulder with a pitch. The Dodgers ace was miffed at Brock because in his previous at-bat he bunted for a base hit and then swiped two bases, leading to a run. Getting plunked by a Koufax fastball was as painful as one … [Read more...] about Rough stuff: Sandy Koufax versus Lou Brock

Frank Ryan, a quarterback who excelled at advanced mathematics and physics, sought the formula for beating the St. Louis Cardinals defense. In his 13 seasons (1958-70) in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins, Ryan had more ups than downs versus the Cardinals but it wasn’t easy. He started 12 games against them and was intercepted 14 … [Read more...] about Gridiron geometry: Frank Ryan versus Cardinals

The world changed for Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Rip Sewell on Dec. 7, 1941, but not for the obvious reason the date suggests. Sewell went hunting with a group in Florida’s Ocala National Forest on that day, the last of deer season. “I was walking down the fire lane,” Sewell recalled to the Tampa Tribune. “It was a path as wide as your living room, but one of those fellows … [Read more...] about Over the rainbow: How Rip Sewell found his pot of gold

When Larry Miggins was a student at Fordham Prep in the Bronx in the early 1940s, he told a classmate he wanted to be a big-league baseball player. The classmate, Vin Scully, told Miggins he wanted to be a big-league baseball broadcaster. The boys ruminated about the possibility of Scully broadcasting a game Miggins played in. A decade later, in 1952, Miggins was in the big … [Read more...] about Cardinals rookie Larry Miggins had special day in Brooklyn