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PODCAST

This Week In Baseball History

Mike Bates and Bill Parker

This Week In Baseball History is a weekly podcast devoted to the history of baseball, hosted by Mike Bates and Bill Parker, the co-founders of The Platoon Advantage and writers on many fine websites.

history

All Episodes

51:49

Episode 51 - Eddie Grant Goes to War

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/05/30

In honor of Memorial Day, 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 97 years ago this week with a touching memorial at the Polo Grounds, which was stolen after the Giants' final game there and disappeared from the historical record. Also happy birthday to Larry Jackson and Eric Davis.

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01:01:56

Episode 50 - The Beaning of Mickey Cochrane

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/05/23

By any objective measure, Mickey Cochrane is one of the greatest players in the history of baseball, despite his career ending prematurely 81 years ago this week, when his skull was fractured by an errant Bump Hadley fastball. Mike and Bill look at Cochrane's life and career, and the tragic incident that cut short both his playing and managerial career, and threatened his life. Also, happy birthday to Augie Galan and Kent Hrbek!

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53:16

Episode 49 - Baseball Goes Balk-Crazy

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/05/16

What was thought to be a small rule tweak in 1988 led to an explosion in the number of balks called on MLB pitchers, and confusion and chaos throughout the game. Mike and Bill dig into The Year of the Balk, the pretty hilarious and ridiculous consequences, and why it all was pretty much Bert Blyleven's fault. Plus, happy birthday to Rick Reuschel and Disco Dan Ford!

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38:14

Episode 48 - Anthony Young Keeps Losing and Losing

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/05/10

Twenty-six years ago this week, Anthony Young got his first loss of 1992. He followed that up with another loss. And then another. He began inventing new and exciting ways to lose, and his teammates provided no help on offense or on defense. Young would eventually lose 27 straight decisions, the longest streak in baseball history. Mike and Bill dig into each of the losses and chart the career of the hardest luck pitcher there ever was. Also, happy birthday to Ross Barnes and Mike Cuellar.

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01:09:52

Episode 47 - Leon Day Plays Two Ways (with special...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/05/02

With the impressive debut of Shohei Ohtani, commentators are pointing out that no one has had his level of offensive and pitching excellence in the Majors since Babe Ruth. But as special guest Mike Duncan (Revolutions Podcast; The History of Rome; @mikeduncan) notes, that ignores decades of Negro League history that's full of two-way players that rival Ohtani, and even Ruth, in skill on both sides of the ball. Plus, happy birthday Darren Dreifort and Davey Lopes! And farewell to the last living

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47:34

Episode 46 - Jackie Endures the Phillies

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/04/25

No figure looms larger in the history of baseball than Jackie Robinson and, 71 years ago this week, the pioneer who integrated baseball faced one of his greatest challenges when Ben Chapman and his Philadelphia Phillies began heaping racist abuse on the Dodgers rookie. Mike and Bill look at this troubling incident and its aftermath, and dig into Ben Chapman to find out whether "The Alabama Flash" was really just hazing a rookie, as he claimed (spoiler alert: he wasn't) and not a virulent racist

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48:40

Episode 45 - AstroTurf Uproots Grass

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/04/18

Baseball is meant to be played outdoors and on a manicured lawn of beautiful soft grass. But with America rocketing into the Space Age, nothing was safe from modernization. Including the playing field in Houston, where the Astros and Dodgers played the first major league game on artificial turf 52 years ago this week. Mike and Bill look at the rise and downfall of fake plastic grass, and why this terrible idea has stuck around for so long.

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57:34

Episode 44 - Jim Abbott Skips the Minors

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/04/12

There has never been another Major League pitcher like Jim Abbott, who captured baseball's imagination in the late 1980s, as a college hurler, an Olympian, and finally as the 16th player to skip the minor leagues entirely. And, also, as a one-handed player. On the 29th anniversary of his first start, Mike and Bill examine his life and how baseball has how Major League Baseball has opened its doors to players with "handicaps" since its beginning.

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58:04

Episode 43 - The Expos and Mets Get Rusty

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/04/04

The passing of Rusty Staub last week, coupled with his birthday this week, and the 49th and 46th anniversaries of his trades to the Expos and Mets respectively, means that Mike and Bill have dedicated an entire episode to Le Grande Orange, baseball's renaissance man, and his amazing careers both on and off the field.

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50:02

Episode 42 - Tragedy on Little Lake Nellie

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/03/28

In the waning days of Spring Training, 25 years ago in 1993, at the end of a long day off spent barbecuing at Tim Crews's Bass and Bridle Ranch, Cleveland pitchers Crews, Bob Ojeda, and Steve Olin decided to take a twilight cruise around the lake. It would lead to the deaths of Olin and Cruise and a career altering injury for Ojeda. Mike and Bill look back on their lives and on the events of that tragic day. And to lighten the mood, this week's birthdays include a story of indecent exposure filtered

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46:42

Episode 41 - Charlie Brown Plays, and Homers, for...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/03/21

With all due respect to the 1899 Spiders, the worst team in baseball history was undoubtedly the one managed by Charlie Brown in Peanuts, the iconic comic strip written by Charles Schulz. And no one knows more about that team than special guest Larry Granillo (@wezen_ball), who joins Mike and Bill this week to discuss Peanuts, its connection to baseball, the statistics Larry calculated in his 2011 SABR presentation, and Charlie Brown's first homer, which happened 25 years ago this week. Fun and

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55:44

Episode 40 - The Tigers Can't Trade Ty Cobb

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/03/14

Recent biographies have tried to rehabilitate the image of Ty Cobb, suggesting he was not the racist monster of popular imagination. But a string of violent incidents throughout his career indicate otherwise, as Mike and Bill discovered when they delved into Cobb's history to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the time the Tigers got tired enough of his behavior that they tried to trade him, but couldn't find any takers.

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01:09:44

Episode 39 - Louis Sockalexis Joins the Spiders (with...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/03/07

For more than a century, Cleveland's ballclub has called itself the Indians, supposedly to honor, Louis Sockalexis, who signed with the Cleveland Spiders 121 years ago this week to become the first Native American player in the Major Leagues. With the help of a very special guest, comedian and host of The Three Swings Podcast River Butcher (@RivButcher), Mike and Bill trace Sockalexis's tragic life, the history of the team's name and logo, and why it's important that the logo is being marginalized

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56:45

Episode 38 - Baseball Has a Cocaine Problem

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/02/28

Like the rest of America, Major League Baseball was overrun in the early 1980s by cocaine, culminating in a massive trial in Pittsburgh where seven players testified against their dealers. Thirty-two years ago this week, on February 28, 1986, Peter Ueberroth suspended all seven, and four others, to prove the league was serious about cleaning up its act. Mike and Bill look at the history of drug use in the game, of cocaine itself, of the trial, and of the league's largely failed attempts to police

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47:40

Episode 37 - Danny Gardella and the Mexican League...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/02/21

Major League Baseball rarely faces a realistic challenge to its hegemony, but, 72 years ago this week, Danny Gardella became the first American-born player to sign with Jorge Pasquel's Mexican League, touching off a short war that challenged the reserve clause, increased salaries at home and abroad, and wound up ending both Gardella's career and the Mexican League's independence. Mike and Bill examine Gardella's life, Pasquel's insurgency, MLB's response, and the court battle that followed.

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58:54

Episode 36 - Edith Houghton Scouts For the Phillies...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/02/14

In 1946, 72 years ago this week, Edith Houghton walked into the Phillies office with a binder of press clippings and asked for a job. Team owner Bob Montgomery reportedly hired her on the spot, making her the first professional scout in Major League history who also was a woman. Mike and Bill welcome special guest Meg Rowley (@megrowler) of The Hardball Times to discuss Houghton's life and career, how women's history in baseball is still a neglected area of study, and how the role of women in the

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45:17

Episode 35 - The Kidnapping of Chris von der Ahe

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/02/07

On February 7, 1898, St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe left to dine at a local hotel. He never arrived, instead spirited away to Pittsburgh. Mike looks at von der Ahe's strange and inspiring life from his early days as a German immigrant to his kidnapping/arrest to his ultimate downfall. It's a story of inspiration and hubris that wound up shaping the early history of the professional game. Also, happy birthday to Mookie Wilson and Dan Quisenberry!

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58:28

Episode 34 - Wait, the Cardinals Almost Moved to...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/02/01

In 1951, Bill Veeck bought the Browns and tried to run the Cardinals out of St. Louis, but was thwarted. The reason why? Cardinals owner Fred Saigh's impending jail term for tax evasion. Mike and Bill go through the truly weird story of how the Cardinals almost left the city for Houston or Milwaukee, and how the Browns eventually were forced to move to Baltimore. Plus, happy birthday Bill White and John Tudor, on a very Cardinals-centric episode!

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01:25:03

Episode 33 - Jackie Jensen Fears to Fly (with special...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/01/24

Jackie Jensen was the original Bo Jackson, and he seemed to have it all. Talent to spare, the adulation of an entire city, and a loving marriage to a fellow famous athlete. But darkness lurked beneath that rosy exterior, which would drive the 1958 American League MVP to retire just a year later. Mike and Bill are joined by Steven Goldman (@GoStevenGoldman of The Infinite Inning podcast to document the rise and fall of one of the forgotten great players of baseball's Golden Age.

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01:06:49

Episode 32 - FDR Gives Baseball the Green Light

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/01/17

With America's war effort kicking into high gear following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, professional baseball was at a crossroads. Unsure what the war would mean for all levels of the game, Commissioner Landis reached out to President Roosevelt, seeking his advice. Roosevelt's response, which became known as the "Green Light Letter" was written back to Landis 76 years ago this week, giving baseball the President's endorsement to keep playing, while the country beat back the Axis threat.

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