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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

01:12:35

Episode 31 - Glenn Davis Gets Dealt To Baltimore

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/01/10

In the long history of trades, few have ever been so disastrous for a team than the Orioles acquisition of Glenn Davis, 27 years ago this week, for Pete Harnisch, Steve Finley, and Curt Schilling. Perhaps a good idea in theory, Davis was a rising star from a horrifying childhood whose bizarre injury issues kept scuttling any chance he had of fulfilling his promise in Baltimore. (Disclaimer: This episode contains frank discussions of child abuse and suicide.)

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59:30

Episode 30 - The Life and Death of Roberto Clemente

This Week In Baseball History ·

2018/01/03

An icon and legend in his own time, Roberto Clemente's death 45 years ago this week while delivering aid to earthquake victims transformed him and his legacy into much more. Mike and Bill look back at Clemente's life, his incredible career, and his tragic death and discover a complicated man, driven to succeed and to earn the respect of the baseball world, who stood up in defense of Latino ballplayers while becoming one of the greatest players of baseball's Golden Age.

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01:01:08

Episode 29 - The Cubs Go To College

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/12/20

Innovation that works out is praised as genius. But innovation that fails, no matter how inspired, is roundly mocked. No new idea in baseball has ever inspired more laughter than the College of Coaches, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley's plan to eliminate the position of manager entirely. It led to chaos and the Cubs lost 193 games in two years. But was the idea as crazy as it sounds? Mike and Bill look back at Wrigley's decision and decide, if you squint, there might be a glimmer of a great idea at its

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01:03:38

Episode 28 - Ozzie Smith for Garry Templeton

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/12/13

In their quest to find a shortstop who could emerge from the shadow of Marty Marion, the Cardinals thought they had their savior in Garry Templeton. But, after years of conflict, 36 years ago today, they traded him for one of the best shortstops in baseball history. Mike and Bill dig into their contentious early careers, the trade, and the aftermath, which changed the trajectory of two franchises and one wizard.

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55:15

Episode 27 - The Angels Cowboy Up

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/12/06

Before the American League awarded him the Angels 57 years ago this week, Gene Autry lived the American dream, rising out of poverty in Oklahoma to become The Singing Cowboy, a beloved national star of stage, radio, music, television, and film. Mike and Bill trace his life both before and after he created the ballclub, the surprisingly contentious process that led to the foundation of the franchise, and maybe the reason his Angels never won the World Series in his lifetime.

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49:27

Episode 26 - Interleague Play Is Go

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/11/29

One of the most controversial changes to Major League Baseball in the last 70 years has been the introduction of interleague play to the regular season schedule. But the debate over how much contact clubs should have with the opposing league actually goes back to the first tenuous peace agreement between the AL and NL. Mike and Bill look at the various schemes that failed over 90 years, the one that finally succeeded in winning approval 21 years ago this week, on November 26, 1996, and on how it has

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54:37

Episode 25 - Joe DiMaggio Becomes The Yankee Clipper

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/11/22

Obviously one of the greatest and most recognizable players in history, Joe DiMaggio was even famous before he even got to New York, after the Yankees purchased his contract 83 years ago this week from the San Francisco Seals and immediately began touting him as the heir to Babe Ruth. Mike and Bill look at DiMaggio's early days, growing up as a first generation child of immigrants, becoming a sensation for the Seals, and debuting with the Yankees to see where and how the legend of Joe DiMaggio

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57:17

Episode 24 - Ichiro Crosses the Pacific (with special...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/11/15

There has never been a player like Ichiro Suzuki in baseball history. Singular in his approach offensively and defensively, and in his amazing ability to rack up hits. It's hard to remember that, 17 years ago, when he signed with the Seattle Mariners, there was a great deal of skepticism about Ichiro and whether the fuss was worth it. With special guest Jim Allen (@jballallen) of the Kyodo News and the Japan Baseball Weekly podcast, Mike and Bill examine Ichiro's early life and development in Japan,

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46:15

Episode 23 - The Blue Jays and Mariners Expand (with...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/11/08

With the American League set to expand for the 1977 season, 41 years ago this week, on November 5, 1976, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals conducted their expansion draft. As special guests Patrick Dubuque (@euqubud) and Navin Vaswani (@vaswani_) point out, the clubs took diametrically different strategies in filling out their rosters for their inaugural season and setting each franchise's course for the foreseeable future.

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52:14

Episode 22 - Mr. Flood Goes to Washington

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/11/01

Curt Flood risked everything to take on Major League Baseball's reserve clause, a fight that led him all the way to the United States Supreme Court, derailed his career, and almost chased him out of the game entirely. Then, 47 years ago this week, the Senators tried to bring him back in. Mike and Bill look at Flood's complicated life and career, including his ill-fated comeback, and his ultimately doomed attempt to become the game's first free agent.

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01:28:21

Episode 21 - The Twins Become the Worst World Champions

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/10/25

Mike and Bill get super self-indulgent on the 30th anniversary of the Minnesota Twins' first World Series win. They look at how the club was assembled, profile manager Tom Kelly, chronicle the improbable regular and postseason runs that captured the heart of the Upper Midwest, and discuss whether these Twins were actually the worst World Series winner in baseball history.

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50:26

Episode 20 - Reggie Jackson Stirs the Drink (with...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/10/18

One of the most exciting and polarizing figures in baseball history, Reggie Jackson's career reached its apex 40 years ago this week, when he hit three home runs in three swings to, almost singlehandedly win Game 6, and the 1977 World Series for the Yankees. Mike and Bill are joined by CBS Sports's Dayn Perry (@daynperry) to discuss Reggie's career and his historic moment.

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55:12

Episode 19 - Fred Merkle Has a Boner

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/10/11

On the 109th anniversary of the makeup game played between the Cubs and Giants, necessitated by one of the most infamous baserunning blunders of all time, Mike and Bill chart the 1908 season, recap both the fateful day Fred Merkle's life changed and the makeup contest, and remember Merkle's overshadowed, but otherwise excellent career.

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43:07

Episode 18 - The Red Sox Dream the Impossible

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/10/04

50 years ago this week, the Red Sox turned around a moribund and misguided franchise by clinching the AL pennant in one of the wildest races of all time. Mike and Bill look at how they reversed more than a decade of racism to become a contender, document the season's final days, and dig into Carl Yastrzemski's historic year.

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39:52

Episode 17 - Tommy John Has Surgery (with special...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/09/28

Nothing has ever revolutionized sports medicine, or perhaps even sports themselves, more than Tommy John Surgery, a procedure invented and performed for the first time 43 years ago this week by Dr. Frank Jobe on the procedure's namesake. Mike and Bill look at the careers of John and Jobe, who will forever be linked by the groundbreaking technique, and Yahoo! Sports's Jeff Passan (@jeffpassan), the author of The Arm, explains the surgery itself and how it, and the need for it, have evolved over

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50:21

Episode 16 - Colluding with Craig Calcaterra

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/09/20

On September 21, 1987, arbitrator Thomas Roberts ruled that MLB owners had colluded to restrict the free agent market during the 1984-1985 offseason. It was the first of three such rulings that would cost owners money, credibility, pennants, and players, and would set the stage for baseball's labor negotiations for the next 30 years. Mike and Bill are joined by NBC Sports's Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) to discuss the owners' scheme, where it went wrong, and the ramifications that are still

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50:27

Episode 15 - Tinker Meets Evers Meets Chance

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/09/13

On the 115th anniversary of their first game together, Mike and Bill look at the most famous double play combination in baseball history. Who were Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance? Were they really as good as the poem suggests? Why did they go their separate ways? And do they belong in the Hall of Fame?

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34:31

Episode 14 - Roger Maris Finally Gets His Due

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/09/06

With Giancarlo Stanton poised to hit 62 and set what some are calling a "clean" home run record, Mike and Bill examine the controversy surrounding Roger Maris's single-season home run record, and the declaration by Fay Vincent, 26 years ago this week, that Maris was the sole holder of the single-season record. They also weigh in on what makes a record a record, and whether asterisks are ever appropriate.

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43:30

Episode 13 - Tom Yawkey Endorses Segregation

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/08/30

With the Red Sox considering renaming Yawkey Way, Mike and Bill look at the legacy of the former owner and MLB's decades-long struggle to keep the league segregated. On the 71st anniversary of the owners meeting where Yawkey and his fellow members of the Major League Steering Committee presented a report arguing that MLB should resist integration, maybe it's time to divorce the Sox from the name of the man who took more than a dozen years after Jackie Robinson's debut to sign his club's first black

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37:04

Episode 12 - The Phillies Finally Win A Game (with...

This Week In Baseball History ·

2017/08/23

Mike and Bill leave the heavy lifting to Liz Roscher (@lizroscher) of The Good Phight and Big League Stew as they dig into the longest losing streak in modern history. This week, 57 years ago, the Phillies ended their 23 game skid, beating the Braves in the second half of a double header, after setting a new mark for prolonged futility that fit right in with the club's depressing history. They look deep into that history to see why the Phils were a laughingstock for more than 30 years, why they

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371 results

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