AGRI Biz

Going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Chicago White Sox' Opening Day crowd was in a frenzy. The Sox were trailing the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, but that wasn't the story. Twenty-one-year-old Bob Feller had not allowed a hit. Feller had walked four batters and struck out eight going into the ninth. He had made well over 100 pitches to the 29 batters he had ...

The 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers were one of baseball’s greatest teams.  They lost the World Championship to the hated New York Yankees, but knowledgeable baseball fans know that the better team sometimes loses four games before they win four games. Brooklyn's eight starting players included Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, and Roy Campanella. Gil Hodges, who should be in the Hall of Fame, was ...

In 1958, Whitey Ford led the American League with a 2.01 ERA, winning 14, losing seven, and pitching 219 and one-third innings. Mickey Mantle batted .304 with an American League-leading 42 home runs. Yankees general manager George Weiss wanted to cut Ford's salary by $8,000 and Mantle's by $5,000 for the 1959 season.   Whitey Ford Had to Be a "Good Boy." When Ford and Mantle reported for spring training, the Yankees offered to eliminate ...

The better performer isn't always the winner. Detroit Tigers' left-hander Mickey Lolich was the 1968 World Series MVP, but his performance was at least equaled by the defending World Champion Cardinals' Bob Gibson. Mickey Lolich's Great World Series Lolich was great. He started, completed, and won three games, allowing only 5 runs and 6 walks, while striking out 21, in 27 innings. ...

Rammy Manuel has rooted for the Los Angeles Dodgers since he came to the United States. He is too young to have seen Bill Bevens' one-hitter in the 1947 World Series, but his father used to talk about that game whenever Rammy mentioned the New York Yankees, the one team that the elder Manuel really didn't like. My ...

Baseball fans have been repeatedly told that the New York Yankees are the greatest dynasty in sports history, but they are rarely told that since 1958, the Yankees' dominance with respect to winning the World Series, has decreased. From 1921-1958, the Yankees won 24 pennants and 18 World Championships. From 1960-2009, the Yankees have won 16 pennants and nine World Championships. Yankees Supremacy  The greatest Yankees' dynasties ...

The 1961 New York Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds in a five game World Series that was closer than the final result indicates. 1961 was one of the finest seasons in Yankees' history, but the passage of time often creates a false reality. Recently, the host of a sports show discussed the 1961 World Series. It was concluded that beating the Reds was almost a cakewalk. Nothing could be ...

Waite Hoyt won 22 games for the 1927 New York Yankees. Hoyt spent 10 seasons with the Yankees, winning 157 games before being sent to Detroit in 1930. Although he played for many teams, including the three New York teams, Hoyt was a Yankee. The Cocky Chicago Cubs In 1938, Waite was pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the soon-to-be ...

It was a portent of things to come. Near the end of spring training, Jerry Koosman, who figured to be one of the New York Mets' starters in 1968, pitched six shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants at their Phoenix training facility. The 23-year-old rookie from Minnesota faced only 20 batters, allowed a pair of harmless singles, struck ...

Denny Kewsinitch has rooted for Whitey Ford ever since he signed his autograph book in front of the real Yankee Stadium at the end of the 1950 season. Denny considers Whitey to be one of the top clutch pitchers of all time. Whitey Ford was a great clutch pitcher, who was instrumental in the New York Yankees winning 11 pennants and six ...