AGRI Biz

Kris Burmen has always known that Whitey Ford is a terribly overrated pitcher. He has some facts to support his contention.   Whitey Ford was the Chairman of the Board. He was the pitching ace that New York Yankees' manager Casey Stengel saved to face the other contenders. Twenty Wins Instead of starting Ford against the ...

Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers' president, made an explosive revelation at the Wilberforce State University annual football dinner on Feb. 16, 1948. In a candid and passionate speech to an audience of about 250 individuals, Mr. Rickey disclosed extremely damaging information about a document that allegedly was approved before Jackie Robinson became the major leagues' first black ...

Joe Pepitone became the New York Yankees' first baseman when Bill Skowron was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers following the 1962 season. The Yankees had signed Pepitone in 1958, and after spending four seasons in the minors, Joe joined the big team for the 1962 season. While a student at Manual Trades High School in ...

As the New York Yankees opened spring training in 1967, they had many question marks, not the least of which was the status of 38-year-old Whitey Ford. The greatest pitcher in Yankees' history was a free agent, but only because he didn't want to occupy a spot on the roster until he discovered if he could still pitch. Physical Problems ...

Geoff Britches remembers when his St. Louis Cardinals acquired the services of Roger Maris prior to the 1967 season. He responds to a recent article whose position is that the New York Yankees should not traded Roger. Roger Maris Would Not Play for the Yankees Roger Maris would not have returned to the New York Yankees after ...

Dave Paderson is a die-hard New York Mets' fan. In 1966, Dave was attending New York University's graduate school. One December night that year, on his way back to his home in Flushing, Dave received a wonderful present from New York's other team. "We are committed to making a fresh start with young players. Smith gives ...

"The biggest game I ever played in was probably Don Larsen's perfect game." Those were the words of Mickey Mantle, who played in many big games. On Oct. 8, 1956, Mickey Mantle had one of the best games of his great career. Don Larsen and Sal Maglie The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees each had ...

After losing the 1964 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Yankees fired manager Yogi Berra and hired the manager who had beaten them in that World Series, Johnny Keane. World Champions Again? Keane, like so many others, failed to realize that the key Yankees' players were mere shells of themselves. He never got to know ...

Few individuals knew it at the time, but on Oct. 6, 1966, Sandy Koufax started the final game of his career. The highly favored Los Angeles Dodgers had dropped the first game of the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, but Dodgers fans were not overly concerned because Koufax was starting the second game against young Jim Palmer. Koufax ...

At the end of play on Sept. 20, 1964, the Phillies led both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds by 6.5 games. At the end of play on Sept. 27, the Reds led the second-place Phillies by a full game. In the span of seven days, the Phillies lost a 6.5-game lead and were never again in first place. ...