Classic Baseball Radio

Johnny Bench was the acknowledged leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds’ era-defining team that won six divisional titles, four pennants, and two World Series. A master of both offence and defence, Bench held the record for home runs by a catcher for over thirty years, along with two years leading the National League for home runs and three years leading with RBIs. Alongside those awa...

He's probably the greatest first basemen of all time, with a career .273, 2,583 hits, 1,305 runs, and 1,636 RBI; he was called up to the All-Star game fourteen times, and was the ninth player to reach 500 home runs. Yet Ernie Banks never won a World Series ring. Why? The simple answer is that he started his Major League career with the Chicago Cubs, played with them for eighteen years, and ret...

Who’s the best pitcher baseball ever seen? There are a lot of names to cosndier. Who's the best left-handed pitcher baseball ever seen? That list is a lot shorter, and near the top - perhaps at the very top - is Lefty Grove. There’s no louder-than-life personality to help us remember him by; there’s no stunning images on early TV coverage, nor are there mythical stories to pass on. As the imag...

If you're looking for the greatest baseball dynasty, you have to consider the Alou brothers. Three exceptional ball players—Felipe, Matty and Jesús—hold a joint first as the first 'three brothers on one team' when they all played for the Giants against the Mets on September 10, 1963. Between them, they gather World Series rings, All-Star appearances, and batting championships before mo...

Eleven years after becoming the first expansion team in the American League, the Washington Senators left the capital, headed to Texas, and became the Rangers. It wasn't an easy start, with 100 losses picked up in both 72 and 73. The Rangers would bounce back with 74 and 75's records above .500. Titles would take a little longer, with the franchise not picking up a league title until 1996,...

For the 1961 season, the Washington Senators moved out of the capital to play ball in Minnesota as the Twins. Marque names such as Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, and Jim Perry helped the team make its mark in its new home. Four years later, the Twins would win the AL pennant and bring it to Minnesota for the first time. As for Washington, the city would not be left without a baseball team. Immedia...

A gentleman in demeanour but a superman when slugging. That was Harmon Killebrew, Idaho's greatest home-run hitter and a legend at the plate. He was a 13-times All-Star, a 6-time AL home-run leader, a 3x AL RBI leader, and the 1969 MVP. When he retired, he was fifth in the all-time Home Run record, and his 573 bombs are still enough to hold twelfth place today. He could easily reach the edge o...

He was the the first Caribbean and the first  Latin-American player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame; he hit .317 over 17 years with exactly 3000 hits in a career cut short in a tragic plane crash. He was selected for 15 All-Star games, won 12 Gold Gloves as an outfielder, and led the NL batting tables for four years. On top of that, he undertook countless opportunities to work with charities,...

The Cleveland Indians were the team to beat in 1954, and frankly, nobody in the American League that year showed anything like the form needed to offer a consistent challenge. With a record of 111-43, the Indians walked away with the pennant and a record of .721—a record in the shorter 154-game seasons. They were the clear favorites going into the 1954 World Series, so it was a shock to lose two o...

Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood may not be one of the first names that come to mind when you ask about notable pitchers, but he left his mark in the books. Take the 1968 season, where he set the record for games pitched (88). He held the AL record for starting games for four years running, with a record 49 games started in 1972.  And in 1972 he set a record that stands to this day. 376 and two-thirds in...

It would be hard for any pitcher to stand out with Sandy Koufax as a teammate. Don Drysdale made it look easy.  The left-handed Koufax and the right-handed Drysdale are arguably the best pairing in Los Angeles sporting history, no matter the sport.  Drysdale's lifetime ERA of 2.95 curiously matches his World Series ERA on a 3-3 record. Putting aside the first and last years of his 14-year career,...

Minnie Miñoso earned his legendary status countless times. He was the first Afro-Latino in the Majors, the first black player for the White Sox, and one of the first Latin Americans in the All-Star Game. He picked up three Gold Gloves, batted eight seasons over .300, and was the second player to appear in major league games in five different decades. Of course the White Sox retired #9. Our broadca...

Let's take another game to appreciate the legendary Nolan Ryan. A Hall of Famer who played in the major leagues for 27 years, Ryan laid claim to be one of the greatest pitchers of all time. A lifetime .526 record, a record 5714 strikeouts, a record seven career no-hitters, a joint-record 12 one-hitters, and appearances in four separate decades. Yet he never won a Cy Young Award… perhaps another re...

Bob Brice has a pitching career anyone would be proud of. His 1964 season was probably the pinnacle; with nine complete games, four shoutouts, an ERA of 2.76, and one immaculate inning. Like many pitchers, Bruce's speed tailed off and his ERA climbed in his final years, not helped with a lengthy period on the 1966 IL with an eye infection in his final year with the Astros, but there are still mome...

Pitchers have it easy with their triple crown. Batters find it more of a challenge. Only 18 have achieved it, and only 12 in the live-ball era. Miguel Cabrera managed it in 2012, but you have to go back to 1967 to find the next. And there you'll find Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz racked up 44 home runs, 121 runs batted in, while batting .326. More than enough to take the Triple Crown, along with the MVP,...

Jim Perry made three appearances on the All-Star stage, won the Cy Young Award, lead the AL twice for wins, and in 2023 is 84th on the all-time wins list with 215 successful appearances. Yet you probably know him as the older brother of Gaylord Perry. Curiously, the two pitching brothers only met once. July 3, 1973 with Gaylord pitching for the Twins and Jim for the Tigers. Gaylord was charged wit...

Gaylord Perry won the Cy Young in both the American and National Leagues, had five seasons with over 20 wins, was the third pitcher to rack up 3,000 strikeouts, joined the 300 win-club in 1982, and many more achievements. As the 2023 season ends, Perry is ranked 17th in the all time winners list. Yet Gaylord Perry is remembered for one pitch in his arsenal, the spitball. A pitch with a wicked leve...

Three managers have taken three teams to three World Series wins. As Bruce Bochy joins this exclusive club in 2023, let's take a moment to look back at this incredibly rare achievement. Bruce Bochy led the 1998 Padres to the World Series, then winning three World Series for the Giants in 2010, 2012, and 2014; and rounding out the triple with the 2023 Rangers. The first triple manager was Bill McKe...

St Louis' 'Gashouse Gang' are back in the World Series. Following victories in 1926 and 1931, and their fifth National League pennant in nine years, they are very much the favourites to earn their rings. Facing them are the Detroit Tigers who are coming off a massive 101-53 season (that .656 record is a mark the club has never beaten to this day). It's no surprise that the two teams would push eac...

No matter how you reach the Fall Classic, dreams are made at the World Series. Once in a while, the players create something legendary. That's the case with the 1962 World Series. Let's set the scene. The Giants have won their first National League Pennant since moving to San Francisco, although they needed a three game play-off series against the LA Dodgers. The Yankees have won five of the last...

Starting out as a pitcher in the minors, injury pushed Stan Musial to first base. In a Majors career that spanned twenty-three years and three world Series rings, Musial established himself as one of the greatest hitters of all time. You want numbers? How about a career average of .331 over 3660 hits, 1951 RBIs, and 475 home runs. In 1949 he was on course to win a Triple Crown in the National Leag...

The New Yorks Mets have just won the World Series, in no small part to star pitcher Tom Seaver. The expansion franchise starts the new season with every intention of continuing that winning form, as does Seaver. How dominant? Only twenty pitchers have struck out 18 or more batters in a regular 9-innings game. As the Mets welcome the San Diego Padres, Seaver is about to become part of that exclusiv...

The Designated Hitter rule was adopted by the American League in 1973. Nearly fifty years later, and with much debate that has started to quieten down, the National League followed. In that time leagues at every level around the world introduced the pitcher's replacement bat. Somebody had to be first though. And the first was the New York Yankees' Ron "Boomer" Blomberg. It was Ap...

Ted Simmons was one of the MLB's greatest catchers.  Two games with the St Louis Cardinals in 1968 started his career in the game, but after a year in AAA his natural debut came in 1970. When he retired after 21 years in the majors, he held the catcher records for 2,472 career hits (with 483 doubles), ranked second for RBIs with 1389 runs, and 10th for home runs with 248 out of the park. Throw in...

With MLB's changes to the 2023 season has seen a resurgence in aggressive base running and stolen bases. It's not yet back to the levels seen in the seventies and eighties, but a new dimension has returned to the diamond. Which leads us to the Athletics' Bert Campaneris.  In the eight years between 1965 and 1972, Campaneris led the American League in Stolen Bases for six of those years...