Podcast Episodes

Rollie Fingers, The First Reliever, Orioles At Athletics, May 29, 1971

Season 1 Episode 83

As Baseball evolved during the expansion era, so did the role of the pitcher. Where the norm was once for starters to go for the full nine innings, the use of relief pitchers and the emergence of the…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

Ernie Lombardi Only Slipped Up Once, World Series Game 2, October 5, 1939.

Season 1 Episode 82

Bill James called him “the slowest man who played baseball,” yet his ten years with a batting average over .300 would make him attractive to any team. In his seventeen years, he was the first catcher…

Published on 1 year, 5 months ago

Fritz Peterson's Summer Of Success, Yankees at Athletics, May 7, 1970

Season 1 Episode 81

There are pitchers who have storied careers, workhorses who can support a team’s offence for many years, and pitchers who shine brightly and burn out in a single season.

Fritz Peterson was a workhors…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

Remembering Whitey Herzog, Yankees at Orioles, September 20, 1961

Season 1 Episode 80

Legendary manager and player Whitey Herzog died this week at the age of 92. Here at Classic Baseball Radio, we'd like to take a moment to remember a career that caught fire after the playing ended, w…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

The Little Professor You Shouldn't Forget, Red Sox at Yankees, October 2, 1949.

Season 1 Episode 79

Imagine your playing career saw you selected seven times to play in the All-Star game, led the league in stolen bases, posted four seasons of .300 plus baseball, had a hitting streak of 34 games, and…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

Steve Garvey's Perfect Season At First Base, Dodgers at Padres, September 28, 1973.

Season 1 Episode 78

Can you go through an entire season on First Base without having an error charged to you? Unless your name is Steve Garvey, the answer is no. As you might have surmised, Garvey did just that, posting…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

Sparky Lyle Was The AL's First Award Winning Reliever, Red Sox at Yankees, July 10, 1971.

Season 1 Episode 77

899 games pitched, all in relief, with a lifetime 99-76 record; the delightfully named Sparky Lyle was an era-defining relief pitcher.

Take his 1977 Cy Young award, the first AL reliever to do so, t…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

The Team That Never Lost, Dodgers at Braves, May 14, 1957

Season 1 Episode 74

Apart from the occasional “one and done” years, the only team to have a winning record over .500 in every year they played is the Milwaukee Braves.

There were losing years under the Boston Braves and…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Johnny Bench, The Big Red Machine's Magnificent Catcher, Pirates at Reds, 13 August, 1974

Season 1 Episode 75

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 …

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Sometimes The Greats Never Win… Ernie Banks Never Won, Cubs at Mets, 23 September, 1962

Season 1 Episode 74

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 reac…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago