Baseball’s Great Expectations: Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who Didn’t Live Up to the Hype
An excerpt from Patrick Montgomery’s new book, Baseball’s Great Expectations: Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who Didn’t Live Up to the Hype
AL East
1980s First Round Ratings
I took a look at every team’s first-round picks over the course of the decade and rated the best and worst.
The Doug DeCinces Trade
The Baltimore Orioles made room for Cal Ripken Jr. by trading Doug DeCinces to the California Angels but the deal almost didn’t happen.
Yankees trades of the 1980s
The New York Yankees of the 1980s were on another level when it came to bad trades. Dealing Hall of Famer Fred McGriff was only one of the deals they lost.
Tom Seaver by the Numbers
Thirteen men threw more than 4,000 innings and finished their careers with an E.R.A. of under 3.00.
Tom Seaver is the only one who threw a pitch after 1930.
Robin Yount and the 1982 MVP Vote
Robin Yount missed being the seventh player to unanimously win the MVP by one vote in 1982.
Meet the man who said no.
No-No-Nieves
On April 15, 1987 Juan Nieves threw the first no-hitter in Brewers history… with a little help from Robin Yount
6 Amazing Wade Boggs facts
Wade Boggs was one of the most dominant hitters in baseball during the decade of the 1980s. Here are six facts that back that up. On Base Machine From 1983 through 1989, Wade Boggs got on base via hit or walk an average of 314 times per season. 200 Hits Wade Boggs hit .352 in …
When Reggie Flirted with Ted Turner
“Reggie Jackson is the ”straw that stirs the drink” on the Yankees now. Unless a serious problem develops in the negotiations of Jackson’s new contract and Reggie feels that George Steinbrenner has adopted Dave Winfield and abandoned him.” -Dave Anderson, New York Times, 12/16/80 When the Yankees signed Dave Winfield, his new teammate Reggie Jackson had a piece …
Why June 8th, 1980 was the most important day of the 1982 World Series
Nearly every World Series has a turning point; a moment that shifts the balance in favor of one team or another. Be it Dickie Noles flipping George Brett in 1980, Kirk Gibson’s homer off Dennis Eckersley in 1988 or Kirk Gibson’s other homer off Goose Gossage in 1984, there is often one moment that defines …
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The decade begins
The first Opening Day of the new decade brought baseball fans a brand new statistic and the season highlight in an otherwise horrible season for one pitcher. Here’s how things went down on April 9th, 1980. Reds 9, Braves 0 Filling in for an ill Tom Seaver, Frank Pastore draws the Opening Day start for …
7 Amazing Rickey Henderson Stolen Base Facts
Rickey Henderson was the best leadoff hitter in the history of the game and also one of the most exciting. Here are seven things Rickey did that will likely never be done again. 1: From 1970 through 1989, Rickey stole 283 more bases than anyone in baseball. He didn’t make his debut until 1979. Despite …
Ballpark Ghosts: Tiger Stadium
Bob Busser shot his first ballpark photographs in 1967 with a brownie camera. Since then he’s been to nearly 800 venues, capturing more than 75,000 images. His work is on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and I recently got the chance to talk to him about his travels and, …
The Best of 2017 on ’80s Baseball
I started this blog at the beginning of 2016 as a companion to a book I was writing. I’m happy to say the book is finished and should be out at some point in the summer of 2018. I didn’t post on the blog nearly as much as I wanted to this year because I was …
A Discussion with Sean Kane
Your average fan uses a baseball glove to, you know, catch baseballs. Sean Kane uses them to create amazing pieces of art. For more than fifteen years, Sean Kane has been creating one-of-a-kind painted glove pieces that have earned him national recognition and a sizable following which includes many of the players he features. It all …
Dream Season: Wade Boggs
Every player longs for that dream season. The one where they stay healthy and just produce. I’m going to crunch the numbers and create dream seasons for notable 1980s stars. This time I’ll take a look at Wade Boggs. March/April 1983 Boggs hit a cool .349 as a rookie in 1982 and didn’t miss a …
Mark Fidrych Roundtable Discussion Part II
Note: This is the second part of a virtual “roundtable discussion” with baseball authors, and Mark Fidrych specialists, Dan Epstein and Doug Wilson about The Bird, his legacy and the sad end to his career. Read Part I here. The Detroit Tigers sent Fidrych back to AAA during spring training in 1980 and The Bird wasn’t …
Mark Fidrych Roundtable Discussion Part I
Mark Fidrych walked off the mound at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto on October 1st, 1980 after throwing five innings against the Blue Jays. He surrendered five runs (four earned) on seven hits while walking three and striking out three. He also earned his 2nd win of the season. It wasn’t his best performance or his …
(Mark) Clear as Mud
Not many guys can go from getting seriously knocked around in the Appy League to becoming a Major League All-Star in less than five years, but that’s exactly what Mark Clear did. Clear was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 8th round in 1974 and spent his first professional summer with the Pulaski Phillies …
Cecil Cooper and the Forgotten Summer of 1980
Like the character in the movie Airplane!, who picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Cecil Cooper picked the wrong season to have a career year. Like Jan exclaiming, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” on The Brady Bunch, Cooper was well within his rights to exclaim, “Brett, Brett, Brett!” That’s what happens …
Brewer Bombers
It took the Milwaukee Brewers all of 11 innings to assert themselves as one of the top offensive teams of the early 1980s. After beating the Boston Red Sox 9-5 on Opening Day of the 1980 season, they treated their fans to an offensive explosion in the second game of the new decade. When Mike Torrez …
All-’80s Baseball Hoops Team
It’s NCAA Basketball tournament time and that can mean only one thing: Baseball! Not only were the ‘80s a great decade for baseball, you could make a pretty solid hoops team from guys who played baseball in the 1980s. Here’s our team: Point Guard: Tony Gwynn Not only was Tony Gwynn one of the top …
Gorman Texas Ranger
“They know when to cheer and they know when to boo. And then know when to drink beer. They do it all the time.” –Gorman Thomas on Brewers fans There are players who will always be associated with certain franchises. Gorman Thomas is one of those players. He spent time in Cleveland and Seattle, but …
The Best of 2016 on ’80s Baseball
I started this blog 364 days ago. Since then, I’ve published 64 posts, including guest posts, for which I’m very grateful. It’s been a great year and I thought I’d take a look back at the Top 5 posts of 2016 based (unscientifically) on page views. Number 5: George Brett’s amazing 1980 Brett was absolutely ridiculous …
The Day I Worked for My Favorite Baseball Team (Oh, and I Was 13-Years-Old)
Note: The following is a guest post from Matt Sammon. I had always liked sports as a kid, although I was far from athletic, or a kid who needed to play sports 365 days a year. While I played tee ball as a youngster, and later soccer and bowling, I was perfectly content with playing …
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That Time I Wrote George Bamberger
Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow I grew up in Wisconsin as a Milwaukee Brewers fan, but when I first started following the team in the mid-70’s, they were nothing to write home about. I probably started paying attention when Hank Aaron decided to do his two-year farewell tour with the Brewers. …
Baseball Nivrana
I’ve been a collector for my entire life. You never know when you may need a 37-year-old pocket schedule and I don’t want to be unprepared. So I packed up my sons and headed to Chicago for the Fanatics Authentic Sports Spectacular. One of the big draws of shows like this is the autograph pavilion. There …
That Time I Met Sixto Lezcano
Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow I grew up watching Sixto Lezcano patrol the outfield for the Milwaukee Brewers in the late 1970’s. My Dad started to take me to games at Milwaukee County Stadium in 1978 and liked to sit along the first base line, so we often got to see …
Missed It By That Much – The Drungo Hazewood Story
The runners were tense at the starting line. The 1960 Summer Olympics were about a year away, but there was still a lot at stake in this race. On the line were bragging rights and the opportunity to affect someone’s life forever; someone who would be a big part of their lives forever. “Go!” …
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George Brett: The Pine Tar Game
Note: This is a guest post from Rocco Constantino July 24, 1983 The old baseball cliché is that you see something new at the ballpark every time you go to a game. It could be something as simple as a player recording his first major-league hit or achieving a team record; however, sometimes something so …
Reggie Jackson Cheated Death in 1980… Twice
Reggie Jackson had a pretty good year in 1980. He hit .300 for the only time in his career, led the AL in homers, including the 400th of his Hall of Fame career, finished 2nd in the MVP balloting and led his team to the playoffs. He also almost died. Twice. Nothing Good Happens After …
That Time I Met Robin Yount
Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow I feel fortunate to have grown up in what many consider to be the greatest era of Milwaukee Brewers baseball: 1978-82. My Dad first started taking me to games in 1978 and loved to sit along the first base side of Milwaukee County Stadium in the …
Doug Ault’s Cleveland Laser Show
Early August in a nearly empty stadium with two bad teams going head-to-head isn’t exactly the setting you’d expect for a memorable performance. But Doug Ault provided it anyway. When the Toronto Blue Jays came to Cleveland to face the Indians for a mid-week series on August 4th, 1980, the two teams were a combined …
The 1980s were a Rough Decade for the Yankees
Note: This is a guest post from Eric Kabakoff I first started following baseball in 1985, shortly after that year’s midseason players’ strike. My father was a lifelong Yankees fan who’d grown up watching Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford and their teammates dominate baseball for years, and I settled in to watching games …
Missed it by that Much: The Dan Graham Story
If you happened to read the transactions section on December 8th, 1979 you probably would have missed it. The previous day, the Detroit Pistons fired their General Manager, a guy named Dick Vitale. At the winter meetings in Toronto, the Montreal Expos pulled off a big trade for Ron LeFlore, who would lead the N.L. …
That Time I Met The Orioles
It’s tough to be the new kid. Having someone introduce you helps. Having someone introduce you to about half the Baltimore Orioles is another thing entirely. In the summer of 1978, Rich Stanfill and his family moved to Cockeysville, Maryland, a small town whose claim to fame was a quarry that produced some of the marble …
Missed it by that much: The Karl Pagel story
If there was a Futures Game in 1980 he would have been a headliner. Karl Pagel was a can’t miss star. He was a high draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 1976 and absolutely tore up the minor leagues. He hit .344 in AA in 1977 with 28 homers and 104 RBI and was …
And Barfield in Right
NOTE: This is a guest post from Andrew Forbes I recently attended a game with another writer whose task, appointed him by a Canadian newspaper, was to listen to me expounding for nine innings on why baseball was worth one’s attention. It’s something I’d have been happy to do, of course, even if I wasn’t …
The 1980 All-Star Game
There have been 87 All-Star games in major league history. Exactly one of them took place at Dodger Stadium. Watching the game today on YouTube brings you right back to the era, complete with Keith Jackson, Don Drysdale and Howard Cosell in the booth. Love him or hate him, there’s nothing quite like listening to …
The weirdest day of the 1980 season
“Is it a full moon or somethin’?” That’s what my mother-in-law says when weird stuff happens. June 20th, 1980 must have featured multiple full moons because some bizarre crap went down. On the field, it began in Boston when the Red Sox hosted the California Angels. The Angels were decimated by injuries but the lineup …
Super Joe Charboneau
Being an Indians fan is hard. REALLY HARD. But in the spring of 1980, there was a glimmer of hope and it came courtesy of an injury to one of their best players. During spring training, first baseman Andre Thornton, who led the team in home runs in 1979 with 26, tore cartilage in his …
It’s Rainey in Boston
Quick: Name the American League Pitcher of the Month in May 1980. Steve Stone won the Cy Young award, though a legit argument could be made for Oakland’s Mike Norris. But neither of them were pitcher of the month in May. Stone won in June and Norris never won the honor, despite finishing the season with …
Reggie vs. Koosman
Reggie Jackson may have been the straw that stirred the drink, but it took a few years after his arrival in New York for the drink to be served. By 1980, Billy Martin was gone, as was Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers and, tragically, Thurman Munson. The Yankees were finally Reggie’s team and Jerry Koosman may …
Al Bumbry
On my Facebook page, I like to find stories about guys rather than just post their batting average or home run totals. While doing that, I found a few stories about Bumbry’s service in Vietnam. Bumbry attended Virginia State College on a basketball scholarship and with the war raging in Vietnam he was certain to …
Tinker Tailor Pitcher Spy
George Bamberger took over as the Brewers manager prior to the 1978 season after serving as a pitching coach under Earl Weaver in Baltimore from 1968 through 1977. A baseball lifer, “Bambi” won 213 games in the minor leagues between 1946 and 1963, which included an impressive 1958 streak of 68 and 2/3 consecutive innings …
