Jim Bouton, the former New York Yankees pitcher who blew open professional baseball with his groundbreaking Ball Four, passed away yesterday. He was 80. (more…)
Tag Archives | seattle pilots
Revisiting the 1969 MLB Expansion Ballparks
With the 2019 season underway, it’s a good time to visit the Ballpark Digest archives and look at the 1969 MLB expansion ballparks, when the major leagues expanded by four teams. (more…)
Revisiting 1969 Expansion: Sicks’ Stadium
The year 1969 was a big one in Major League Baseball, as four expansion teams were added to the mix. This month we’re looking back at the four expansion ballparks. Last week it was Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium, the only one of the four to have previously hosted Major League Baseball. This week: Sicks’ Stadium. […]
Selig to retire in January 2015
One more season: Bud Selig announced he would be stepping down as MLB Commissioner in January 2015, ending a run that begin with the interim tag in 1992. Selig, who bought the Seattle Pilots out of bankruptcy in 1970 and moved them to Milwaukee to begin a career in baseball, oversaw a period of unprecedented […]
In memoriam: Max Soriano
Max Soriano, who partnered with brother Dewey Soriano to bring the Seattle Pilots to the American League, has passed away. He was 86. Dewey Soriano was a longtime baseball entrepreneur in the Pacific Northwest. When the opportunity came to own an expansion franchise in 1969, he and Max put up $2 million for a 35 […]
Old Seattle Pilots photos uncovered
One of the tragedies of the digital age is the loss of old photo archives. A recently discovered cache of negatives from the Post-Intelligencer shows the Seattle Pilots, an underdocumented team, in action. The Post-Intelligencer archives yielded two sets of photos from 1969 detailing a very interesting time in Seattle history: spring training for the […]
One more anniversary to note: the roots of Ball Four
In a year full of notable anniversaries — Fenway Park, Oriole Park, Tiger Stadium — one more to celebrate: fifty years ago, Jim Bouton joined the New York Yankees, setting the stage for Ball Four. It’s safe to say Ball Four completely changed the way baseball books were written, raising the genre past hagiography to […]
In memoriam: Don Mincher
Former Southern League president, Huntsville Stars owner and Major Leaguer Don Mincher passed away last night after a long illness. He was 73. Mincher retired last fall as president of the Class AA Southern League due to the health problems. The league is still searching for a replacement. A Huntsville native, Mincher began his career […]