Showing titles in Baseball & Softball

The 1951 regular season was as good as over. The Brooklyn Dodgers led the New York Giants by three runs with just three outs to go in their third and final playoff game. And not once in Major League Baseball's 278 preceding playoff and World Series games had a team overcome a three-run deficit in the ninth inning. But New York rallied, and at 3:58 p.m. on October 3, 1951, Bobby Thomson hit a home run off Ralph Branca. The Giants won the pennant.

John Arezzi was a lifelong Mets fan who dreamed of a job in baseball. In 1981, he took a job with the Mets Class A team in North Carolina. But Arezzi had another love: professional wrestling. Mat Memories is Arezzi's chance to hold the mic, and he holds nothing back - he names names and tells the untold behind-the-scenes stories: from the ring, the stage, and the diamond.

Being the only woman working for a professional baseball team isn't easy. As the San Diego Shock's newest athletic trainer, Allie knows all about long hours, endless travel, and warding off players' advances. Given she's already the subject of a handful of rumors about how "lucky" she was to have earned such a coveted position, she can't so much as flutter an eyelash a player's way if she wants to be taken seriously. But number 11 is doing more than fluttering eyelashes Allie's way. Far more.

The fascinating story of baseball's most legendary "Iron Men", Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig, who each achieved the coveted and sometimes confounding record of most consecutive games played.

Is there life after baseball? Starting from this simple question, The Wax Pack ends up with something much bigger and unexpected - a meditation on the loss of innocence and the gift of impermanence, for both Brad Balukjian and the former ballplayers he tracked down. To get a truly random sample of players, Balukjian followed this wildly absurd but fun-as-hell premise: he took a single pack of baseball cards from 1986 (the first year he collected cards), opened it, chewed the nearly 30-year-old gum inside, gagged, and then embarked on a quest to find all the players in the pack.

The Oakland A's of the early 1970s were the most transformative team in baseball history. Never before had an entire organization so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its outlandish behavior and business decisions - or with its indisputable winning record: five straight division titles and three straight championships. The high drama that played out on the field was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse and front office.

When Charlie Finley bought the A's in 1960, he was an outsider to the game - an insurance businessman with a larger-than-life personality. He brought his cousin, Carl, on as his right-hand man, moved the team from Kansas City to Oakland, and pioneered a new way to put together a winning team. With legendary players like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Vida Blue, the Finleys' Oakland A's won three straight World Series and riveted the nation.

Henry Louis Gehrig (June 19, 1903 to June 2, 1941), born in New York City, was an American baseball player who played 17 seasons for the New York Yankees (1923-1939). The following recording is a radio interview from August 1939 after Gehrig had retired from baseball due to his illness, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable neuromuscular illness which, since then, is often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease."

Pitching dominates baseball as never before. Spin rate, sweepers, 105 mph fastballs—all have become standard when evaluating pitching arms and techniques and are familiar lingo in discussion and analysis of the game. Gone is the era of the swaggering power hitters. Batting averages are close to the deadball era; team records for strikeouts are broken and then broken again. The game has fundamentally changed, and hitters may never catch up.

For eighty-six years Boston Red Sox baseball fans lived in the shadow of their rivals, the New York Yankees, who more or less dominated the sport each season. Red Sox fans grew dejected as their team often got close, but ultimately would be eliminated from contention each year as New York went on to win yet another World Series championship. Author Chris Wrenn, a member of the Boston hardcore punk scene, had a dream of his own—to start his own record label. Embracing the do-it-yourself ethos of the scene, Chris set out to make it happen, networking and forging relationships with local bands.

Every fan has a story. The ”I Was There” podcast is where they’re shared. Memorable moments as told by Baltimore Orioles fans.

Youth Baseball Podcast that delves into the do's and dont's of coaching, parenting during and after games and playing youth baseball.

Mariano Rivera, the man who intimidated thousands of batters merely by opening a bullpen door, began his incredible journey as the son of a poor Panamanian fisherman. When first scouted by the Yankees, he didn't even own his own glove. He thought he might make a good mechanic. When discovered, he had never flown in an airplane, had never heard of Babe Ruth, spoke no English, and couldn't imagine Tampa, the city where he was headed to begin a career that would become one of baseball's most iconic.

All-Star player Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay Rays), considered one of the best all-around players in baseball, writes about the importance of his faith, life, and athletic career in Double Play. Written with his wife, Christian singer Julianna Zobrist, and MikeYorkey, best-selling author of Every Man's Battle and Linspired: The Remarkable Rise of Jeremy Lin, the audiobook gives fans a first look into the heart of an athlete whose talent and devotion to God, family, and baseball make him one of the most loveable figures in the Major League today.

With his irreverant personality, laid-back approach, and penchant for the unexpected, Joe Maddon is a singular presence among Major League Baseball managers. Whether he's bringing clowns and live bear cubs to spring training or leading the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series victory in 108 years, Maddon is always one to watch. In Try Not to Suck, ESPN's Jesse Rogers and MLB.com's Bill Chastain fully explore Maddon's life and career, delving behind the scenes and dissecting that mystique which makes Maddon so popular with players and analysts alike.

With its three-hour-long contests, 162-game seasons, and countless measurable variables, baseball is a sport which lends itself to self-reflection and obsessive analysis. It's a thinking game. It's also a shifting game. Nowhere is this more evident than in the statistical revolution which has swept through the pastime in recent years, bringing metrics like WAR, OPS, and BABIP into front offices and living rooms alike.

Every time you watch baseball, you’re watching more than just a game - you’re participating in the latest chapter of a compelling story. What began as the earliest bat-and-ball games became the favorite American pastime of the first 19th-century baseball games. Knowing how baseball came to be what it is today will add levels of enjoyment, respect, and appreciation to any game you watch.

Check out exclusive interviews from Major League Baseball & Texas Rangers Interviews from MLB video journalists: Fanatics View's founder Taylor Jones, Malik Wright & Chris ”See Hendo” Henderson.

A group of lifelong Orioles fans take on the modern challenges of Orioles baseball.

Step into the batter’s box of history with The Grand American Game, a sweeping narrative of baseball’s evolution from humble beginnings to a global pastime. Author Oliver Greyson takes listeners on an accessible and richly told journey through the roots of the game—from dusty 19th-century sandlots to roaring stadiums of the modern era. Blending first-hand accounts, cultural context, and fascinating anecdotes, this nonfiction chronicle captures how baseball mirrored—and shaped—American life across generations.