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Willie McCovey swinging for the San Francisco Giants

The 10 Greatest Late-Summer Debuts in Baseball History

On Aug. 15, a 23-year-old Cardinals outfielder named Joshua Báez walked into Wrigley Field for his first major league game and homered on the first pitch he saw — 449 feet to dead center. Then he homered again. Then he homered a third time. Nobody in the history of

The 10 Best Multi-Player Rookie Cards: Superstars Who Shared Their Debut

The 10 Best Multi-Player Rookie Cards: Superstars Who Shared Their Debut

For decades, Topps hedged its bets on rookies the same way: cram three or four unproven kids onto one card — floating heads, tiny names, a "Rookie Stars" banner — and let history sort them out. Usually history sorted them into obscurity. But every so often, one of those heads

On This Date: Bob Feller Wins No. 20 at Age 20 — a Record Built to Last 46 Years (Sept. 8, 1939)

On This Date: Bob Feller Wins No. 20 at Age 20 — a Record Built to Last 46 Years (Sept. 8, 1939)

On this date in 1939, a 20-year-old farm kid from Van Meter, Iowa, went the distance against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park, scattering 5 hits in a 12-1 stroll. Nothing about the game itself was historic — Bob Feller struck out only 5 that

Johnny Mize following through on a swing in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform

On This Date: Johnny Mize Homers in His 15th Ballpark — Right Before the Map Exploded (Sept. 7, 1952)

On this date in 1952, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, a 39-year-old pinch-hitter stepped in for the Yankees with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 6th, down 1-0. Johnny Mize turned on a Walt Masterson slider and put it deep into the right-field

On This Date: J.R. Richard Strikes Out 15 in His Debut — the Start of Baseball's Great What-If (Sept. 5, 1971)

On This Date: J.R. Richard Strikes Out 15 in His Debut — the Start of Baseball's Great What-If (Sept. 5, 1971)

On this date in 1971, in the second game of a doubleheader at Candlestick Park, the Houston Astros handed the ball to a 21-year-old making his major-league debut. He was 6-foot-8. He threw 100 miles an hour. And over 9 innings and roughly 155 pitches,

When Baseball Cards Listed the Player's Day Job

When Baseball Cards Listed the Player's Day Job

Flip over a 1970 Topps card and you might learn that a big-league ballplayer "manages a super market." That's the actual back of Wayne Comer's card — an outfielder for the Seattle Pilots, and, from October to February, a grocery manager. Roy White of

On This Date: Ty Cobb's Last Hit — and the Number Nobody Can Agree On (Sept. 3, 1928)

On This Date: Ty Cobb's Last Hit — and the Number Nobody Can Agree On (Sept. 3, 1928)

On this date in 1928 — Labor Day, first game of a doubleheader at Griffith Stadium in Washington — a 41-year-old pinch-hitter stepped in against Bump Hadley in the 9th inning of a game his team was losing badly. He doubled to left. The crowd could not have known