Does any individual achievement deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak? Given that nobody before or after his 1941 record has come near it, the answer is clearly "no." Yet of all the multi-game records of shorter duration, another far less heralded feat continues to stand the test … Continue reading Record of 12 straight hits reached at Griffith Stadium July 15, 1952 →

After Washington's Griffith Stadium was torn down in February 1965, nearby Howard University acquired the 8.5-acre property for $1.5 million, to build what is now a 250-bed teaching hospital. A historic marker noting existence of the stadium from 1911 until its demolition finally was placed outside the hospital in 2011, but nothing more. In 2013, … Continue reading A hospital’s mini-tribute to Griffith Stadium →

Ed Rommel, a knuckleballer who won 171 games in 13 seasons beginning in 1920, later spent 22 years as an American League umpire. On April 18, 1956, he became the first umpire in the 20th Century to wear eyeglasses during a game. His groundbreaking move, unnoticed at the time, came at Griffith Stadium on a … Continue reading First umpire to wear glasses did it at Griffith Stadium — in 1956 →

Babe Ruth appeared in 171 games at the ballpark that became known as Griffith Stadium, including his last two in a Yankees’ uniform – September 29 and 30, 1934. His homer in the first game of a doubleheader on September 29, a three-run shot, was the last he hit as a Yankee. My 1961 Fleer … Continue reading Ruth hit his last Yankee homer at Griffith Stadium →

In October 1911, as the Philadelphia Athletics were playing the New York Giants in the World Series. Edward J. Walsh, a founding owner and director of  Washington’s American League team, met with Cincinnati Manager Clark Griffith at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. That meeting helped determine the fate of Major League Baseball in Washington for nearly … Continue reading Ed Walsh, an original Nats owner, recruited Clark Griffith →

Charles Everd “Gabby” Street played in the majors for seven seasons as a catcher with the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, New York Highlanders, St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Senators, where he spent four years as Walter Johnson’s personal catcher. In the midst of his playing career, he survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and … Continue reading Gabby Street’s Monumental catch →

Clark Griffith in 1953 March 13, 2020: I remember reading Douglass Wallop’s 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant in junior high school around 1960, not knowing at the time that it had been turned into  the hit 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees. Wallop was born 100 years ago in Washington, attended the … Continue reading ‘First in War…’: the myth that never died →

December 2, 2019: The Homestead Grays, a renowned team before baseball’s desegregation, traced its roots to Black workers in a steel-mill town across the river from Pittsburgh in 1912. The Grays called Washington home for at least half of their league games, beginning in 1940. The Negro National League team, lead by Buck Leonard and … Continue reading D.C. and the Homestead Grays →

August 21, 2019: Jackie who? If that was your reaction, you obviously never heard of the man described in 1950 as “America’s Greatest Entertainer.” Price, an amazingly acrobatic baseball player, performed his tricks with bat, ball and glove for a capacity crowd before the Senators’ game on July 22, 1950. He “bowed out to the … Continue reading Jackie Price at Griffith Stadium in 1950 →