Table of Content

  • Ted’s poor 1946 World Series: ‘The Curse of Mickey Haefner’ 

    Mickey Haefner was a decent lefty pitcher for an up-and-down Washington team from 1943 to ’49.  He won 10 or more games five seasons in a row, topping out at 16 in 1945.  No taller than 5-foot-7 (not 5-8, as he himself confirmed in 1943), his nickname was “Itsy-Bitsy.” Despite the “last in American League”… Read more

  • George ‘Bingo’ Binks and 1945

    As a 30-year-old in 1945, George Alvin “Bingo” Binks was the American League’s top rookie batter. He hit .278 in 145 games. His 32 doubles ranked second in the A.L. His 81 runs batted in, tops on the Senators, were fifth in the league. Yet he is best remembered for a fielding blunder that critics… Read more

  • Charlie Brotman, voice of the Senators and the inaugurals

    Charlie Brotman grew up in D.C. and graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 1946. After two years in the Navy, he decided he wanted to be a sports announcer. “Who didn’t?”  he once told an interviewer, so he enrolled at the National Academy of Broadcasting in the District, in addition to attending classes at… Read more

  • July 15, 1952: The record of 12 straight hits reached at Griffith Stadium

    (updated July 8, 2024) 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… Read more

  • Soto, at 23, was in a class by himself

    Juan Soto turned 23 on October 25, 2021. Although he finished second to Bryce Harper for the National League 2021 Most Valuable Player award*, he set or extended a number of statistical marks during a trying season for the Washington Nationals. In November, for the second year in a row, fans helped vote him onto… Read more

  • A hospital’s mini-tribute to Griffith Stadium

    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. The hospital opened in 1975. A historic marker, attached to a utility pole, notes existence of the stadium from 1911 until its demolition. The marker, placed… Read more