Whether it’s showboating, bat-licking or simply antagonizing the opposition, Yasiel Puig has been a polarizing player ever since he came from Cuba to the Dodgers in 2013. But love him or loathe him, there’s never been any question he could hit, and on this day in béisbol, Sept. 15, 2018, Puig showed what kind of force he could be down the pennant stretch. In a crucial game against the Cardinals, he banged out three home runs — a solo shot in the fourth inning, a three-run dinger in the fifth and another in the eighth — to power a 17-4

He was the definition of grace under pressure, and on this day in béisbol, Sept. 13, 2011, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera reached a milestone only one other pitcher before him had achieved. Rivera recorded the 600th save of his brilliant career, putting the Panama native just one behind Trevor Hoffman’s then-record of 601. The save came in a 3-2 win against the Mariners at Seattle. In the ninth inning Rivera sandwiched two swinging strikeouts around a single by fellow future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki — who was gunned down trying to steal second for the game’s final out. Rivera,

Few things frightened opposing pitchers more than the sight of David Ortiz striding to the plate with the game on the line, spitting into his batting gloves and daring them to throw their best stuff. On this day in béisbol, Sept. 12, 2015, Big Papi terrorized Tampa pitcher Matt Moore by hitting two home runs in a 10-4 rout of the Rays — becoming the 27th member of the 500 Home Run Club.  Ortiz, 39, clubbed a three-run shot in the first inning and added a solo blast in the fifth. He finished the year with 37 home runs and

There have been more than 400 sets of brothers who have played in the Major Leagues, but only a handful of instances when three siblings have been big leaguers. The most well-known trio is arguably the Alou brothers, who not only have the distinction of playing for the same team at the same time in the modern era (the Wright brothers, Harry, George and Sam, were all members of the 1876 Boston Red Caps), but hold the record for most games appeared in by brothers — 5,129 games combined. On this day in béisbol, Sept. 10, 1963, Felipe, Matty and

There were plenty of players who contributed to the Cleveland Indians’ history-making hot streak during the home stretch of the 2017 season, when they won 22 games in a row to pull away from the rest of the AL Central pack. But in a formidable lineup that boasted DH Edwin Encarnacion, SS Francisco Lindor and 1B Carlos Santana, it was Jose Ramirez who carried the team through its nearly month-long tear from late August to mid-September. On this day in béisbol, Sept. 3, 2017, the Dominican-born third baseman kept up his torrid hitting when he tied an MLB record with

The 1966 season turned out to be a pretty good one for Roberto Clemente, an all-around hitter who had his best power year and ended up winning the National League MVP award. On this day in béisbol, Sept. 2, 1966 the Pirates right fielder also marked a huge career milestone in the midst of his special year — his 2,000th hit. Facing fellow future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins of the Cubs in the bottom of the fifth inning at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, Clemente rocketed an opposite-field, three-run jack into the upper deck in right to seal an eventual 7-5

As a switch-hitting Gold Glover who manned the hallowed ground that is centerfield in Yankee Stadium during the team’s late-’90s dynasty, Bernie Williams was undoubtedly deserving of having his No. 51 retired by the team. But while his overall numbers fell a little short of being Cooperstown worthy, the Puerto Rico native received a tremendous honor nonetheless on this day in béisbol, Sept. 1, 2011. Williams was among several players inducted into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012 — contemporary and old-timers — who were honored at a ceremony in La Romana, Dominican Republic the following February.