On This Day in in Béisbol, pitcher Ivan Nova muffed a chance to go down in Yankees lore when the young right hander couldn’t come up with the win that would have tied him for the most consecutive victories in franchise history. When Nova, 26, took the mound on April 27, 2012 against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium, he had already won 15 straight decisions for New York going back to 2011, when he was 16-4 and established himself as a solid middle-of-the rotation starter.  Among the Yankee icons the Dominican Republic native passed on his hot streak were

As incredible as it sounds, the insanely intense, nearly century-old Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was brought to an even higher level of animosity — some might say absurdity — in the spring of 2008 when a rabid Boston fan tried to put a hex on the Bombers to make up for all those years living under the Curse of the Bambino. As construction crews were busy building a brand new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx across the street from the old one, one worker deviously decided to counteract the Yanks’ perennial postseason luck by secretly dropping a magic charm into a

Rafael Furcal, the speedy Atlanta Braves shortstop who was named Rookie of the Year in 2000, put his wheels to work on April 21, 2002.  On that day, the Dominican-born blazer scored a rare trifecta: He tied a Major League record by hitting three three-baggers in one game. Furcal, who went 3-for-5, scored all three times he was on base, sparking a 4-2 home victory against the Florida Marlins. The last player before him to hit a trio of triples in one game was White Sox outfielder Lance Johnson in 1995. The last Braves player to do it was Danny

No one realized it then, but April 16, 1975 was the last time baseball fans would get to see a baseball giant’s trademark high leg kick and whipsaw delivery. On that day, right-hander Juan Marichal put a cap on his 16-year Hall of Fame career when he appeared in his final game — for his longtime rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dominican Dandy, 37, who won all but five of his 243 victories with the San Francisco Giants, had signed with the Dodgers before the start of the 1975 season after a mediocre year with the Red Sox.  It was

Highlights from this day in baseball history: Sweet Lou's honey of a trade, Pujols' hot spring, A-Rod's meh first day, and more ... NO CLUE ABOUT SWEET LOU 1969: After acquiring him from the Indians, new expansion team the Seattle Pilots don’t bother to give 25-year-old minor league outfielder Lou Piniella a shot at the bigs, trading him to fellow expansion club the Kansas City Royals for two marginal players just before the start of the season. Piniella, whose family is from Spain and was dubbed “Sweet Lou” for his fiery temper as well as his smooth right-handed stroke, would

The 2001 Seattle Mariners won a record 116 regular season games that season — and then ran right into the buzzsaw that was the Yankees dynasty of the late 1990s and early 2000s. On this day in béisbol, Oct. 21, 2001, New York took a commanding 3-1 lead in the ALCS against Seattle thanks to some stellar pitching and late-inning heroics at The Stadium. By the top of the 8th inning of a scoreless nail-biter, Yankees starter Roger Clemens had only given up one hit in five innings while reliever Ramiro Mendoza had held the Mariners hitless over two innings

This Day In Baseball, Latino Baseball Illustration While winning 200 games won’t necessarily guarantee you're getting into the Hall of Fame, reaching that milestone does signify you’ve had a heckuva good career. Only 118 pitchers have won 200 or more games, and on this day in béisbol, Aug. 16, 1978, Boston Red Sox stalwart Luis Tiant joined the exclusive club. The Cuban-born righty outdueled Nolan Ryan to beat the California Angels 4-2. Tiant hurled nine innings, giving up six hits and striking out five. Ryan, by the way, didn’t make it easy. He also pitched a complete game, struck out

For Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, August 15 turned out to be both an anniversary to celebrate — and a date to forget. On this day in béisbol in 2012, King Felix hurled the first perfect game in Mariners history,  a 1-0 gem against the Tampa Bay Rays at home. The 26-year-old righty threw 113 pitches and struck out 12 en route to his 11th win of the season. The 23rd perfect game in MLB history was rare in other ways. It was the third perfecto of the year, the first time three such games were tossed in a single