After 16 seasons and 400-plus home runs, it’s hardly a surprise when Nelson Cruz gets hot and carries a team on his broad back like few sluggers can — even at age 40, when the Minnesota Twins DH enjoyed another MVP-worthy year in this pandemic-shortened 2020 season. But on this day in béisbol, Oct. 15, 2011, Cruz outdid himself, wrapping up a ridiculous, record-breaking ALCS series in which he led the Texas Rangers to their second World Series berth in two years. Cruz, then the Rangers’ rightfielder, “only” went 2-for-4 with a two-run bomb and a double in the Rangers’

It was a "Rockie" start that ended well. Jorge de la Rosa, a middle-of-the-rotation starter at best for the Colorado Rockies, had a barely .500 lifetime record as the 2009 season got underway — and it went downhill from there for the Monterrey, Mexico, native after he lost his first six decisions. But not for long, as the struggling southpaw, 28, somehow turned his season around. On this day in béisbol, Sept. 16, 2009, de la Rosa pitched a beauty against the San Francisco Giants, tossing eight shutout innings in a must-win for the Rockies. De la Rosa gave up just

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

Miguel Olivo enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular major league career as a mostly starting catcher with some pop, averaging 21 home runs and more than 70 RBI over a 162-game season.  The Dominican Republic native retired in 2014 with a respectable 145 lifetime homers. But it was his first round-tripper ever that got plenty of attention.  On this day in béisbol in 2002, Olivo was catching and batting ninth for the White Sox when he stepped up to the plate in the top of the third with two men on base against Yankees great Andy Pettitte — and launched a

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

Minnie Minoso hadn’t stepped up to the plate in 12 years, but on this day in béisbol, Sept. 11, 1976, the long-retired White Sox icon was activated for a three-game publicity stunt. The popular player known as the “Cuban Comet” broke into the Major Leagues in 1949 with the Cleveland Indians as a 23-year-old rookie out of Havana, then spent most of his then-15-year career with Chicago. He has the distinction of being MLB’s first Black Cuban and the White Sox’s first Black player, but on this day he joined a short list of players to have appeared in four

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