11/15/1967: Carl Yastrzemski is named AL MVP. The first Triple Crown winner for Boston since Williams in 1947, Yaz belts 44 homers and drives in 121 while batting .326. Carl’s 12.5 bWAR in his ‘67 campaign is the fourth-highest single season mark by a position player; Babe Ruth owns the top three.

11/12/2001: Albert Pujols is named NL Rookie of the Year. The Machine becomes the second player in MLB history to slash 300/400/600 or better in their first season (min 600 PA) — Ted Williams did so in 1939. Pujols entered his 2001 rookie campaign with 544 professional plate appearances.

Seaman Second Class Lawrence Berra served onboard a rocket boat supporting the initial offensive waves of the Allied invasion of Normandy. Captain Ted Williams flew 39 missions in a F9F Panther jet during the Korean War. Countrymen first. Competitors second. A heartfelt thank you to all veterans.

10/11/1909: 35 year-old Honus Wagner steals three bases in Game 3 of the World Series. At the age of 40, Rickey Henderson is the oldest player to accomplish this feat in a postseason game (G2 1999 NLDS).

With Connelly Early (23y,182d) slated to start tomorrow, he’ll be the youngest pitcher to start a postseason game for the Red Sox since Babe Ruth (21y,246d) started game 2 of the 1916 World Series

9/30/1914: Giants hurler Christy Mathewson finishes his campaign with more wins (24) than walks (23). Clayton Kershaw (12 W/11 BB in 2016) is the last National League pitcher to record such a season (min 10 wins) and the only major league pitcher since 1885 to do so with 150 or more strikeouts.

84 years ago today, Ted Williams would become the last hitter to bat .400 in a season. He would start the day at .39955 and, insistent upon the veracity of the milestone, play both games of a doubleheader. After a 6-8 performance, the renowned .406 became part of baseball lore.

9/27/1973: Nolan Ryan punches out 16 batters in an 11-inning complete game victory against Minnesota. The Ryan Express finishes the season with 383 strikeouts, edging out Sandy Koufax (382; 1965) for most single-season strikeouts in the Modern Era.

9/27/1942: Ted Williams plays his last major league game before three years of military service during World War II. The Splendid Splinter takes home AL Triple Crown honors in ‘42 and leads the majors in runs scored, walks, OPS, and total bases — just to stay in shape.

Clayton Kershaw is the only major league pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900) to record at least 200 wins with fewer than 100 losses. Expanding the list to those who have 100 or fewer losses (along with 200+ wins) adds Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez.

A complete list of AL/NL pitchers since 1901 — at home — with at least 100 wins, 1500 strikeouts, and an ERA below 2.50: • Walter Johnson • Clayton Kershaw Kershaw will make his final regular season start tonight at Dodger Stadium, where he owns a .736 win percentage over 227 starts.

9/7/1908: 20 year-old Walter Johnson blanks the Highlanders in a contest lasting just 100 minutes. It’s the Big Train’s third shutout…over a span of four days. There have been three shutouts recorded by American League pitchers in 2025.

9/6/1912: In a battle of aces, Smoky Joe Wood out-duels Walter Johnson, blanking the Senators 1-0. Wood finished his 1912 campaign with 10 shutouts. Among active MLB pitchers, only Clayton Kershaw (15) has more career shutouts.

9/4/1972: Luis Tiant records his fourth consecutive shutout, with the Red Sox blanking the Brewers 2-0. In 2025, no major league team has more than two player shutouts.

9/3/1894: Connie Mack records his first major league managerial win; he would notch 3730 more before calling it a career. For perspective, the Tall Tactician’s career as a manager began the year before Babe Ruth was born and ended when Dusty Baker was one year old.

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 882 9/9: Rarity: 10 IMMACULATE! 🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩 ➡️ See my grid: immaculategrid.com/share/ym5ONxB I can never say no to an all-Red Sox grid.

Ted Williams was born on this day in 1918. His prolific numbers would earn him a Hall of Fame nod, yet the most significant number cannot be found on Baseball Reference. 39: the number of combat missions flown in Korea. Ball player. Soldier. Hero. Ted was all of these things.

Greetings from the Friendly Confines!

8/15/1916: Squaring off against Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth blanks the Nationals — one of 16 shutouts he’ll record before turning 23. Since 1920, just four AL/NL pitchers have 16 or more such shutouts: * Bert Blyleven (18) * Bob Feller (16) * Fernando Valenzuela (16) * Dwight Gooden (16)

8/13/1901: Pitching in his twelfth season, Boston hurler Kid Nichols records the third of seven complete games with 10 or more innings pitched. 23 of the 30 major league teams have recorded seven or fewer complete (player) games since 2021.

8/11/1979: Jim Rice belts his 30th dinger and, by season’s end, will have recorded his third campaign with at least 30 HR, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored. Along with Ted Williams, Jim Ed is the only other batter in Red Sox franchise history to have three such seasons before turning 27.

8/10/1988: The Dodgers release pitcher Don Sutton, who finishes his career with 756 major league starts. A pitcher making their MLB debut in 2026 could record 30 starts every year through the 2050 season and not eclipse Sutton’s total. In 2024, five teams did not feature a pitcher with 30+ starts.

8/9/1916: Grover Cleveland Alexander blanks Cincinnati — one of 11 shutouts in Old Pete’s 1916 campaign without issuing a walk (most such shutouts in a single season in AL/NL history). For the 2025 major league season, there have been a total of 10 player shutouts (irrespective of walks).

8/7/1956: 50 year-old Satchel Paige collects five strikeouts and the win over seven and two-thirds innings of work for the Miami Marlins (International League). Over 55,000 fans descend upon the Orange Bowl to witness the game that evening, the proceeds for which went to charity.

8/7/1907: 19 year-old Washington hurler Walter Johnson records his first major league victory, a complete game. The Big Train would log 332 complete games before turning 30 (a span of 381 starts). The Chicago Cubs have recorded 332 complete (player) games since 1980 (a span of 7175 starts).

8/6/1971: Nickel Beer Night is held at the Astrodome. Fittingly, Miller closes it out.

8/5/1979: Willie Mays is immortalized at Cooperstown. The Say Hey Kid was left off of 23 ballots during the voting process. Blasphemy.

8/4/1910: Jack Coombs and Ed Walsh duel for 16 scoreless innings, ending in a tie game. The marathon lasts a total of three hours and 28 minutes — 48 minutes longer than an average MLB game in 2025, but just 17 minutes longer than the average MLB game in 2021.

8/3/1933: 33 year-old Lefty Grove authors a shutout as the Athletics best the Yankees 7-0. The Hall of Fame southpaw recorded a total of 17 shutouts at the age of 33 or older (a span of 218 starts). Since 2015, Philadelphia leads the majors with 17 player shutouts (a span of 1627 starts).

8/2/1901: Boston Americans hurler Cy Young logs his 13th straight complete game (dating back to June 17th); that streak would extend to 16 before ending on August 14th. There are 13 complete (player) games among all American League teams in the 2025 season.

Most scoreless games with six or more innings pitched — AL/NL left-handed pitchers since 1901: 87 - Clayton Kershaw* 82 - Randy Johnson 77 -Eddie Plank 74 - Steve Carlton 73 - Tommy John 63 - Warren Spahn 63 - Whitey Ford 63 - Tom Glavine 62 - Jon Lester 58 - CC Sabathia *including tonight

7/31/1993: The Athletics trade 34-year-old Rickey Henderson to the Blue Jays. The Man of Steal would swipe a total of 22 bags in 44 games for Toronto. With over 100 games played in the 2025 major league season, 19 teams have yet to feature a player with more than 22 stolen bases.

7/29/1908: Rube Waddell gets the best of his former team, striking out 16 Athletics batters in a complete game effort. From 1901 through 1908, Waddell recorded 57 complete games with 10+ strikeouts. There have been 53 complete (player) games in MLB since 2024 (irrespective of strikeout total).

Billy Wagner was kind enough to chat it up with the fans at Doubleday Field. I had the pleasure of shaking the Hall of Famer’s hand. 📸: @BillyWagner4HOF (Twitter/X)

“A kid in a candy store.” - Hall of Fame pitcher Billy Wagner, reflecting on his induction.

Every day is a great day to be a Billy Wagner fan. Especially today. #HOFWKND

I had the good fortune to see the Billy Wagner exhibit at his new home in Cooperstown. Can’t wait for the induction ceremony this afternoon! Congratulations, Billy!

7/24/1968: Hoyt Wilhelm records his 907th pitching appearance two days before his 46th birthday, breaking Cy Young’s major league record. The Hall of Fame hurler made a total of 513 appearances at the age of 40 or older — that number would rank 16th among active pitchers.

7/23/1949: Ted Williams records three hits and two bases on balls in a 16-5 rout against the Browns. The Splendid Splinter would record 120 career games with multiple hits and multiple walks, most in AL/NL history. Freddie Freeman leads active players with 44 such games.

7/23/2002: Turning 29, Nomar Garciaparra becomes the first (and only) batter in AL/NL history to go yard three times on their birthday. Kirk Gibson, Justin Morneau, and Duke Snider are the only AL/NL batters to have recorded two games with multiple home runs on their birthday.

7/22/1960: Renowned for his prowess at the plate, Ted Williams becomes the first MLB player to record a stolen base in four consecutive decades (a career total of 24). Acclaimed speedster Rickey Henderson, who would later join Williams on this list, stole 26 bases over a span of 20 games in 1980.

CC Sabathia (1.65) is the only pitcher in Brewers franchise history to post an ERA below 2.00 in a given season with at least 15 games started. Sabathia made 17 career regular season starts for Milwaukee. The Hall of Fame southpaw turns 45 years young today.

7/19/1936: some 17 year-old farm kid from Iowa makes his major league debut for the Indians. Bob Feller, the Heater from Van Meter, finishes high school after the season and goes on to set an AL/NL record for most strikeouts by a teenager (467); Dwight Gooden is second with *checks notes* 276.

7/19/1960: A 22 year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic logs a one-hit shutout in his major league debut. In his 1965 All-Star campaign, Juan Marichal recorded 10 shutouts. Philadelphia leads all MLB clubs with 10 player shutouts since 2021.

7/19/1910: 43 year-old Denton True “Cy” Young records his 500th career win. A first year major league pitcher would have to record 25 wins for 20 consecutive seasons to reach the 500 plateau — since 1991, no MLB pitcher has more than 24 wins in a single season.

Over his first six major league seasons (1985-1990), Vince Coleman averaged 91.5 stolen bases. In the 2024 season, nine MLB teams recorded 91 or fewer stolen bases. From 5/10 through 8/13 of 1986 (an 80-game span), Coleman stole more bases (75) than the Blue Jays did in 2024 (72).

From 1972 through 1975 (his age 33-36 seasons), Gaylord Perry averaged 28 complete games and 329 innings pitched per season. In 2024, there were a combined 28 complete (player) games among all major league teams; the Marlins’ top three starters combined for 288.1 innings pitched that season.

Pedro Martinez to Clayton Kershaw: "I'll see you in Cooperstown, bro." Cool all-star moment!

7/15/1967: Bob Gibson exits early after a Roberto Clemente line drive fractures his right fibula; he returns on September 7th, closing out the regular season with a 0.96 ERA over 37.1 innings. Gibson then records 3 complete games in the Fall Classic, allowing just 3 total runs. Built different.

7/14/1946: Ted Williams hits three home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against Cleveland. Teddy Ballgame finished his career with 37 multi-HR games, a Red Sox record that would stand for over five decades. David Ortiz now holds said record with 49 multi-HR games.