Robin Roberts authored 28 consecutive complete games in ’52 and ’53


Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts poses next to his statue

Robin Roberts was a true workhorse. The majors’ leader in complete games during the 1950s, he led the Senior Circuit in the category every year from 1952 through 1956. He also put together a streak that will never again be seen. From August 28, 1952 until July 3, 1953 he completed 28 consecutive starts. In the third game of his streak, Roberts threw all 17 innings of a 7-6 September 6 win over the Boston Braves. Five days later he went the distance against Cardinals. In the final 30 days of the ’52 season, Roberts logged 80 innings across eight starts, completing and winning them all. He finished the year with a career-high 28 wins to go along with a stingy 2.59 ERA – the lowest of his career. In ’53 Roberts was even better. He continued the streak of consecutive complete games by finishing his first 20 starts. Then on July 9th a quintet of Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Famers got to him. Roberts began the game three scoreless innings, before surrendering a two-run homer to catcher Roy Campanella in the fourth. Shortstop Pee Wee Reese tacked on another Dodger run with an RBI single in the 5th. Roberts […]

Read More >

Jimmie Foxx and Chuck Klein made Philadelphia the center of the baseball universe


Philadelphia sluggers Chuck Klein and Jimmie Foxx

From 1929 through 1933, Jimmie Foxx and Chuck Klein put on a show and treated Philadelphia to the greatest era its baseball fans ever knew. During the five-year run, Klein led the league in homers four times and finished second once. He wasn’t just a slugger. Starting in 1929, Klein reeled off at least 200 hits each year through 1933 to become the only player to reach the mark in each of each of his first five full big league seasons. Incredibly, he averaged 224 hits per year and hit .359. In 1932 the Phillies right fielder captured the National League Most Valuable Player Award. He followed up that season with by winning the Triple Crown in ’33. Klein’s team struggles; Foxx’s shines While Klein put up outstanding individual numbers his Phillies struggled. Under manager Burt Shotton, the Phillies finished last twice and went a combined 113 games below .500. Their only first-division finish came in 1932 when they finished in fourth place, two games above the break-even mark. Predictably, fans didn’t embrace the woeful team. From 1929-1933 the Phillies ranked last in the league in attendance four times, averaging just over a half-million fans per season. Foxx’s Athletics provided […]

Read More >

Trade of Ferguson Jenkins was one of the worst in Phillies franchise history


Fergie Jenkins rookie card

Imagine trading a 23-year old pitcher to your rival only to see him post six straight seasons of at least 20 wins. That’s just what the Philadelphia Phillies did when the shipped Fergie Jenkins to the Chicago Cubs in 1966. By the time his career was over, the 1971 Cy Young Award winner won 284 games and struck out 3,192 batters. In 1991 Jenkins became the first Canadian-born player to reach baseball immortality via induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In the CooperstownExpert.com collection is the document from the commissioner’s office that made official what many consider the worst trade in Phillies’ franchise history. Enjoy this video then click here to see Fergie’s own thoughts on the trade in a shoutout to this website. Reach Jim Smiley, the author of this story, CooperstownExpert@gmail.com Be sure to check out CooperstownExpert.com, the internet’s leading website for the display of museum-quality baseball autographs. 

Read More >

"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball…"

~Jacques Barzun, 1954