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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 9h

Crazy that Sting and Dave Winfield were born a day apart. #BornInThe50s

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

More fives, more zeroes: OTD 50 years ago, Walter Alston manages his last game, though nobody knows it at the time. From the SABR Games Project: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

My wife and I saw his widow Gabby at a San Antonio Missions game a couple of weeks ago. We’ve known her for years through local distance running.

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Happy 101st birthday to Bobby Shantz! 🎂💯+1️⃣

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Happy 52nd birthday to one of the Pirates’ wildest defeats of the 1970s!

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The production on “Tired of Sex.”

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

OTD 50 years ago, Danny Frisella of the Brewers pitched in his last game. My SABR Games Project colleague @aharner.bsky.social tells the story:

sabr.org

September 23, 1976: Unbeknownst to all, Brewers’ Danny Frisella makes final appearance – Society for American Baseball Research

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Probably Matthew’s all-time best playlist to soundtrack doing the dishes!

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Today the baseball world joins hands to celebrate an anniversary: it has been 50 years since the big-league debut of Cowboy Joe West.

sabr.org

September 14, 1976: Cowboy Joe’s first ride: West umpires first of record-setting 5,460 games – Society for American Baseball Research

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Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

As someone in my 50’s, I can only dream of such attacks… 😢

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The Rooster @rooster.info · 12/09/2026

Tears in my eyes. Ohio Democrats hitting these perverts where it hurts???? Mental scenes.

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

New SABR Games Project jawn 🚨 takes us back to the Summer of Love to revisit a different kind of Impossible Dream. Tom Paciorek fans won’t want to miss it: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

Black and white news photo shows a clean shaven young Caucasian male with an expression somewhere between a smile and a grimace, the way people sometimes get when they’re not good at smiling on cue (this is not a criticism; you should see some of my family photos.) the young man has a regrettable lopsided Munsters sort of haircut; his flow makes Pete Rose look like a supermodel. The caption identifies the young man as “Tom Paciorek, Record Hitter,” which he was in April 1967 when this photo ran in the Houston Chronicle

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Song 187: Commencing Countdown, Engines On

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Happy 39th birthday to Jeff Robinson’s Immaculate Inning!

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

my brand-new SABR Games Project story is FIYAH. 🔥 No, srsly: it’s about a team coming back to its charred, patched-together ballpark after a major fire. Enjoy: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

Front page of the May 15, 1969, Syracuse Post-Standard (or at least the portion above the fold.) the lead stories are Richard Nixon offering a plan to pull troops out of Vietnam, and a fire destroying part of the city’s minor league park, MacArthur Stadium. MacArthur’s park is burning in the dark, all the sweet green icing floooooowing dooooooooown. (Alas, the pic is in black and white)

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Veruca Salt Urban Dance Squad Semisonic John Wesley Harding Jill Sobule Nash Kato Bryan Adams Ryan Adams Frank Black Brian Setzer Orchestra

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Warren Zevon Electric Six Le Tigre Mavis Staples Pere Ubu Rush Taylor Swift Neil Diamond Rufus Thomas Dave Davies

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But Andrew Hickey Died Ten Years Ago This Very Night @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 28/08/2026

Next main episode will be up in a few days, but for now here's the bonus to go with it. Twenty-five minutes on "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" by The Banana Splits. (And yes, before the Americans get to commenting, I do pronounce "banana" in an English accent, because I am English.)

patreon.com

500 Songs Patreon Bonus: "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" by The Banana Splits | Andrew Hickey

500 Songs Patreon Bonus: "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" by The Banana Splits by Andrew Hickey on Patreon. Join Andrew Hickey's community for exclusive content and updates.

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Philadelphia Freedom, alas, does not encompass the right to pass other people on the basepaths.

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

“You screw up right out in front of 30,000 people it’s kinda tough to hide.” My latest for SABR remembers Tim McCarver’s mid-‘70s Philly comeback, his battery partnership with Steve Carlton, and the time his inattentive trotting turned a grand slam into a 3-run single. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Chauvin was, in fact, the cause of Floyd’s death. He used a technique that MPD and most other agencies have banned, specifically because it causes death. And the crime for which he was convicted is unintentional second-degree murder, which by definition does not require intent to kill.

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Harrison Golden @harrisongolden.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A Louisiana legend is gone. Skip Bertman, who led LSU baseball to five College World Series titles, has died at age 88. I had the joy earlier this year of writing about one of Bertman's most famous triumphs: the 1996 championship. 📷: TigerRag magazine ARTICLE: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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BaseballObscura @justmckinney.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Been working on a cool, but insane project the past couple weeks. Thanks to @adarowski.bsky.social and Gary Ashwill and Kevin Johnson at Seamheads, I've procured a list of the 891 Negro League players who are missing death dates. In two weeks, I've found death dates for 37 of them...

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

My latest for SABR continues a long term Willie Stargell project — using a game from each season that he was in the majors to explore significant aspects of his 21-year career. This one, from 1974, remembers his success in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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AUgetoffmygold @augetoffmygold.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Was surprised at how unanimous the staff excitement was when I proposed the idea of doing the 100 Best No. 2 Hits. Hopefully you'll find it as much fun as we did! www.billboard.com/lists/best-n...

billboard.com

The 100 Best Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 Hits: Staff List

Our staff's list of our 100 favorite No. 2 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

“Jawn” is indeed an appropriate word to describe my newest SABR Games Project story 🚨: On the hottest day in Philadelphia history (so far!), the Pirates and Phillies do battle. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

Headline from the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 8, 1918, notes a new record temperature of 106.2 degrees

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

“Well, that's funny, because I happen to have Mr. Baerga right here…”

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Cecilia M. Tan @whyilikebaseball.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Who’s that wearing a Carlos Baerga jersey sneaking into the SABR Latino Baseball committee meeting…?

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Puck the Puddle Pilot @puckthepilot.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Gonna be a whole lot of moral damage when these service members come back and start telling their story and MAGA starts claiming it never happened and they are paid actors. Black rifle coffee gonna eat itself.

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Meghan Montemurro @mmontemurro.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Jameson Taillon has been designated for assignment by the Cubs. RHP Andrew Wantz has been selected from Triple A.

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Jacob Pomrenke @buckweaver.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Here are a bunch of great stories from SABR on baseball’s newest Hall of Famers who will be inducted today: Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, and Jeff Kent: sabr.org/latest/sabr-...

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

“I was definitely more impatient this year than I’ve ever been, and that was totally my fault.” My new one for SABR features a batting practice water show, two Ramon Martinezes, and a big day by a member of Cooperstown’s Class of 2026. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

for those who liked American Graffiti, my new SABR Games Project jawn🚨 will also take you back to California in 1962, only with a lot less cruising … and no mysterious blondes … no Wolfman Jack either, come to think of it:

sabr.org

September 17, 1962: San Jose Bees capture California League title in final Class C minor-league game – Society for American Baseball Research

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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

There is absolutely nothing stopping Elon Musk and crew from making their own film version of The Odyssey or whatever other gem of Western civilization they don't want tainted by someone else's interpretation. Except that would mean actually engaging with the work, rather than just complaining.

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Sam Miller @sammillerbb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I wrote about the ballplayer trail markers: pebblehunting.substack.com/p/the-life-o...

pebblehunting.substack.com

The Life Of A Fan Is Measured In Careers

Gladden. Transitive Verb. To make glad.

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

As it happens, earlier this month the SABR Games Project published Bill Nowlin’s article on the 15th consecutive win by the 1946 Red Sox. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

New SABR Games Project jawn🚨: Minor league baseball says goodbye to the Class B level, and a mild-mannered accountant is the last hero. Details here: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

Photo from the January 10, 1962, Cleveland Plain Dealer shows a sorta mopey looking young Caucasian male in a dark suit. He is typing on an adding machine with one hand and looking at a piece of paper that he holds in the other. This is Norb Lewandowski, who briefly ditched his accounting career when Dame Baseball tongued his ear and whispered seductively. (See, read too many 1960s newspapers and the misogynist analogies just come flowing off the fingers)

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Jacob Pomrenke @buckweaver.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Here is SABR’s recap of the Pythian vs. Olympic baseball game in 1869: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga.... Earlier interracial games have now been discovered, but this one remains the most historically significant.

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Trump doesn’t force people to do bad things. All he did was show people they could get away with being horrible if they really wanted to, and a lot of powerful people decided they didn’t need to pretend anymore. Especially those in influential positions who could push back but did not.

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Pepperidge Farm remembers when Lindsey Graham’s service as a military appellate judge violated the Incompatibility Clause of the Constitution. www.armfor.uscourts.gov/opinions/200...

Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces opinion.

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But Andrew Hickey Died Ten Years Ago This Very Night @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 05/07/2026

While I'm still working on song 185, I've made song 184 available early to backers. I am *fucking dreading* the response to this one and have been for years. No joke, I've had actual physical stress symptoms thinking of what people are going to say. But it needs to exist.

patreon.com

Early Access: Song 184: "The Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes" by the GTOs | Andrew Hickey

Early Access: Song 184: "The Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes" by the GTOs by Andrew Hickey on Patreon. Join Andrew Hickey's community for exclusive content and updates.

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Secretary of Defense Rock @sodrock.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

The thing that’s always annoying about these blurbs is Donald Trump and his political movement hate contemporary America far more than AOC or Omar or Talib do

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Probably a Robert Christgau nerd.

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Harrison Golden @harrisongolden.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Marking the semiquincentennial by celebrating a Team USA athlete of yore. Thanks to the Society for American Baseball Research for giving my latest retrospective — on Warren Morris's '96 Tiger triumph — a home sweet home. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

You've never read about this baseball game before, but you should: An imminent Number One draft pick and a guy pitching the last game of his life face off in a 15-inning thriller in the middle of nowhere. New SABR Games Project jawn🚨 takes us back to May 1974: sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

a young clean shaven caucasian male in a baseball uniform holds his hands above his head in the time-honored posture of a pitcher warming up. he wears a dark cap with an interlocking CU and a pinstriped jersey with the same emblem. this happens to be Cornell University Big Red pitcher Kirk Brink, pictured in the Cornell U. student paper on May 4, 1972

old newspaper photo shows a ballplayer taking a swing at the plate. the number 6 is visible on his back, and he wears tall stirrups with stripes at the top, of the sort that are no longer fashionable. this happens to be star Brown University infielder and future Number One draft pick Bill Almon, as shown in the Brown student paper on September 19, 1973

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John Fredland @johnfredland.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

“[Reed] wasn’t seeing the calls at first base, so I figured I might as well take it with me.” My latest for SABR goes back 25 years ago today for first-year managerial blues, extra-inning home runs, and the most memorable “stolen base” in PNC Park’s first quarter-century. sabr.org/gamesproj/ga...

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