John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 18hIn fact, this issue of Sports Illustrated ANTICIPATED the Cubs' victory rather than reflecting it. 090
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 18hThe Chisox had won in 1917 but Sporting Life, on its last legs, ceased to publish that year. 210
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 19hTen years ago, after the Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years, Sports Illustrated imitated Sporting Life. 3303
Reposted by John ThornSarah Langs @slangsonsports.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Chris Sale vs Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the 3rd SP matchup in postseason history between pitchers who had previously gotten the final out of a World Series, joining: 1938 WS G2 Dizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez 1911 WS G3 Christy Mathewson, Jack Coombs h/t @EliasSports 010620
Reposted by John Thorn"smokey stevenson" @kurtblumenau.bsky.social · 06/10/2026temporary scoreboards: so awesome. Pull up your flivver and watch the World Serious with all your neighbors 3165
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Is this THE golden era of Dodgers baseball, or do we look to the Boys of Summer? Bill Shaikin addresses the question, in the LA Times today. (I make a cameo appearance.) www.latimes.com/sports/dodge...latimes.comCommentary: Are we living in the Dodgers' golden era? The answer may not be so simpleDo the Dodgers need to win a third consecutive World Series to clinch this time as the golden era of Dodger baseball? Bill Shaikin asked a couple of baseball historians. 181
Reposted by John ThornTodd Radom @toddradom.bsky.social · 06/10/2026A delightful review of "The Ballpark and Beyond," from PRINT www.printmag.com/publication-...printmag.comTodd Radom Turns his Life-Long Passion for Baseball into New Book, 'The Ballpark and Beyond' – PRINT MagazineThe graphic designer, sports branding expert, podcaster, writer, and baseball historian tells us about his new illustrated love letter to baseball. 091
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026On this date in 1845: first baseball game to be recorded in scorebook of Knickerbocker Ball Club, played at Elysian Fields of Hoboken. Alex Cartwright plays, William R. Wheaton umps. 34313
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Yeah, but Ruth hit three, twice (1926, plus a fourth; and 1928) and Reggie hit three in a WS game in 1977 (I was there!) plus two others. 020
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The Mets open in New York--not in 1962 but in 1880, launching the first version of the Polo Grounds. ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-mets-ope...ourgame.mlblogs.comThe Mets Open in New YorkNot in 1962 but in 1880 (!); by John J. O’Malley 0102
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Recently acquired: Skating at Forest Park, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Sunday, Jan 17, 1904. Artist: Alfred Russell. ("Meet Me in St. Louis, Looie") 0121
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Thomson at the Ferry, by Kevin Baker. From "The Glory Days: New York Baseball, 1947–1957" (Collins, 2007). ourgame.mlblogs.com/thomson-at-t...ourgame.mlblogs.comThomson at the Ferryby Kevin Baker 070
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026This turned up on the web. Not the most brilliant thought ever thunk, but not bad. As my son Jed, a scholar of ancient Greece, pointed out, "nostos" = coming home, "algia" = pain. Not the treacly stuff served up by greeting-card vendors, and regarded as history by the credulous. 092
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Hands of Doug Allison, former catcher withe Cincinnati Red Stockings, showing results of baseball playing, Palmar and Dorsal surfaces. Feb. 12, 1889. 1101
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Statcast provides data which others may use as they see fit. 010
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026An email request from an MLB colleague regarding the public-domain status of the term "Murderers' Row" has prompted me to re-read a (rather good) story dating to 2004, when I wrote it for The Woodstock Times. ourgame.mlblogs.com/bees-knees-a...ourgame.mlblogs.comBee’s Knees and Cat’s WhiskersBee’s Knees and Cat’s Whiskers When language was called lingo Just the other day, a writer for Men’s Health requested an interview with me about the origin and evolution of the jock strap … 073
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Written ten years ago #OTD, Facebook tells me. "Today MLB gathers more data points in a single game than were available to Pete Palmer and I for the whole of baseball history when we wrote The Hidden Game of Baseball in 1984." www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/m...nytimes.comCan New Technology Bring Baseball’s Data Revolution to Fielding? (Published 2016)For years, players have been valued for their hitting. Now a groundbreaking tool makes it possible to measure how much their defense contributes to a team’s success. 170
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Tonight the Red Sox play the Yankees in ... the Bronx, named for the Broncks (and the only one of NYC's five boroughs still using the definite article). 0173
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Just up the road from my home. www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley...timesunion.comUpstate New York’s oldest home is older than New York itselfBuilt in 1663, the Bronck House predates Albany’s oldest building by 65 years and offers a glimpse into early Dutch life in the Hudson Valley. 1121
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I'm rooting for Chicago vs. Chicago. BTW, this first attempt to film the World Series (1906) is lost. 241
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026For this last essay in the series ("America's National Game"), it's about Comebacks and Coleridge--the fan's willing suspension of disbelief. ourgame.mlblogs.com/americas-nat...ourgame.mlblogs.comAmerica’s National Game: 2004Comebacks; thinking about the Red Sox (and the 1901 Tigers) 141
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Sold at Heritage earlier this year for $30. sports.ha.com/itm/basketba...sports.ha.comCirca 1949 Ralph Beard Sports Illustrated Issue. ... Basketball | Lot #43450 | Heritage AuctionsWorld's Largest Collectibles Auctioneer 120
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Of course, playing in only one inning he did not have to throw. 100
Reposted by John ThornAdam Darowski @adarowski.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I somehow missed this other example. 🤯 www.mlb.com/news/willie-...mlb.comOne-of-a-kind change: Cortes plays RF left-handed ... then 3B right-handed!BALTIMORE -- Athletics outfielder Carlos Cortes being listed as a switch-thrower on his player page is no mistake. Born a natural left-hander, Cortes learned how to throw right-handed when he was eigh... 191
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The photo is from the late 1880s, when he played shortstop for the Giants. 110
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 24/09/20262/2 I then played in centerfield, learning how to throw lefthanded. My arm improved somewhat and I went to second base in 1885." Is Ward the only position player to throw righty and lefty in MLB history? 4100
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 24/09/20261/2 In a letter to The Sporting News, dated March 10, 1909, John Ward explained how he threw lefthanded in the 1884 season: "...in 1884 I injured my shoulder so badly in sliding in Cleveland that I was never able to do much pitching afterwards, and it is painful to this day ... 3131
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The Bonehead Play, in 1908: ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-merkle-b...ourgame.mlblogs.comThe Merkle Blunder: A Kaleidoscopic ViewWhat really happened? 3153
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026America's National Game: In 2020, MLB redefined the Negro Leagues of 1920-1948 as major leagues. ourgame.mlblogs.com/americas-nat...ourgame.mlblogs.comAmerica’s National Game: 2020The Negro Leagues are designated as majors 0103
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Edison's baseball films of 1898 survive; one of them depicts Zane Grey, Newark outfielder, running to first base! Lubin's, however, do not. 020
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The first baseball film between MLB contestants was made by Siegmund Lubin of Philadelphia in 1902, starring Rube Waddell. All of his films blew up in a fire of 1914 but this, from 1903, survives. 1102
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Peter Max (Finkelstein), who died on September 14 at age 88, was a classmate of Sandy Koufax at Lafayette High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. 1242
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 14/09/2026America's National Game, 1901: The founding of the American League, and other "rival leagues." ourgame.mlblogs.com/americas-nat... 0131
John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Headin' Home, the 1920 Lawrence C. Windom silent baseball biographical comedy starring Babe Ruth (playing himself in his first movie), Ruth Taylor, William Sheer, Margaret Seddon, and Frances Victory. These eight lobby cards sold for nearly $21,000 31 years ago. 1163
Reposted by John Thorn#BaseballandtheLaw⚾️🏛️ @baseballandlaw.bsky.social · 12/09/2026“[F]or the first time in the history of baseball the color line has been drawn...The Browns were in open revolt last night" p 1 ny times 9/12/1887 The St Louis Browns staged a mutiny refusing to play against the NY Cuban Giants, a prominent negro team #BaseballandtheLaw 627-2 093