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The First Pitch: October 16, 2025
The Blue Jays serve notice to the Mariners, in thundering fashion, that they’re still in it to win it in the ALCS. At Seattle for Game Three, Toronto rebounds from a 2-0 hole after a Julio Rodriguez homer in the first and score 12 unanswered runs over a four-inning stretch, on their way to a 13-4 rout of the Mariners.
After serving up the Rodriguez homer, Toronto starter Shane Bieber settles in and doesn’t allow a run over the next five innings, allowing four total hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Hitless in the first two games of the series, the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reawakens and enjoys a four-hit night, including his fourth homer in seven games this postseason. Overall, the Jays smack five homers, the second time they’ve accomplished that this postseason; they never hit more than four in 67 previous playoff games coming into the year. With the Mariners adding three round-trippers themselves, the total of eight on the night ties an all-time postseason game record.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1909: Pittsburgh Rookie Babe Adams fires a six-hit shutout in an 8-0 win over the Tigers, becoming the first pitcher to win three games in a World Series; it also clinches the Fall Classic for the Pirates in seven games. Detroit star hitters Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford go a combined 0-for-8 at the plate against Adams.
1912: In the decisive Game Eight of the World Series between the Giants and Red Sox (Game Two was a tie, so the two teams are even at three games apiece), New York takes a 2-1 lead in the 10th inning for legendary ace Christy Mathewson to wrap up. But a series of errors, both physical and mental—the drop of an easy fly ball from outfielder Fred Snodgrass, a pop foul that falls uncaught after one thinks the other will catch it—leads to a two-run Boston rally, a 3-2 Red Sox win and their first of four world titles in seven years playing, for the first time, at Fenway Park.
1962: The Giants trail the Yankees, 1-0, in the ninth inning of World Series Game Seven at San Francisco—but they’re rallying with runners at second and third, two outs and dangerous young slugger Willie McCovey at the plate. Right-hander Bill Terry passes on giving a free pass to the left-handed McCovey, who rockets a line drive—right into the glove of second baseman Bobby Richardson to secure the win and the series for New York.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Cincinnati outfielder Noelvi Marte (24)
Philadelphia first baseman Bryce Harper (33), wunderkind-turned-perennial All-Star (eight appearances at current count); 2012 NL Rookie of the Year; two-time NL MVP; 363 career home runs
Jonathan Schoop (34), second baseman who experienced up-and-down 11-year career; 2017 All-Star; currently playing in Mexico
Kevin McReynolds (66), outfielder and consistent producer at plate; 1,439 career hits including 211 home runs
Born on this date:
Tim McCarver (1941), 21-year catcher better (and later) known for lengthy career as national broadcast analyst
Dave DeBusschere (1940), tall pitcher who briefly pitched for White Sox, before embarking on Hall-of-Fame basketball career
Goose Goslin (1900), powerful outfielder with 248 career homers—playing bulk of career at spacious Griffith Stadium in Washington; 2,735 lifetime hits, .316 batting average; knocked in over 100 runs 12 times
Art Devlin (1879), Deadball Era third baseman, mostly with New York Giants; MLB stolen base leader in 1905
Shameless Link of the Day
The NLCS resumes today in Los Angeles. Here’s our story on the history of Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers’ home for 64 seasons.
Book Review: “Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Essays”
Edited by Louis H. Schiff and Robert M. Jarvis
One of the things I’ve always loved about baseball literature is its expansive and diverse nature of subjects. For every book that focuses on, say, the storied but familiar history of the New York Yankees, there’s another that digs deeper into the weeds and nudges you with a subject that leaves you thinking, “Huh—I didn’t know that.”
Such a book is Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Essays. Published by MacFarland Books—the North Carolina-based baseball book factory—this collection of articles overseen by retired judge Louis Schiff and law professor Robert Jarvis is a meticulously researched book that focuses on a fascinating collection of 11 people who played, managed or ran the game of baseball and, at some point in their lives, took up law. Fun fact, as revealed in this book: Eight managers in the history of major league baseball acquired law degrees—and six of them are in the Hall of Fame. All six are profiled in this book.
What makes Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame such an intriguing read is how these 11 people used their law experience to great benefit during their time in baseball. Branch Rickey, almost overqualified for a life in law school, used his lawyerly instincts to trailblaze his way through baseball history, perfecting the art of the farm system, overhauling failing franchises and, of course, shattering baseball’s race barrier by bringing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Larry MacPhail, less the law prodigy than Rickey, nevertheless leveraged what he learned into a far more successful calling as a businessman known for turning companies (and major league teams) around. Walter O’Malley fused his knowledge of the law with his father’s past as a corrupt New York City politician to become the man that tactfully stole the Dodgers from Brooklyn. And Tony La Russa, failed major league ballplayer, eagerly pursued a law degree to empower his stature as a rising manager—first in the minors, then at the major league level where he collected more wins than anyone not named Connie Mack.
Some of those featured in the book are not surprising for their inclusion, like O’Malley or Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Federal judge turned baseball’s first commissioner. One unexpected subject is Hughie Jennings, who from past reading always struck me as the whoop-it-up baseball character who would have least thought of a career in law. Less ironic but still surprising is Miller Huggins, manager of the Yankees during the 1920s who, as a child, was encouraged by his working-class father-in-law to get a law degree because of his penchant for arguing—and was fortunate enough to be taught by, among others, future President William Howard Taft. There’s also Jim O’Rourke, the man who struck the first-ever hit in National League history whose lofty use of “five-syllable words”—which would have made even George Will blush—gained him the nickname “Orator,” lending himself all too naturally to a post-baseball career in law.
The 10 writers who contribute to Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame are not lightweights; they’re highly experienced lawyers, professors and judges who know their craft—and they know their baseball, too. This double-barreled knowledge results in a smooth, self-assured narrative, not delving too deep into law linguistics that might wear down the many laymen among us (to which I count myself as one). And while most of the authors play it buttoned up and refrain from overt opinion, Elizabeth Marquez’s write-up on Bowie Kuhn stands out for her critical views of the former commissioner, writing that he “often…turned out to be on the wrong side of history” with his rulings and opinions.
Some readers adverse to long books may feel compelled to back away from the 253 pages offered in Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but nearly half of the content consists of footnotes and addenda, greatly shortening the core writing while being made available as an option for further digestion of the facts. The book can be useful for reference, or simply enjoyed as 11 well-written bios on some of baseball’s most influential men, and how their appetite for the law helped mold their place in the game.
Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame can be purchased from MacFarland Books, Amazon, and other online book sellers.
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