Baseball History Podcast

Pete Incaviglia

Thomas Edward John Jr. was born May 22, 1943 in Terre Haute, Indiana. His 288 career victories rank as the 5th highest total among lefthanders in major league history. He is also notable for the revolutionary surgery, now named for him, which was performed on a damaged ligament in his pitching arm.

Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander was born February 26, 1887 in Elba, Nebraska. Pete had difficulty with everything in life except pitching. He was a solitary man and said little, and that in a small, whispery voice.

Carl Michael Yastrzemski was born August 22, 1939 in Southampton, New York. He had a 23-year career with the Boston Red Sox. Signed as a shortstop off the Notre Dame campus in February 1959, Yastrzemski replaced Ted Williams in left field for the Boston Red Sox in 1961 and followed him into the Hall of Fame in 1989.

Ralph McPherran Kiner was born October 27, 1922 in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He made his major league debut on April 16, 1946 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and his 23 home runs that season led the National League. Many of Kiner’s homers were hit into a short left- and left-center-field porch at Forbes Field, built for Hank Greenberg and Kiner, which became known as “Kiner’s Korner”.

Edward Stewart Plank was born August 31, 1875 in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Nicknamed “Gettysburg Eddie”, he was the first left-handed pitcher to win 200 games, and now ranks 3rd all-time in wins among lefthanders with 326 career victories.

Felipe Rojas Alou was born May 12, 1935 in Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic. The first Dominican to play regularly in the major leagues, he is the most prominent member of one of the sport’s most notable families of the late 20th century.

Warren Edward Spahn was born April 23, 1921 in Buffalo, New York. The winningest lefthanded pitcher of all time, and possibly the best as well, Spahn was a complete player who helped himself at bat and in the field.