Baseball History Podcast

Boyd Gail Harris was born October 15, 1931 in Abingdon, Virginia. He was a power hitter but lacked consistency. In 1958 for the Tigers, his best season, he had 20 home runs and 83 Runs Batted In but led American League first basemen in errors.

Tommie Lee Agee was born August 9, 1942 in Magnolia, Alabama. In 1966, his first full season, he hit 22 homers and led American League outfielders in putouts to earn Rookie of the Year honors. Traded to the Mets two years later, Agee helped them win the 1969 pennant with his leadoff hitting, including a career-high 26 homers.

Cecil Grant Fielder was born September 21, 1963 in Los Angeles, California. Often weighing in at over 250 pounds, Fielder put to full use his considerable girth, massive arms and powerful legs, uncoiling a ferocious, all-or-nothing swing in the classic power-hitter mold that routinely generated both tape-measure blasts and prodigious strikeout totals.

Edward Augustine Walsh, nicknamed “Big Ed”, was born May 14, 1881 in Plains Township, Pennsylvania. From 1907 to 1912, Walsh tested the limits of a pitcher’s endurance like no pitcher has since. During that stretch the spitballing right-hander led the American League in innings pitched four times, often by staggeringly large margins. He hurled a total of 2,248 innings, 300 more than any other pitcher in baseball.