Sports History On This Day: August 17

August 17, 1957 – They were accidental but talk about hitting someone when they are down. Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame Baseball player Richie Ashburn fouls and hits fan Alice Roth twice in the same game at bat against the New York Giants. The first foul hit ball ended up hitting her in the face breaking … Read more

Conflict of Interest: The Summer of Jan Opperman

 In the seventh episode of “Tim Coffeen Talks Indy Car and Racing History,” Tim looks back at his relationship with driver Jan Opperman, an American racing legend who left us way too soon. Opperman was a competitive racer, but also a man of the cloth, and those two seemingly opposite interests were quite unusual in … Read more

1986 New York Giants: The Greatest Season in G-Men History?

The New York Giants joined the National Football League in 1925. From that time until 1964, the team had success. Here’s how. Although there wasn’t an NFL championship game played in 1927, the Giants were named NFL Champions based on having the best record in the league (11–1). They would play in 14 NFL Championship … Read more

Sports History On This Day: August 16

August 16, 1920 – It was a truly tragic day in MLB history. A pitch that may have got away from New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays nailed Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman squarely in the head. The trauma from the incident ended up killing Chapman about 12 hours later to become the only MLB player … Read more

Fantasy Football? When Halas Played Rockne (Great Lakes vs. Notre Dame 1918)

With electronic, board, and online fantasy games extremely popular for both football and baseball fans, one can imagine the wild matchups that might be possible through these outlets. How would Nolan Ryan pitch to Babe Ruth? Could Ty Cobb fool Bob Gibson on the base path? And would Jim Thorpe have a chance against Dick … Read more