Austin J. Eich
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austineich.bsky.social
Austin J. Eich
@austineich.bsky.social
Celebrating America’s Pastime. OBP acolyte. Complete game enthusiast. Purveyor of fitted hats. Girl dad. Southpaw.
Left-handed batters to slash 300/400/580 or better at Fenway Park (min 600 PA):

• Babe Ruth
• Lou Gehrig
• Ted Williams
• Fred Lynn 🎂
• David Ortiz

Lynn slashed 347/420/601 over 1833 plate appearances at Fenway.

🎂 Happy 74th Birthday!
February 4, 2026 at 3:18 AM
2/3/1979: The Minnesota Twins trade Rod Carew, who will post a .393 on-base percentage with the California Angels (second only to Mike Trout in franchise history among batters with ≥ 3500 PA).

Carew posted a (tied) franchise-best .393 on-base percentage over 6980 PA with the Twins.
February 4, 2026 at 3:08 AM
1/31/1952: Harry Heilmann is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Over a span of 17 major league seasons, the four-time batting champ never struck out more than 54 times in any of them.

In the 2025 MLB season, nine batters recorded 54 or more games with multiple strikeouts.
January 31, 2026 at 11:10 PM
1/31/1965: James Francis Galvin is selected for Hall of Fame induction by the Special Veteran’s Committee. In his 1883 campaign, Pud notched 72 complete games over 75 starts.

There have been 57 complete games in the majors since the 2024 season began (a span of 9718 starts).
January 31, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by Austin J. Eich
It is unconscionable that January 31st is not a national holiday.
January 31, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Tony “Count” Mullane was born on this day in 1859 (Cork, Ireland). The ambidextrous hurler finished his career with six seasons of 25 or more wins.

In 2025, Colorado Rockies starting pitchers combined for *checks notes* 22 wins.
January 31, 2026 at 1:29 AM
1/30/1917: Grover Cleveland Alexander threatens to retire if his salary demands go unfulfilled. Old Pete will make 44 starts and log 34 complete games for the Phillies in his ‘17 campaign. Since 2016, Cleveland leads all MLB clubs with 28 complete games (a span of 1516 starts).
January 30, 2026 at 7:02 PM
1/29/1987: Wade Boggs inks a 3-year pact with the Red Sox. Over that span Boggs averaged 100+ runs, 100+ BB, 200+ hits, a .455 OBP, and 44 strikeouts.

Since 1895 only Ty Cobb (1915), Lou Gehrig (1934) and Boggs himself (1988) have bested the aforementioned marks in a single season.
January 29, 2026 at 11:50 PM
1/28/1946: Red Sox star Ted Williams, who served as an aviation instructor during World War II, is discharged from active duty with the U.S. Marine Air Corps.

After three years of military service, Teddy Ballgame would capture American League MVP honors at season’s end in 1946.
January 28, 2026 at 7:17 PM
1/25/1974: Ray Kroc acquires the San Diego Padres for $12,000,000.

That’s a lot of Big Macs.
January 25, 2026 at 10:08 PM
1/24/1939: George Sisler is elected to the HOF. Sisler recorded 8 seasons with 25 or more stolen bases, 4 of which included 200+ hits and an average above .300.

2025 inductee Ichiro Sukuki recorded 12 seasons of 25 or more stolen bases, 10 of which included 200+ hits and an average above .300.
January 24, 2026 at 11:00 PM
1/24/1973: Warren Spahn is elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. In his age 37 and older seasons, the crafty southpaw recorded 139 complete games over 261 starts.

Since 1995, ten major league franchises have recorded 110 or fewer complete games.
January 24, 2026 at 8:35 PM
1/23/1962: Jackie Robinson and Bob Feller are elected to the Hall.

Robinson was the only major league batter with 175+ stolen bases and an OBP above .400 from 1947-56 (NL career).

Despite 3+ years of military service, Feller made more starts than any other big league pitcher from 1936-56 (career).
January 24, 2026 at 12:21 AM
1/23/1979: Say Hey! Willie Mays is elected to the Hall of Fame. Mays made his professional debut in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons — seven months after future Hall of Fame backstop Johnny Bench was born. Bench was a seven-year veteran at the time of Mays’ retirement.
January 23, 2026 at 4:42 PM
1/22/1998: Rickey Henderson signs with Oakland (again) — that season he will swipe 66 bags and record 118 walks just months shy of his 40th birthday.

In 2025, no major league player stole more than 49 bases; 26 teams did not feature a batter with 100 or more walks.
January 22, 2026 at 5:58 PM
If you really want to know how good Sandy Koufax was, just ask one of his contemporaries.

The Left Arm of God was elected to the Hall of Fame on this day in 1972.
January 19, 2026 at 9:05 PM
You can parse the numbers any way you’d like, but on this day in 1972 Yogi Berra’s enshrinement among the greatest of all time in the Hall of Fame was confirmed.
January 19, 2026 at 3:46 PM
1/18/1969: Ted Williams is hired as manager for the Washington Senators. Here is Teddy Ballgame holding court with Curt Flood and others during a 1971 spring training game. Flood, a pioneer in player free agency, was born on this day in 1938.
January 18, 2026 at 11:01 PM
1/18/1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame. In his 1914 through 1917 seasons, Old Pete recorded 140 complete games (170 starts). Since 2022, there have been 128 complete games recorded in all of Major League Baseball.
January 18, 2026 at 3:31 PM
1/17/1970: Say Hey! Willie Mays is named Sporting News Player of the Decade for the 1960s. His cowboy crooner career never took off, so it’s good he had baseball to fall back on.
January 17, 2026 at 5:27 PM
"If Satch (Paige) and I were pitching on the same team, we would cinch the pennant by July fourth and go fishing until World Series time." - Dizzy Dean, born on this day in 1910
January 17, 2026 at 3:48 AM
1/14/1963: 40 year-old Hoyt Wilhelm is traded to the White Sox. Old Sarge would post an ERA of 2.18 over his final 881 innings of work from 1963 through 1972.

Among the 40 pitchers in the Live-Ball Era (since 1920) to record 400+ innings in their age 40 and older seasons, none have a lower ERA.
January 14, 2026 at 9:29 PM
1/13/1982: Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson are elected to the Hall of Fame. Both sluggers would hit their final major league home run against the same team (Angels) in the same month (July) of the same year (1976).
January 13, 2026 at 8:58 PM
1/12/1988: Pirates slugger and notable neighbor Willie Stargell is elected to the Hall of Fame.
January 13, 2026 at 2:09 AM
1/11/2005: Arizona trades 41 year-old Randy Johnson to the Yankees. In 2004 (his age 40 campaign) the Big Unit notched 35 starts.

Since 2007, 25 major league franchises have not featured a pitcher (at any age) with at least 35 games started in a single season.
January 12, 2026 at 1:14 AM