160-156

The first year that the American and National Leagues joined forces to become Major League Baseball was 1901. There were eight teams in each league and the schedule consisted of 140 games. The very first game featured the Brooklyn Superbas (later the Dodgers) and the Philadelphia Phillies and the 1901 division winners were the Chicago White Stockings (later the White Sox) and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Half of the 16 teams in Major League Baseball were located in what is now the I-95 corridor between Washington DC and Boston and the team furthest west was the St. Louis Cardinals. Geographically speaking, the entire league was located in the eastern 1/3 of the United States.

Things pretty much followed that structure for nearly 60 years, barring the 1958 season when the Dodgers and Giants began the westward expansion of Major League Baseball by heading to California.

As much as the first 60 years of the sport had been marked by geographical and numerical stability, the subsequent six decades has seen significant expansion, relocation and realignment.

The first round of Major League expansion came in 1961 when the American League added the Los Angeles Angels and a new Washington Senators team to replace the old Senators who were relocating to Minnesota to become the Twins.

The National League balanced things out in 1962 when the Colt .45s (later the Astros) were established in Houston and the Mets were tabbed for New York, replacing the void left in New York in the National League when the Giants and Dodgers left.

Just seven years later, Major League Baseball underwent its biggest single-season expansion when the Padres, Expos, Royals and Seattle Pilots began play in 1969. Major League Baseball stood at 24 teams, 12 in each league, for eight seasons before becoming unbalanced again when the Blue Jays and Mariners came into the league.

The 1977 expansion of Toronto and Seattle was the only growth the league saw for nearly a quarter century.

Since 2013, Major League Baseball has stood at 30 teams with the leagues balanced at 15 teams each. There is likely going to be another round of expansion in the coming years with a probable realignment plan; Rob Manfred supports it and MLBPA President Tony Clark has also voiced support for future expansion.

But, as you know, The Stud 400 doesn’t deal in the future. This week’s episode will feature the four expansion teams who brought the league to 30 teams as well as some incredible postseason moments, one of which possibly saved one of those expansion franchises mentioned above.

Before we move on to this week’s edition of The Stud 400, here’s a look at the last five entries as we count down the 400 greatest moments in Major League Baseball history:

165: Covid shuts down the season (2020)

164: Ebbets Field demolished (1960)

163: Game 5 1986 ALCS (1986)

162: Bryce Harper and Mike Trout win Rookies of the Year (2012)

161:Congressional steroid hearings (2005)

And now, here’s Episode LVI of The Stud 400.

160. Edgar Martinez walks off the Yankees (1995)

The 1995 postseason was unique in more ways than one. The 1994 labor stoppage had cancelled the postseason the year before, so this was a return to playoff baseball. It also marked the implementation of the Wild Card, meaning that for the first time ever, a non-division winner qualified for the postseason. The Rockies were the first Wild Card team from the National League, and they were sent home in the first round by the Atlanta Braves. In the American League, the Yankees returned to the postseason for the first time since 1981 through the Wild Card and were jettisoned in the first round as well thanks to the fella responsible for moment #160 in The Stud 400.

The Yankees won the first two games of the five-game ALDS at home and the Mariners held serve by winning the next two in the Kingdome, setting up an epic Game 5. The Yankees carried a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but David Cone was going to have to navigate the top of the Mariners lineup if he wanted to send the Yanks onto the ALCS. That dream died when Ken Griffey Jr. hit a solo home run and Cone walked in a run to tie the game on a 3-2 pitch with two outs and the bases loaded. The Yankees took the lead in the top of the 11th and stayed with Jack McDowell for his third inning of relief to try to close it out. Joey Cora led off with a bunt single and Griffey followed with a single of his own to put runners on first and third for Edgar Martinez, who delivered the most iconic hit in franchise history. His double into the left field corner tied the game and the speedy Griffey motored around to score from first for the series winner.

Significant consequences from the hit were felt by both franchises. The Mariners were in their 19^th season and had just two winning seasons during that time. They never finished above third place and had never really sniffed the postseason. In 1994 they went 49-63 before the strike and the Kingdome was quickly gaining a reputation as one of the shittier ballparks in baseball. There had been plenty of rumors all season long that the Mariners would be relocating out of the Pacific Northwest. The 1995 Mariners, and Martinez’s hit in particular, rejuvenated interest in the franchise and in 1996, they saw an attendance boost of 1,080,694 fans which was the second best in baseball.

It also helped gain support for a new stadium, which became a reality in 1999 with Safeco Field. For the Yankees, some of the moves they made before the 1996 season included replacing Buck Showalter with Joe Torre, starting rookie Derek Jeter at shortstop and letting John Wetteland walk in free agency, replacing him with Mariano Rivera. So I’d say things kinda worked out OK for them as well.

159. Sandy Koufax sits out, ends up a hero (1965)

The 1965 Dodgers season was a wild one. They were in first place for much of the season but could never really separate themselves from the pack. The Giants overtook them in the standings in game 141 of the 162-game schedule and by the time there were just 16 games left in the season, the Giants had built a 4.5 game lead over their rivals. However, the Dodgers won 15 of their final 16 games to capture the National League title. In the American League, the powerhouse Twins won 102 games and ran away with the pennant. Game 1 of the World Series should have been a showdown between 20-game winner Mudcat Grant and the iconic Sandy Koufax, who was smack in the middle of the best four-year run any pitcher has ever had. There was just one issue. Game 1 of the World Series fell on Yom Kippur and Sandy Koufax was a devout Jew. Despite the magnitude of the game, Koufax felt that religion came above baseball and chose not to pitch on one of the holiest days in the calendar. Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley also tried to take pressure off Koufax, stating that he wouldn’t allow Koufax to pitch on Yom Kippur.

Bumping Koufax from Game 1 to Game 2 wasn’t a huge deal; it was the ripple effects which caused concern. Basically, it threw Koufax off track to pitch in Games 1, 4 and 7. Things got even stickier when the Twins beat the Dodgers in Games 1 and 2. The Dodgers bounced back to win the next two, setting up Koufax for a pivotal Game 5. He responded by throwing a shutout to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. The Twins recovered and won Game 6, setting up a decisive Game 7. The Dodgers had Don Drysdale available on three days’ rest. Koufax was just two days removed from pitching a complete game with ten strikeouts, throwing well over 100 pitches. Nobody knew who Walter Alston was going to tab as the starter – or if Koufax was even a feasible option on just two days rest. Ultimately, just hours before the game, Alston let the press know he was “going with the left-hander” with the idea to see how long Koufax could go with Drysdale ready to relieve him afterwards. Turns out, there was no afterwards. Koufax pitched another complete game shutout with 10 more strikeouts to deliver the Dodgers their third World Series title in seven years. The World Series started eight days earlier with Koufax skipping Game 1 for Yom Kippur and ended with a signature performance for the ages by the greatest to ever do it.

158. Roberto Alomar ALCS Game 4 HR off Dennis Eckersley (1992)

The 1992 ALCS featured two star-studded teams and promised to be a classic showdown. The A’s were the dominant force in the American League at the time. They were seeking their fourth World Series appearance in five years and four future Hall of Famers suited up for them that season. That didn’t even include Dave Stewart, Mark McGwire, Carney Lansford or Willie Wilson. The Blue Jays just completed their ninth straight winning season and were in their third ALCS of that run. They had guys like Dave Winfield, Roberto Alomar, Jack Morris, John Olerud, David Cone, Joe Carter and Jimmy Key among other stars; they were stacked just the same. The one issue with the Jays was that despite being a consistently solid team, they never got over the hump to the World Series. Some even referred to them as the “Blow Jays.” That was all about to change.

The Jays were up 2-1 in the series and had Morris on the mound in Game 4 in Oakland looking to take one step closer to the Fall Classic. The first few innings went well for Morris and the Blue Jays, but that came crashing down in the third when the A’s scored five runs. The A’s took a 6-1 lead into the top of the eighth and things look bleak for the Jays, especially with all-world closer Dennis Eckersley in the bullpen and Dave Stewart lingering to start Game 5. The Jays started a comeback in the eighth and Tony LaRussa didn’t wait long to bring in Eckersley for what he hoped would be a six out save. That didn’t work. The Jays scored three runs and got to 6-4, but they still had to go through Eckersley, who would be that year’s Cy Young Award winner and MVP that season, in the ninth. Devon White started the inning with a single on a 3-2 pitch to bring up another Future Hall of Famer in Roberto Alomar as the tying run. Just 24 at the time, Alomar hadn’t yet developed the power that came later in his career. In five full seasons, he had a grand total of 39 home runs and never hit more than nine in a season. Eckersley had given up just five home runs among the 309 batters he faced that season. So of course Alomar belted a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall for the game-tying home run. The Jays would go on to win in the 11^th inning.

The Blue Jays would beat the A’s in six games, unseating them as the dominant team in the American League. They went on to beat the Braves for their first World Series title that fall and then followed it up as the repeat champions in 1993 thanks in large part to Joe Carter. As for the A’s, their Game 5 victory turned out to be the last win the Oakland A’s ever had in the ALCS. It would also be the last postseason game Eckersley ever pitched for the A’s, even though he did appear in the postseason for the Cardinals and Red Sox after that.

157. Devil Rays & Diamondbacks debut (1998)

In 1993 Major League Baseball expanded to 28 teams when the Rockies and Marlins began play.

Although he wasn’t involved in that expansion, Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo wanted to get in on the game and announced his plans to apply to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Arizona. Tampa was also widely assumed as a spot for a potential MLB franchise and two different ownership groups pursued the idea of establishing a team there.

Ultimately, the group led by cheapskate businessman Vince Naimoli was awarded the Tampa franchise and Colangelo was approved for Arizona. Each team paid a $130 million franchise fee and began play in 1998. The expansion draft was held in 1997 with the Devil Rays selecting pitcher Tony Saunders first overall. The Diamondbacks also selected a lefty pitcher with their first pick in Brian Anderson. Some of the recognizable names in the draft were Randy Winn, Bobby Abreu, Dmitri Young and Tony Bautista. The arrival of the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks brought the league up to 30 teams, where it still remains—for the time being—today.

156. Rockies & Marlins debut (1993)

The roots of the first MLB expansion since 1977 reach all the way back to 1985 and the agreement of the new collective bargaining agreement at that time. It was agreed upon that the National League would be able to expand by two teams to match the number of teams in the American League.

Details were then finalized in the 1990 CBA and the ball was officially rolling. The ten destinations considered for new teams were Buffalo, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, Denver, Miami, Tampa and Washington DC; the winners being Denver and Miami. Tampa and Phoenix got their teams in the next round and Washington would adopt the Expos about a decade later. The teams paid a $95 expansion fee and an expansion draft was held on November 17, 1992 to fill the rosters.

Pitcher David Nied was the first pick in the draft by the Rockies and Nigel Wilson was the first Marlin. Some recognizable names involved in the draft included Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman, Jeff Conine, Carl Everett, Joe Girardi, Danny Jackson, Bryan Harvey, Vinny Castilla, Eric Young and Brad Ausmus. The teams began play in 1993 and the Marlins were World Series champions just four years later.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode of The Stud 400 when we do some historic gardening and revive a lost art from the Dead Ball Era. We’ll also see what happens when one of the game’s true icons sets out to prove he wasn’t washed up. We’re going to learn how leather can make you a hero or a goat in the World Series as well, so make sure you’re on the right side of history in next week’s installment of The Stud 400.