John Pielli, Author at Baseball Essential

From the Outhouse to the Penthouse: How the Trade of Red Ruffing Changed his Baseball Career

May 4, 2016

Going from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees and having a Hall of Fame career only seems to apply to Babe Ruth. Of course, the sale of Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees for $125,000 seems to go down...

Tying Two Major Baseball Events Together Through a Player Who Played in Just One Game

John Pielli

Apr 17, 2016

Baseball History

So much has been written about players who have made an impact on the history of Major League Baseball. Sometimes there is a player who may not have accomplished very much that can bring light to things that di...

The Hidden Importance of the Yankees 1958 World Series Title

John Pielli

Feb 24, 2016

Atlanta Braves, Baseball History, New York Yankees

When the Yankees won the World Series Championship in 1958, it capped the most dominant decade of baseball excellence in the history of the sport. It represented the team's seventh World Series victory of the d...

A baseball player by the name of Sanders, who was once a Colonel

John Pielli

Feb 16, 2016

Baseball History

The game of baseball in the year 2016 is a far, distant cry from baseball in its infancy. Of course, much about the game of baseball has changed, but my concern is how quickly 19th century baseball seems to hav...

The Day Chico Ruiz Stole Home

John Pielli

Feb 9, 2016

Baseball History, Cincinnati Reds

On February 9, 1972, Kansas City Royals infielder Chico Ruiz died in a car accident in San Diego, California. Ruiz was just 33 years old and presumably still had many years left playing baseball in the major le...

Johnny Keane’s mistake to leave the St. Louis Cardinals organization

John Pielli

Feb 3, 2016

American League, Baseball History, Major League Baseball, National League, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals

Recapping the managerial career of 1960s MLB manager Johnny Keane, it is easy to discuss the difficulties he faced to get to the major leagues. He certainly took the the scenic route to get to there. With his m...

Some Things to Ponder Before Making the Designated Hitter Universal

John Pielli

Feb 2, 2016

Baseball History, Major League Baseball

Within the past few weeks, it was acknowledged that the National League had discussions about the possibility of changing its rules to allow for a designated hitter to be used in all of baseball, not just the A...

Remembering Vern Rapp’s Journey through the World of Baseball

John Pielli

Jan 2, 2016

Baseball History, Cincinnati Reds, Major League Baseball, National League, St. Louis Cardinals

When Vern Rapp comes up in a baseball conversation, there is little that stands out. The man never played in the major leagues and served as a major league manager for parts of three seasons for two different t...

Should Bill Dahlen Be in the Hall of Fame?

John Pielli

Dec 22, 2015

Baseball History, Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball, National League

The Baseball Hall of Fame announced ten nominees to be considered for election as part of the Pre-Integration committee. Six former players and four pioneers are on the list, all of whom had to be from the era ...

Maury Wills’ banjo now on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame

John Pielli

Dec 13, 2015

Baseball History, Hall of Fame, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball

Maury Wills spent 12 of his 14 MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and to this day remains an instructor in Spring Training. For that reason by itself, it was not a shock to see Maury at Baseball's Winter ...

Author John Pielli