31 Moments That Changed Baseball: Author Phil Coffin Joins Almost Cooperstown

What do Jackie Robinson's historic debut, baseball's first All-Star Game, Moonlight Graham, the spitball and Dave Winfield's unfortunate encounter with a seagull have in common?

They're all part of baseball's remarkable history—and the stories behind them are often more surprising than the events themselves.

In Episode 728, Mark and Gordon welcome author Phil Coffin to discuss his book, A Baseball Book of Days: 31 Moments That Transformed the Game.

Coffin takes a different approach to baseball history, organizing 31 stories around memorable dates and uncovering the people, coincidences and unexpected circumstances that make the game endlessly fascinating.

Among the stories we explore:

• Jackie Robinson's debut: Why the contemporary newspaper coverage and attendance at Ebbets Field might surprise today's fans.
• Pumpsie Green and the Red Sox: The 12-year gap between Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier and Boston finally integrating its roster.
• The first All-Star Games: How the American and National Leagues' 1933 exhibition and the Negro Leagues' East-West All-Star Game became major events.
• Baseball's strange bird encounters: Dave Winfield's arrest in Toronto and other improbable incidents involving baseballs and birds.
• Moonlight Graham and the one-game wonders: The players whose entire major league careers lasted a single game, sometimes without a plate appearance.
• The origins of the trade deadline: How wealthy New York teams helped inspire restrictions on late-season player acquisitions.
• The .400 hitter who wasn't: Don Padgett's extraordinary 1939 season and the circumstances that left him at .399.
• The spitball ban: Why baseball allowed certain pitchers to continue throwing the pitch after outlawing it in 1920.
• Bill Veeck and baseball's winter meetings: A look at baseball's colorful offseason past as the sport faces an uncertain future.

Phil also discusses the research behind his books, his earlier work on the 1959 Topps baseball card collection and his next project exploring baseball's innovators.

Whether you're a longtime student of baseball history or simply enjoy discovering the game's forgotten characters, this conversation offers plenty of stories worth remembering.

Find Phil Coffin's book: A Baseball Book of Days: 31 Moments That Transformed the Game, available through McFarland Books and major booksellers.

Almost Cooperstown is a weekly baseball podcast featuring thoughtful conversations about the Baseball Hall of Fame, baseball history, current MLB topics, player comparisons, statistics and the stories that connect today's game with its rich history.

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music.

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