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“Judy Johnson was the smartest baseball player I ever came across.” — Ted Page1   Despite his father’s aspirations for William “Judy” Johnson to become a boxer, Judy never entered the ring. Instead, Johnson took his game to the diamond. For that, baseball owes him a debt of gratitude. In the Negro Leagues, if Satchel […]

William “Judy” Johnson was one of the slickest fielding third basemen in the history of black baseball — or any other baseball. Old-timers who saw him cavort with the old Philadelphia Hilldales or Pittsburgh Crawfords in the 1920s and `30s inevitably link his name with that of Brooks Robinson. Connie Mack, the sweet-natured owner of […]

The Society for American Baseball Research has been selecting each year the baseball personality born 100 years ago who has contributed the most to the national game. Last year, for example, the honor went to Christy Mathewson, born in 1880. This is a nice practice, which should be continued. In fact, I have gone considerably […]

Squat, bow-legged Ray Dandridge was a “vacuum cleaner” at third base, black veterans agree. Charging into bare hand a bunt, leaping to his right to backhand a line drive, racing in front of short-stop to cut off a slow roller, Ray Dandridge was “fantastic,” according to Monte Irvin, who played with Ray on the Newark […]

This article was originally published in SABR’s The National Pastime, No. 14 (1994).   My most desired time-machine dream game happened on August 2, 1930. On a hot, humid summer night in Kansas City, Missouri, two men, one with smoke and the other with fire, engaged in a wild, free-swinging 12-inning contest that would result […]

Visiting Cuba is like tripping in a time machine. We’re not talking about a beach vacation at Varadero, but a visitation to the living, working Cuba. A Cuba where baseball is woven into the shirts they wear, is the caffeine in their coffee, and the excitement in their voices. When you are there, you’ll find […]

In 1971, Satchel Paige became the first Negro Leagues player to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was the same year the Pirates fielded the first all-black lineup in major-league history on their way to a World Series title. Since 1971, over 30 Negro Leagues players and executives have been elected to […]

    For three fabulous seasons on the old Lincoln Giants of the Bronx, 1912-1914, Cannonball Dick Redding teamed with Smoky Joe Williams in one of the best one-two pitching punches ever seen in America.     Many old-timers – pitcher-outfielder Jesse Hubbard is one – insist that “Redding and Williams were better pitchers than Satchel […]

“Has anybody else told you about Dobie Moore? Well, I’ll tell you something about him. That Moore was one of the best shortstops that will ever live! That fella could stand up to the plate and hit right-handed, he could hit line drives out there just as far as you want to see.” — Casey […]

Many Baseball Hall of Fame inductees are associated with the American League Philadelphia Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies by way of career accomplishments, or by wearing the team ball cap on their Hall of Fame plaque. Many others in the Hall have connections to the city of Philadelphia and the city’s baseball teams since the 1860s. […]

This article was originally published in “Unions to Royals: The Story of Professional Baseball in Kansas City,” the 1996 SABR convention journal.   Satchel Paige, the tall, talented, tan, talkative traveler from Mobile, Alabama, was known for his athletic achievement, phenomenal longevity and crowd-pleasing charisma which earned him the distinction of being baseball’s greatest gate […]

On April 27, 1926, Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators joined Cy Young as the only major-league pitchers with 400 or more career victories. Young began his career in 1890 and finished in 1911 with a record of 511 wins and 315 losses. Johnson, a major leaguer since 1907, began the 1926 season with 398 […]

Perhaps no baseball season has ever begun with more uncertainty than the 1918 pennant chase. As the season began, the United States had been at war for a year, during which time major-league players had been largely unaffected by the world’s events. On July 1, 1918, however, the sport’s privileged existence was shattered when Secretary […]

Less than a week before the 1944 midsummer classic, Boston’s “All-Star squad quartet”1 of second baseman Bobby Doerr, right fielder Pete Fox, pitcher Tex Hughson, and left fielder Bob Johnson paced the Red Sox to a 13-3 thrashing of the Detroit Tigers. A crowd of 5,146 at Fenway Park saw all nine of Boston’s starters […]

Seattle was the scene of Randy Johnson’s rise from being just one piece of a trade for the Expos to acquire Mark Langston, to being one of baseball’s best pitchers. As a Mariner, Johnson was named to half of his 10 All-Star teams, won the first of his five Cy Young Awards (and finished in […]

The 54,485 fans filling Yankee Stadium on a hot July afternoon were expecting a win. After all, the Yankees were 60-40, only a half-game behind the division-leading Red Sox in the AL East. The visiting Tampa Bay Devil Rays (42-61) were 20 games back, last in the AL East. The day before, the Yankees had […]