Search Results

Since 1931 the University of Minnesota baseball program has been blessed with three fine coaches, Frank McCormick, Dick Siebert, and John Anderson, all of whom are enshrined in the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The most improbable and quite possibly the least appreciated success story has been Anderson’s tenure as coach of the […]

Throughout his 14-year major league career, John Anderson became accustomed to change. As one of the era’s few switch-hitters, one might say he even had a knack for it. From 1894 to 1908, Anderson played for six different franchises in seven different cities. He played for winners, such as the pennant winning 1899 Brooklyn Superbas […]

In spite of Pete Rose’s 44-game hitting streak in 1978 and his achievement of more than 3,000 hits in his career, Mickey Mantle has been selected as the greatest switch hitter in baseball history. In a survey conducted by the Society for American Baseball Research earlier this year, Mantle was ranked first by 215 of […]

In the last decade or so there has been an increased emphasis on switch hitting.  Mickey Mantle, the first great power hitter who swung from either side, probably had something to do with this.  But there have been many other good switch hitters in recent years, such as Pete Rose, Maury Wills, Wes Parker, Don […]

In a sport now dominated by teams from sunnier climates, the University of Minnesota baseball program has had a considerable amount of success over the years. The Golden Gophers have won three College World Series Championships, 22 Big Ten Conference championships, and have had 30 players go on to play in the major leagues.

There have been more than 100 persons voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for their playing ability and not one was born in a foreign country. It is true that Harry Wright was born in England, but he was selected as a baseball pioneer and manager. In 1973, Roberto Clemente of Puerto Rico was […]

The cold, pallid stone in Columbia, Pa., denotes his final resting place like an old, grey, weather-beaten scorecard. There are no crossed bats; no baseballs engraved on the damp, neglected slab. Nary a whisper of his forgotten fame. Just the stark sentinel and its silent speech: JAMES T. SHECKARD 1878-1947 The memories have been pushed […]

The major-league portion of the 1907 winter meetings were held by both leagues on the same days, Tuesday through Thursday, December 10-12. It was the second year they’d met simultaneously. The National League met in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria while the American League met in Chicago. New York was the home of […]