Search Results

This article was originally published in “A Celebration of Louisville Baseball,” the 1997 SABR convention journal.   The baseball season of 1890 was a tumultuous season on and off the field. It was the year of open battled in the Brotherhood War, with the players forming their own league and fielding a full schedule of […]

Editor’s note: This article was told to William B. Ruggles, June 15, 1931. Actually, I think the birth of the Texas League in 1888 was due to the fact that a club of minor leaguers defeated the New York Giants. That notable victory aroused the sporting blood of Austin to the patch of enthusiasm necessary […]

David Ortiz retired at the end of the 2016 season with 10,091 career plate appearances in the major leagues, 8,861 as a designated hitter, putting him atop the leaderboard for DH appearances over Harold Baines (6,618). (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY)   Before Ron Blomberg stepped into the batter’s box on April 6, 1973, […]

Walter Johnson Wasn’t That Wild When Phil Niekro, the Braves’ ace knuckleball pitcher, mad four wild pitches in the sixth inning of the second game at Houston on August 4, 1979, he set a new modern major league record. The baseball record books also list Walter Johnson with four wild pitches in the fourth inning […]

Ticket purchase receipt to Game Five of the 2004 World Series — had it been played at Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Jeb Stewart)   Even for a confident Yankees fan (are there any other kind?), the 2003 offseason began with troubling signs. True, Brian Cashman found a way to obtain Alex Rodriguez, who had seemed […]

On Larry Tye’s 2009 biography of Paige and Timothy M. Gay’s 2010 book on the barnstorming tours of Paige, Dizzy Dean and Bob Feller.

The 1893 season for the Boston Beaneaters began in a mediocre manner, but after 20 games the team’s wins consistently outnumbered its losses. By the time of the summer solstice, the team was battling for the lead in the National League. A road trip begun in late June achieved only mixed results through most of […]

Tommy McCarthy of the Boston Beaneaters was one of the smartest players in baseball. The outfielder with the “smooth face and boyish smile” was quick thinking, “fast on his feet,” and “game to the core.”1 The Pittsburgh Pirates were victims of his astute play on Wednesday, August 15, 1894, at the South End Grounds in […]