SABR Games Project: Authors’ Choice 2025
On this page, find the SABR Games Project’s Authors’ Choice list for 2025. We polled our authors to nominate the favorite articles that they wrote this year. More than 20 authors responded and their stories are collected below.
This list is a great reflection of the spirit of the Games Project, covering games from 1871 through 2024, and including selections from the Negro Leagues, minor leagues, and college baseball.
Writing a story for the Games Project is an easy way to get involved as a SABR member. Find out how by reading the Games Project FAQs section or checking out the Authors’ Guidelines.
Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more.
July 11, 1997: Brewers’ Ben McDonald leaves no-hitter with shoulder pain
Written by Jake Bell
“Ben McDonald’s penultimate game is shockingly ironic and tragic. When I was researching his biography and read the quotes about having a long career ahead of him and plenty more opportunities to throw no-hitters, I knew this game needed a write-up. If Shakespeare and O. Henry collaborated to script a baseball game, it would play out like this.”
October 6, 1916: Tris Speaker, All-Star American Leaguers defeat International League in Canada’s capital
Written by Gary Belleville
“When I discovered that a team of American League stars made two barnstorming stops in my hometown of Ottawa, Ontario, in October 1916, I had to write about it. The games offered a brief respite to baseball fans in Canada’s capital from the strain of World War I, and I can imagine my great-grandfather attending the game in the days leading up to his deployment to Europe.”
August 28, 1972: Minor-league team owners in Elmira write themselves into the lineup
Written by Kurt Blumenau
“I’ve written a few Games Project stories in which 1972’s Hurricane Agnes is a supporting character. My favorite is this one, about two young minor-league team owners who brought a little bit of light into a lost season by writing themselves into the lineup and taking the field. (There’s a great piece of art at the end of the story, too.)”
September 20, 1953: Joey Jay becomes first former Little Leaguer to start a game in the major leagues
Written by Thomas J. Brown Jr.
“I chose this game because it is about how baseball can reach everyone. Little Leaguers can eventually become major-league players. It should inspire all Little League players to try their best!”
April 16, 1946: Giants’ Mel Ott hits 511th and final career home run on Opening Day
Written by Richard Cuicchi
“I live in the New Orleans area, where Mel Ott remains an icon in the city, nearly 80 years since he played in the majors. A ballpark, highway dedication, and bronze statue continue to remind local citizens of his Hall of Fame career. Ott was second, only to Babe Ruth, in career home runs when he retired.”
October 6, 1985: Yankees’ Phil Niekro notches win number 300
Written by Larry DeFillipo
“My personal favorite is the story of Phil Niekro’s 300th win, achieved on a day filled with mixed emotions. He did it in Toronto on the last day of the 1985 season, a day after the Blue Jays had eliminated the Yankees to clinch their first-ever playoff berth, facing a former manager practically rooting for Niekro to win against a lineup he’d filled with backups, with his teammate brother Joe by his side while their father lay gravely ill in a West Virginia hospital.”
October 9, 1906: Nick Altrock pitches White Sox to victory over Cubs in snowy World Series opener
Written by John Elrod
“This was the first ever meeting between the White Sox and Cubs that ‘counted’ and it was to open just the third World Series between the American and National leagues. As a new Chicago resident, it was very cool reading about the buzz across the city surrounding this historic game.”
April 23, 1982: Rookie Ryne Sandberg records first two homers as Cubs drop slugfest to Pirates
Written by John Fredland
“Both Ryne Sandberg and Lee Elia died in July 2025 and were remembered in high-profile two-homer games and profane postgame tirades. This game provides a different lens into both men, as Elia stands by a ‘player of the future’ during his early struggles.”
August 7, 1971: Matty Alou’s heads-up baserunning wins game for Cardinals
Written by Steve Ginader
“I got the idea for this story after a conversation with my daughter-in-law’s father on the Fourth of July. The fact that the Dodgers failed to call timeout, costing them the win and possibly the pennant that year, was a story that needed to be written.”
August 15, 1995: Hours after Mickey Mantle’s funeral, a distraught Phil Rizzuto leaves broadcast booth early
Written by Harrison Golden
“At the heart is a story of two teammates, their regrets, and their strength in emotional honesty.”
August 10, 1929: Cannonball Jackman pitches a perfect game in New Bedford
Written by Donna L. Halper
“In the 1920s and 1930s, there were numerous Black semipro teams that, for one reason or other, did not join the Negro Leagues. In New England, the most popular of these barnstorming Black clubs was the Philadelphia Colored Giants, led by star pitcher Will ‘Cannonball’ Jackman. Will was a legend in New England, with a career that spanned four decades and a very large following. Today he is nearly forgotten, and I’m doing my little part to change that, starting with the story of his perfect game in 1929.”
August 27, 1998: Two days after Orioles’ debut, Willis Otáñez’s season ends with fractured wrist
Written by Andrew Harner
“I found a newspaper story about Willis Otáñez’s major-league debut while researching something else, and because I had never heard of him, I wrote down his name, eventually started some basic research on him, and discovered his first season was derailed by a freak injury two days later. Little did I know, I would be putting a baseball lifer who spent 25 years as a professional throughout the world and collected more than 3,000 pro hits and nearly 500 pro home runs into the spotlight.”
June 30, 1908: Cy Young throws his third no-hitter and drives in half of Boston’s eight runs
Written by Bill Nowlin
“I’ll go with this game, which captures a couple of things we so rarely see any more – pitchers throwing a complete game, much less a shutout or a no-hitter, and batting with any real production.”
April 12, 1960: Chuck Essegian repeats World Series magic for Dodgers on Opening Day
Written by Tim Otto
“My favorite article from this year is my Opening Day article on Chuck Essegian and the Dodgers. An unlikely hero of the 1959 World Series, who almost didn’t make the team’s 1960 Opening Day roster, hit another pinch-hit homer to win the game.”
September 24, 2024: Padres beat Dodgers and clinch postseason berth by turning game-ending triple play
Written by Laura H. Peebles
“Because triple plays are always cool, triple plays to end the game are better, and triple plays to end the game and clinch a postseason berth are awesome!”
May 11, 1978: Rocker Robert Pollard pitches first no-hitter in Wright State history
Written by Eric Poulin
“Robert Pollard’s band, Guided By Voices, is considered to have some of the best rock songwriting of their generation and are one of my personal favorites. It was a fun challenge piecing together a detailed history of the no-hitter he threw in college – there isn’t a lot of information generally available about Division II games from the 1970s!”
July 4, 1871: Candy Cummings outduels Clytus Bentley in Independence Day clash
Written by David Rader
“A study of two young, talented opposing pitchers just before their paths drastically diverge. Candy Cummings became a Hall of Fame pioneer while Cy Bentley was dead from tuberculosis within two years.”
October 2, 2016: Vin Scully calls his final game as Giants beat Dodgers to clinch wild card
Written by Jake Rinloan
“I chose Vin Scully’s final game, which he described as the ‘ribbon on the package’ of his legendary 67-year career. Fittingly, it featured the Dodgers vs. the Giants with a playoff spot on the line. The game included a classy sendoff for a man who was the epitome of grace and eloquence. Mets broadcaster Howie Rose described Scully as ‘the greatest friend the game of baseball has ever known.’ I couldn’t agree more!”
April 9, 1985: Giants’ Jim Davenport makes managerial debut with Opening Day victory over Padres
Written by Tom Schott
“I remember being excited about the San Francisco Giants’ marketing campaign for the 1985 season: ‘Real grass. Real sunshine. Real baseball.’ And it played out perfectly on Opening Day as the Giants won a thrilling game over the defending National League champion San Diego Padres on a beautiful day at Candlestick Park. Unfortunately, the season quickly deteriorated, and the Giants wound up 62-100 – the first team in the franchise’s 103-year history to lose 100 games.”
October 13, 1925: Eddie Moore’s clout helps Pirates even World Series with Washington
Written by Andy Terrick
“The moment I saw a newspaper-published poem about a Pirates’ second baseman who hit a World Series game-winning home run on October 13, I knew I had to write about it. Bill Mazeroski’s 1960 Game Seven blast is (and forever will be) well covered, but any recall of Eddie Moore’s 1925 Game Six homer has disappeared to the ages, so it was nice to resurrect that story.”
June 12, 2005: Nationals edge Mariners 3-2 for 10-game winning streak
Written by Steven C. Weiner
“Listen to the celebratory interview of a game’s hero and you are bound to hear their praise of a teammate or two and gratitude for the support of a large crowd. For this author and fan, this Games Project essay captures all the elements of research, writing and celebration. Baseball was back in Washington, DC and there was nothing like a 10-game winning streak to reinforce the excitement!”
Click here to view stories from Authors’ Choice 2024.