
Smoky Joe Wood’s Last Interview
Author's note: I met Joe Wood in the early 1980s after I called…

Don Who? Padgett’s Brush With .400 Average in 1939
Consider the following list: Nap Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby, George…

An Unusual Record: Ted Wingfield’s Single Strikeout
Pitching in relief in the final innings of a 12-2 loss to the…

Emmett Ashford: Entertainer and Pioneer
He spent 20 years as a professional umpire, baseball's loneliest…

Cannonball Bill Jackman: Baseball’s Great Unknown
"The greatest pitcher I have ever seen," whispered John McGraw…

Lester Spurgeon Cook: Catcher, Trainer, PCL Legend
When I first became interested in baseball as a little leaguer…

Early Wrigley Field: Weeghman Park, 1914–23
Today Wrigley Field is the second oldest major league ballpark.…

‘He Never Was Much with the Stick’: The Story of Silent Bill Hopke
One of baseball's most exciting plays comes when a batter unexpectedly…

Eliot Asinof: A Baseball Life
Every summer thousands of baseball fans flock to Cooperstown…

Johnny Vander Meer on Pete Rose
I managed the Reds' Tampa farm club in the Class D Florida State…

Eddie Brannick
John Drebinger once wrote of Eddie Brannick, "He has legions…

Sunny Jim Bottomley’s Big Day
Over the years, baseball fans have often debated which record…

Media Guides
For the past two years I have pored over approximately 2,000…

The Indomitable Stormy Kromer
In his 94 eventful years, George "Stormy" Kromer caught for the…

Stolen Victories: Daring Dashes That Send the Fans Home Happy
The slugger stands at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, the…

Finessing the Standard Player Contract
During the 1998-99 off-season free agent Kevin Brown signed what…

A Manifesto for Defensive Baseball Statistics
Current defensive statistics are far less meaningful than batting…

How Old Is That Guy, Anyway?
Recently a friend recalled the first major league game that he…

Faux Real: Dog and Badger Fighting During Spring Training in the Deadball Era
The “sport” of dog fighting captured many headlines in 2007…

The Wildest Kind of Crank: The Story of Players’ League Magnate Al Johnson
At 3:38 on the afternoon of April 19, 1890, Albert Johnson was…

Retiring Clemente’s ’21’: True Recognition for Latinos in the Majors
"Most of what I learned about style I learned from Roberto Clemente."…

The Composition of Kings: The Monroe Monarchs and the Negro Southern League, 1932
When Negro National League officials agreed to close operations…

The 1945 All-Star Game: The Baseball Navy World Series at Furlong Field, Hawaii
There was no All-Star Game in the summer of 1945. But in late…

Clemente’s Entry into Organized Baseball: Hidden in Montreal?
This article was selected for inclusion in SABR 50 at 50: The…