Category Archive: Articles.2010-BRJ39-2

The vacant lots around the Brooklyn ballpark accommodated only 700 automobiles. After World War II, city-dwellers flocked to outer Long Island and New Jersey, and the lack of vehicle access threatened to cut ties with the longtime Dodger fan base.

Field of Liens: Real-Property Development in Baseball

Baseball is at one and the same time an idyllic game for children…
With the election of Connie Mack (center) as president of the Athletics in January 1937, the Mack family, including Earle (left) and Roy (right), now controlled all of the senior leadership positions in the club’s front office.

Departure Without Dignity: The Athletics Leave Philadelphia

  With Connie Mack’s election as president of…
Crackers first baseman, whose mother, sister, and brother Joe traveled from New York to Atlanta to watch his team in a crucial game against the rival Birmingham Barons on July 8, 1954.

It’s Not Fiction: The Race to Host the 1954 Southern Association All-Star Game

For the first eleven days of July 1954, the Atlanta Crackers,…
Longtime historian at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and himself a walking encyclopedia of baseball knowledge, spent three decades compiling biographical data on players. David S. Neft and his team of twenty-one researchers took Allen’s accumulated research as the basis of their massive reference work that was published as the Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia in 1969.

The Macmillian Baseball Encyclopedia, the West System, and Sweat Equity

There is beauty in finding that beneath a complex system, one…
Fans, he observed, “never blamed their team for a loss, it was always the umpire. A player could have bobbled a ball or made an errant throw and the fans would blame the umpire. ... The fans would always find something that had happened in the game, no matter how badly their team may have got beaten, and find fault with the umpire. As sickening as it sometimes was, I was always impressed by their dedication.”

“No, I’m a Spectator Like You”: Umpiring in the Negro American League

Bob Motley umpired in the Negro American League from 1947 through…

Is There Racial Bias Among Umpires?

Is there widespread racial bias among umpires? In August 2007,…

Hitting Streaks: A Reply to Jim Albert

Do hitting streaks occur more frequently than they would if hitting…
His longest hitting streak in 2004, when he was with the Indians, was 7 games, which may not sound remarkable but is, according to Jim Albert, so statistically improbable as to be actually “impressive.”

Great Streaks: A Response to Trent McCotter

In an article in the 2008 issue of The Baseball Research Journal,…

Does a Pitcher’s Height Matter?

In 1993 the Los Angeles Dodgers traded a setup man for a very…
The greatest pitcher of his day had a few stellar seasons (1860–62) for the Brooklyn Excelsiors before dying of a baseball-related injury in October 1862 at age 21.

The Many Flavors of DIPS: A History and an Overview

How much control, if any, does a pitcher have over whether a…
Participated in the Home Run Derby in 1991, 1992, and 1996 — seasons whose first halves were his best, fifth-best, and second-best.

Home Run Derby Curse: Fact or Fiction?

A variety of sources have indicated the existence of a Home Run…

The Next Frontier—China

OPENING DAY Vendors sold peanuts, popcorn, and hot dogs, but…
Joined the Tigers in 1939 as a batting-practice pitcher and wore number 16 ... because it fit.

Who Wore Uniform Number 16 for the Tigers—Before Prince Hal?

Since January 2001, I’ve been engaged in a baseball-research…
Helped lead the 1950 Phillies to the NL pennant, but missed the World Series when his National Guard unit was activated. With the Cardinals in 1964, he finally saw his first World Series action, in two fine starts against the Yankees.

The Day the Phillies Went to Egypt

In the spring of 1947, a seventeen-year-old southpaw named Curt…
BRJ-39-2cover

Fall 2010 Baseball Research Journal

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