Articles.2010-BRJ39-2 – Society for American Baseball Research

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

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

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

The first recorded game in Lawrence was shortly after the Civil War. After a complicated, protracted dispute, Lawrence was ultimately declared champion of the short-lived Eastern New England League in 1885.

The Fightingest Pennant Race: Brockton versus Lawrence in the Eastern New England League, 1885

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

The Law Firm and the League: Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP, Major League Baseball, and MLB.com

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

Is There Racial Bias Among Umpires?

Hitting Streaks: A Reply to Jim Albert

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

Does a Pitcher’s Height Matter?

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

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?

Phillies manager Gene Mauch relied on the best left-hander in the team’s rotation, who was still healthy late in the season.

Beyond Bunning and Short Rest: An Analysis of Managerial Decisions That Led to the Phillies’ Epic Collapse of 1964

The Next Frontier—China

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?

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

BRJ-39-2cover

Fall 2010 Baseball Research Journal