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Jackie Robinson’s major-league debut was more than just the first step in righting an historical wrong. It was a crucial event in the history of the American civil rights movement, the importance of which went far beyond the insular world of baseball. The Dodgers signed Robinson to a major league contract just five days before […]

Lyle Spatz was a devoted fan of baseball and his hometown Dodgers by 1946, which was just in time to bear witness to one of history’s most storied teams. Jackie Robinson came to Brooklyn the next season, and Lyle attended his first game at Ebbets Field on July 5, 1947. Though his team lost that […]

No one would seriously argue that the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies were one of the best teams in baseball history, but they certainly are one of the most memorable. Dubbed “the Whiz Kids” by sportswriter Harry Paxton because of their relative youth, they proved to be most resilient and able to overcome adversity. Although they threatened […]

People of a certain age know where they were when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt died, and Bobby Thomson swung. “The most famous sports moment of all time,” Jon Miller termed Thomson’s October 3, 1951, pennant-winning blast. We still recall the Shot Heard ’Round the World: Russ Hodges five times crying, “The Giants […]

During the 1940s National League baseball was largely dominated by the Cardinals and the Dodgers. St. Louis won four pennants in the decade while finishing second five times. Brooklyn took three flags and were runner-ups three as well. Besides a horrendous 1944 season, “dem Bums” were third the rest of the time. It was the […]

It is well known that a manager may formally protest a game only if he claims an umpire has made a decision contrary to the rules. Dissatisfaction with a specific call (safe/out, ball/strike, fair/foul) is not grounds for a protest. However, sometimes things get a little murky. Take, for example, the game of July 20, […]

It is well known that a manager may formally protest a game only if he claims an umpire has made a decision contrary to the rules. Dissatisfaction with a specific call (safe/out, ball/strike, fair/foul) is not grounds for a protest. However, sometimes things get a little murky. Take, for example, the game of July 20, […]

At the SABR National Convention in Milwaukee in July 1983, one of the baseball research questions was: Who was the only major league player to hit a home run before his 20th birthday and after his 40th birthday? It would have to be someone with a long career. Was it Rogers Hornsby? (No.) Al Kaline? […]

Beyond the outfield walls at Crosley Field, across Western Avenue in center field, and across York Street in left field, were brick industrial buildings, a part of the fabric of the neighborhood that enveloped the ballpark. Spectators sometimes grabbed glimpses of games from the windows of these buildings, and advertisers placed large signs on the […]

In the fall of 1944, Jackie Robinson’s life was at a crossroads. A few days after Thanksgiving, he was honorably discharged from the US Army, where he’d made headlines for refusing to move to the back of a military bus. Dismissed from his barracks at Fort Hood, Texas, he found himself with no job, no […]