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Pitchers have contributed significantly to the grand slam story. It was a National League hurler, Bill Duggleby of the Phils, who was the only player ever to hit a bases loaded home run in his first at bat in the majors. This feat was accomplished on April 21, 1898. It was also a pitcher who […]

Catchers have always put their bodies on the line. But early efforts to protect themselves met with a lot of flak.

A list of hit sequences for players who completed a cycle during the 1920-2017 period.This is the online appendix for Herm Krabbenhoft’s “‘When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It’: Who Took the Cycle or Quasi-Cycle?”   Click here to scroll down for Table A-2: Sequences for Players Who Completed a Quasi-Cycle […]

For baseball fans who are no longer young, it is easy to conjure up the once-common image of a man behind home plate with a radar gun pointed at the pitcher. But as technology has advanced, the once cutting-edge radar gun has been replaced by new and better equipment. Today, advanced systems, such as TrackMan […]

The Annus Mirabilis that was 1884 left a massive fallout for the campaign of 1885. For the first time, there had been three major leagues operating simultaneously, and the messy multi-circuit milieu — especially the tenuous stability of the freshman Union Association, and the renewed tensions between the National League and the American Association — […]

A large mural of Roberto Clemente adorns Parque Luis Alfonso Velasquez Flores in Managua, Nicaragua. (Courtesy of Steven A. Melnick, Ph.D.)   New Year’s Day, 1973: As the world awoke to the awful news and details emerged about the accident that claimed Roberto Clemente’s life, fans could only ask why. Why Clemente? Why was such […]

Introduction At the 1904 winter meetings, power was the common theme, as the National League, American League, and minor leagues continued to fight for their positions within Organized Baseball. Topics receiving ample attention and dissension included the reserve clause, the foul-strike rule, the length of the schedule, postseason play, syndicate ownership, and unpopular ownership.  Most […]

Cy Young said he didn’t have the speed he once had but could still “lob a hook up there.” (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   The reader probably knows that Cy Young is baseball’s all-time winningest pitcher with 511 victories and that his 22-year career ranks as one of the greatest in baseball history. […]

“Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.” – Roberto Clemente Walker   (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   For a sports figure to be idolized for his or her greatness is not uncommon. Roberto Clemente received the […]

Lamenting the Angels’ 1986 playoff loss.