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“Blue heaven on earth” – Tommy Lasorda on Dodger Stadium   Dodger Stadium is the third oldest ballpark in major-league baseball. Only Fenway Park and Wrigley Field have been hosting games longer than the House That Walter O’Malley Built. The iconic venue that sits atop a hill just north of downtown Los Angeles, with views of […]

In my years as a traveling baseball writer, namely 1946 through 1958, I believe I bridged the gap between the yesteryear of hero worship and the modern adversary era. When I came along, writers were just beginning to find warts on athletes’ faces. Now? Heck, they’re apt to see nothing but. Somewhere, of course, there […]

The Saint John Royals, Maritime Black Champions 1920. (New Brunswick Museum)   Although the origins of Black baseball in the Maritimes remain obscure, it is likely that the game was being played informally as early as the 1870s. Operating independently, but often in association with the African Baptist and Episcopal churches, black teams like the […]

WORLD WAR II decimated minor league baseball. Then, like the legendary phoenix rising from the ashes, the 1945 low of 12 leagues soared to an impressive 52 leagues in 1947. They ranged from Triple-A to Class D and covered the length and breadth of the United States plus towns in Canada and Mexico. Old leagues […]

In 1946, all eyes were on the Montreal Royals and Jackie Robinson as he was readying to break baseball’s color line. But 24 years earlier, without any publicity, an African American ballplayer had already played six games for the Montreal team in the Class B Eastern Canada League. Charlie Culver’s presence didn’t ruffle many feathers […]

  The major league baseball clubs of Cleveland and Cincinnati have much in common. They call the same state home. Both have established a proud tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century, and have enjoyed success and endured failure. They are mid-market teams who can afford to compete when managing resources wisely, but can’t […]

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 […]

Willard Brown debuted with the Kansas City Monarchs at age 22, and was 32 when he appeared in 21 games for the St. Louis Browns of the American League in 1947. When he was 38 he joined Dallas and spent four seasons in the Texas League, 1953-56. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   Most fans of baseball are […]

Introduction The annual baseball winter meetings of 1928 took place in three cities. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (the minors) went north for its 27th annual convention, filling the King Edward Hotel in Toronto from December 5 to 7. The chief topic of conversation was a continuation of 1927’s primary sticking point, the […]

INTRODUCTION  The Dodgers are playing the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series. The Yankees are at bat in the bottom of the sixth with men on first and second and none out. Johnny Podres has pitched masterfully during the first five innings. Yogi Berra is up and lashes a […]