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If Bob Sheppard, longtime public address announcer for the New York Yankees, was class personified, Tex Rickards, who held a similar slot with Dem Bums, reflected the spirit of the “woiking” class Brooklynite.1 And while Robert Merrill, the classy Metropolitan Opera baritone, often sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at Yankee Stadium, at Ebbets Field the […]

1946 In 1946, 22 major leaguers—11 of whom were under contract to either the New York Giants or the Brooklyn Dodgers—bolted to Mexico in search of greener (baseball) fields.1 This article looks at the fate and fortunes of eight members from the 1945 New York Giants who left their New York counterparts to suit up […]

This interview by Ron Anderson was originally published in SABR’s “Can He Play? A Look at Baseball Scouts and Their Profession” (2011), edited by Jim Sandoval and Bill Nowlin. Interviews were conducted on October 12, 2006 and March 3, 2007. RA: When we talked before you had mentioned that when you first discovered Hank Aaron […]

In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida, according to fable in search of the Fountain of Youth. Ever since, Florida’s menu of sun, fun, beaches, and citrus has symbolized renewal and regeneration, an “enchanted reality,” per state historian Gary Mormino, ripe for second chances amidst a constantly shifting dreamscape.1 Since the early […]

Lobby card for “Kill the Umpire” (1950) starring William Bendix. (Author’s collection)   Most baseball fans would agree that the best umpire is the invisible umpire. Sure, the umps on the field ensure that the rules of the game are followed. They call balls and strikes. They determine if the fielder who dives for the […]

Over the years, baseball fans have often debated which record is the most “unbeatable.” At one time it seemed unimaginable that Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games played would ever be approached, let alone seriously challenged, but of course Cal Ripken topped that by some 500 games. Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941 […]

In 1941, the year the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and propelled America into World War II, the Brooklyn Dodgers won the National League pennant by two and a half games over the St. Louis Cardinals. But the New York Yankees won the World Series in five games, thanks in part to a critical error by […]

Maryland has produced five of the top 53 major league–leading career home-run hitters through the 2008 season: Babe Ruth (b. Baltimore), 714 career HRs, no. 3 all-time Jimmie Foxx (b. Sudlersville), 534 HRs, no. 16 Cal Ripken Jr. (b. Havre de Grace), 431 HRs, no. 38 Al Kaline (b. Baltimore), 399 HRs, no. 44 (tie) […]

Roberto Clemente won MVP honors during the 1971 World Series with a .414 batting average (12-for-29), with two home runs, a triple, and two doubles. (Courtesy of the Clemente Museum)   In baseball, there is only one goal. Each season teams play 162 games, plus up to 15 more in the playoffs, to earn the […]

Baltimore’s Worst Starts In Years Ending in “2” It was probably inevitable that the Orioles struggled through their worst start in American League history in 1982, winning only two of their first twelve games. Baltimore’s worst starts in two other major leagues, in which it held membership for more than two years, the American Association […]