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  6.05 A batter is out when— … (b) A third strike is legally caught by the catcher… 6.09 The batter becomes a runner when— … (b) The third strike called by the umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied, or (2) first base is occupied with two out… — Official Baseball […]

The good feelings of recent gatherings dissolved in New York City. The December 1898 winter league meeting was a highly contentious one, with little of substance accomplished. The most vexing controversies confronting meeting attendees can readily be identified: (1) recognition of a representative of the St. Louis franchise from between two rival claimants; (2) determining […]

Former Washington Senators pitcher and pitching coach Sidney Charles “Sid” Hudson dedicated 19 seasons as a player and coach to the national pastime in the nation’s capital. Unsung and scarcely remembered in the city in which he lived and worked all those years, Hudson nevertheless holds an exalted place in the hearts of the people […]

The intentional base on balls was a part of professional baseball long before it became a part of baseball’s official statistics. The Sporting News’s Baseball Record Book lists Napoleon Lajoie of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League as the first player to receive an intentional walk with the bases full, in the ninth inning […]

This article was originally published in “From McGillicuddy to McGwire,” the 2000 SABR convention journal.   It was 1947, and Branch Rickey had two spring training problems, both of his own making. Bud Holman had one, but it loomed large for him. It took Rickey and Holman a while to find each other, but they […]

Rogers Hornsby’s will to excellence and his combativeness on the field won him a loyal following in the stands. Sportswriters, too, admired Hornsby because he answered questions in the same straightforward manner he took on a Walter Johnson fastball. However, his irascibility didn’t endear him with major league owners and front-office men. When one adds […]

All batters think it’s great to hit a home run. They think it’s even better to hit one as a pinch hitter. And when the bases are loaded and you’re called off the bench to deliver — and you do! There’s hardly anything to match the emotional impact of a pinch grand slam! Here’s a […]

On April 15, 1983, pitcher Mitt Wilcox of the Detroit Tigers came within one out of a perfect game when pinch hitter Jerry Hairston  of the White Sox, batting for shortstop Jerry Dybzinski, hit a clean single through the middle with two down in the ninth inning. Imagine the deep disappointment for hurler Wilcox, who […]

Hilda Chester and her famous cowbell (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY)   The New York Yankees have their Bleacher Creatures. The crosstown Mets had Karl “Sign Man of Shea” Ehrhardt, while “Megaphone Lolly” Hopkins was the super-fan of the Boston Red Sox and Braves. Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and Baltimore Orioles rooters […]

The 46th National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues winter meeting took place in Miami during the first days of December 1947. The convention was held at the McAllister Hotel, located on the corner of East Flagler Street and Biscayne Boulevard in the heart of downtown. Upon its completion a quarter century earlier, the ten-story “ultra-modern […]