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In the latest edition of an ongoing SABR project, researchers tabulated a banner year for Willie Wells, Rube Foster, and other Negro-league immortals.   LATIN AMERICANS called Willie Wells “Diablo”- the Devil. In 1930 he showed why. The little shortstop hit .404 to lead the western clubs in hitting. (Bill Terry led the white majors […]

Introduction and Context In 1973, when 24 teams existed in major-league baseball, the sport conducted its annual Winter Meetings in Houston, Texas, from December 3 to December 7. Several issues or topics dominated these meetings. A relatively complex managerial situation, featuring Ralph Houk, who had been the manager of the New York Yankees, and Dick […]

The Boston Beaneaters were coming off a disappointing third-place finish in 1894 at 78-54. If that doesn’t sound disappointing, take into account that the team had won three straight National League pennants (1891-1893) and set the bar and the expectations of Boston fans high. In 1894 the Beaneaters didn’t have a losing month or even […]

In the last decade or so there has been an increased emphasis on switch hitting.  Mickey Mantle, the first great power hitter who swung from either side, probably had something to do with this.  But there have been many other good switch hitters in recent years, such as Pete Rose, Maury Wills, Wes Parker, Don […]

A MANAGER DOESN’T NEED A nickname to make the Hall, but it helps. Fully fourteen of the 16 Cooperstown skippers had calling cards. See if you can guess the people from their nicknames: The Old Roman. When his White Sox won their first pennant in 1901, journalist Hugh Keogh began referring to their owner, who […]

After two years of unlawful contract signings and other roster-jumping shenanigans that produced end­less lawsuits, baseball’s Great Tampering War settled down as the 1903 NL campaign began on Thursday, April 16, in Cincinnati and St. Louis. Though person­al disgust and distrust may not have subsided between all franchise owners, a signed truce between the long­ […]

Many fans and researchers recall that the Brooklyn Dodgers, to stimulate gate receipts, played 7 games in Jersey City in 1956 and in 1957. For the same reason, the Chicago White Sox played 9 games in Milwaukee in 1968 and 11 in 1969. That was in the period when Milwaukee did not have a team […]

The three-base hit made a tremendous comeback in 1979 with outstanding leadership totals in both leagues. George Brett led the American League with an even 20, the most since Dale Mitchell of Cleveland hit 23 in 1949. The Kansas City Royals hit 79 in 1979, the most for any team in the majors since the […]

Everybody knows Babe Ruth started out as a pitcher and was quite successful, but how successful? Would he have made the Hall of Fame if he had not shifted to the outfield? I use a method called player wins, which is calculated from batting, pitching, and fielding stats. These are converted to runs above average […]

Serious baseball research has refuted the earlier contention that Abner Doubleday laid out the first baseball diamond at Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1839 while a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy. But this should not diminish the relationship that developed between baseball and the military over the last century. Both the effort to credit General Doubleday […]