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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 […]

Walter Johnson’s shutout, strikeout, and victory records (including his remarkable record in winning and losing 1-0 games) have been well documented through the years. An often-overlooked achievement by Johnson is the remarkable success he enjoyed in games played on opening day. Fourteen times he was selected to open the season for Washington, and on these […]

One of the greatest baseball tales of all time involved the famous catch by outfielder Bill Lange of the Cubs, when they were known as the Colts during the last century. It was in the mid 1890’s, according to the story, and Chicago was nursing a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 11th at […]

When notable hitting streaks are discussed, the first one to come to mind is Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game spree of 1941, and rightfully so, since it is by far the all-time major league high. Willie Keeler’s National League record of 44 games in 1897 and Tommy Holmes’ 20th century senior circuit milestone of 37 straight in […]

“I’d love to be the man going into Washington. I’ve always felt that city is one of the top two or three franchises in the nation.” – Frank Lane, general manager, Cleveland Indians1   October 26, 1960, started a new era of Washington Senators baseball. It began auspiciously enough. Senators’ president Calvin Griffith was relocating his […]

First Reserve Clause Enacted 100 Years Ago Baseball’s first reserve clause was enacted 100 years ago at a meeting of the National League magnates held at the Palace Hotel in Buffalo, New York, on September 29, 1879. The delegates to that historic meeting were:  William A. Hulbert, President of the National League, who represented both […]

In his autobiography, Reggie Jackson said that the championship Oakland Athletics “were the meanest junkyard dogs who ever played the game.”1 He believed that Charlie Finley’s legendary cheapness, which confronted them at every turn, made them tough and hungry. “We were like a pickup team from the baseball ghetto and nobody wanted to come into […]

(Photograph by Duane Rieder.)   It was fitting that Nelson Cruz received the Roberto Clemente Award in 2022 as the 50th anniversary of Clemente’s untimely passing approached. Both Clemente and Cruz hailed from Caribbean islands, and each used his wealth and status derived from playing major-league baseball to help improve the lives of the less […]

More than two decades ago, Pete Palmer contributed what I think is one of the best baseball statistical analysis efforts ever done. The results were published in The National Pastime in 1985, in an article entitled “Do Clutch Pitchers Exist?” Palmer examined pitchers with at least 150 decisions between 1900 and 1983, accounting for how […]

The announcement on November 5, 1946 that Bucky Harris would manage the 1947 New York Yankees was almost a foregone conclusion. Still, the circumstances that led to the hiring were anything but mundane. The announcement on November 5, 1946 that Bucky Harris would manage the 1947 New York Yankees was almost a foregone conclusion. “The […]