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Jeff Newman had a long career in professional baseball, spanning 36 years from 1970 to 2006. After six years in the Cleveland Indians’ minor-league system, he played nine years in the major leagues, mostly as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox. After his playing days, he was a coach for […]

A superb college basketball player, Charles Nash became the University of Kentucky’s career scoring leader in the early ’60s. Yet baseball was his first love. “Cotton” — as he was known for his bright blond hair — was also a slugging first baseman/outfielder. He juggled the two sports as a pro, and though his time […]

In 1978 Cincinnati Reds’ manager Sparky Anderson, referring to the San Francisco Giants’ mound corps, said, “That’s the best pitching staff in baseball and Knepper is their best pitcher.”1 A year later, future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey echoed this sentiment when he compared his club’s rotation to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ fearsome staffs of […]

On July 15, 2003, Ray Boone was taking in the scene at the All-Star Game at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field. “Anybody that’s not proud in this situation,” he said, “there’s something wrong with them.”1 As the patriarch of the first three-generation family in the major leagues, Boone had reason to beam with pride. His son Bob […]

Bunny Brief started his professional career in 1910 as a 17-year-old playing in his hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. The first-year Resorters finished second in the Class D West Michigan League. Brief gave notice that he was a hitter to be reckoned with by leading the league with 10 triples. During his 19-year career, Brief […]

“He’s got that slow, easy delivery, and then – poof! – it’s on you. It’s very tough to hit. Very tough.” – Dave Winfield1 Winfield was far from the only hitter who found Tom Henke’s lively fastball problematic. Henke, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hander, was one of the most dominant closers of his era. He debuted […]

For someone who participated in only 855 major-league games spread over nine seasons, Ed Abbaticchio has had more questions raised about his life than most baseball fans might expect. Was he the first Italian American big leaguer? Was he the first professional dual-sport athlete? Was he the creator of the spiral punt? Why did he […]

Eight major-leaguers died while serving in World War I.1 The third of these casualties, Eddie Grant, had the longest playing career and is also well remembered because he received a plaque in center field at the Polo Grounds. The shortest career on this list belonged to Alexander Thomson Burr, a pitcher who played just one […]

In February of 2006, Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso was preparing himself for the day he had anticipated for many years. Considered by a significant group of historians, statisticians, and old-time fans to be among the best baseball players not enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Miñoso awaited the voting results of the Committee on African-American Baseball, […]

St. Louis Browns owner Phil Ball, second from left, meets with American League owners Frank Navin (Detroit Tigers, far left), Clark Griffith (Washington Senators, middle), Ben Shibe (Philadelphia A’s, second from right), and American League president Ban Johnson, far right, in Chicago, circa 1920. (Chicago History Museum, Chicago Daily News collection, SDN-062283)   Phil Ball […]

Consider the two nearly identical rookie seasons below:   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG Player #1 464 59 127 22 5 20 68 .274 Player #2 482 75 128 23 5 20 56 .266   These highly acclaimed prospects started 18 years apart. Both were center fielders, blessed with power and speed. […]

Crosley Field was the “married” name of Cincinnati’s beloved National League ballpark. Situated at the intersection of Findlay Street and Western Avenue, it lived the first 23 years of its life using its “maiden” name, Redland Field. Then in 1934, Powel Crosley appeared, swept it off its feet and blessed it with his own name. […]

If “What’s past is prologue,” as Shakespeare wrote,1 Ruppert Stadium’s in Newark began with Charles A. Davids, a Bayside, New York, promoter.2 To most of the public, though, it begins with the baseball original for whom the park was named, ultimately housing two teams so good that to some they seemed better than several teams in […]

In 1888, Athletic Park replaced the Wright Street Grounds as Milwaukee’s primary baseball park. Not only did Athletic Park enjoy two separate lives, but it housed a major league team (1891), a Negro National League club (1923), and an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team (1944). During its second term, Athletic Park, most often remembered by Milwaukeeans […]

In Game One of the 1929 World Series, the Chicago Cubs set a Series record by striking out 13 times. Twenty-four hours later, they did it again, but this time they had a better excuse. In Game One the Cubs fell victim to Howard Ehmke, who recorded almost as many strikeouts in that game as […]

The baseball team known as the Braves makes its home in Atlanta, but traces its diamond ancestry back through Milwaukee and to Boston, where it began in 1871. In fact, the Atlanta Braves are the only baseball team that has played every season consecutively since 1871, outdating even the National League itself. While forgotten by […]

Citi Field has been home of the New York Mets since 2009. (COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK METS)   As part of the expansion of the National League in 1962 a franchise was given to New York City. From 1962 to the current day, the Metropolitans’ ownership has been fairly stable. Joan Payson and her […]

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2021 as part of the SABR Century 1921 Project.   In 1921 Arthur Irwin, at age 63, was in the twilight of a long career in baseball when he was named manager of the Hartford Senators of the Eastern League. He was also a scout for the […]