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Did you know that Crazy Horse had a World Series ring? Wait a minute! How could the Oglala Sioux Indian chief who, along with Sitting Bull, routed General Custer at Little Bighorn, have a World Series ring? He never played baseball. True. But “Crazy Horse” was also the nickname given to Tim Foli, a talented […]

Nolan Ryan has more strikeouts and no-hitters than any other pitcher in history. Despite never winning a Cy Young Award, he started more games than anyone except Cy Young. Though he played mostly for mediocre teams, his 324 wins are as many as contemporary Don Sutton, who pitched for four pennant winners and just missed […]

Tragedy and controversy characterized the career of pitcher Kurt “Casey” Hageman. In the closing days of the 1909 season, he killed an opposing player with a pitched ball, the tragedy changing the path of his minor-league career. During the 1912 season, Hageman challenged a minor-league assignment. The ensuing court case was essentially an early challenge […]

At 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds (or more), burly Joey Meyer could really lay into a ball. The Hawaiian was a very promising minor-league slugger. On June 2, 1987, he unloaded a homer that is still talked about today — a shot into the second deck of the left-center stands at Denver’s Mile High Stadium that […]

From 2001 through 2013, Brian Roberts was a solid fan favorite with the Baltimore Orioles. He earned that status as one of baseball’s premier second basemen and leadoff hitters. Known as B-Rob to fans and players, the two-time All-Star led the American League in doubles twice, with 50 in 2004 and 56 in 2009. At […]

He was known as “The Tall Tactician” and was baseball’s grand old gentleman for more than a generation. Statuesque, stately, and slim, he clutched a rolled-up scorecard as he sat or stood ramrod straight in the dugout, attired in a business suit rather than a uniform, a derby or bowler in place of a baseball […]

Myles Thomas was the winning pitcher in seven of the New York Yankees’ 110 victories in 1927. He also has the distinction of owning the fifth-highest batting average (.333) on a team known as Murderers’ Row. But there’s more. In real life, Myles Thomas was a Pennsylvania farmer’s son, a baseball star for Penn State, […]

Tried and convicted of murder in a court of law, Ralph “Blackie” Schwamb hurled his best pitches from behind prison walls. The tall, lanky right-hander with a nasty temper and a taste for booze won just a single game as a major leaguer. He won 131 games while playing for teams based at the San […]

Gene Conley excelled at the major-league level of two sports and is the only athlete to own dual-sport championships in major-league baseball and the NBA. Besides pitching for the World Series champion Milwaukee Braves in 1957, he was a member of three NBA championship teams with the Boston Celtics. He was the first player to […]

“In right field, Tarasco going back to the track, to the wall … and what happens here? He contends that a fan reaches up and touches it, but Richie Garcia says, ‘No!’ it’s a home run,” Bob Costas shouted through the broadcast microphone over a raucous Yankee Stadium crowd. The moment: Game One of the […]

On his 17th birthday, José Valentin got a $22,000 present from the San Diego Padres — a $22,000 professional baseball contract. Sandy Alomar Sr., the Padres’ third-base coach, manager of the Santurce Crabbers and San Diego’s chief scout for Puerto Rican talent, convinced the Padres that the kid from Fernando Callejo High School in his […]

In 1957 The Sporting News selected Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jack Sanford the National League’s Rookie of the Year by an overwhelming margin. The “Baseball Bible” provided an in-depth analysis of the abundant freshman class with kudos extended to players who received little to no votes. When the breakdown reached Cal Neeman, the weekly post raved, […]

Shortstop Craig Robinson retired with 755 fewer career homers than his Braves teammate Hank Aaron. But only six men can say they joined Aaron in the starting lineup on the nights Hammerin’ Hank tied and broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record. Robinson is one of those special six.1 Craig George Robinson was born on […]

Born on January 22, 1976, in Portsmouth, Virginia, Jimmy Anderson became a star pitcher at Western Branch High School. As a senior, the left-hander was “practically unhittable”1 with an ERA of 0.11, and was named Virginia High School Player of the Year.2 In the major leagues Anderson compiled a career record of 25-47 (.347) and […]

Dennis Lamp was a right-handed pitcher who racked up 96 major-league wins over the course of a 16-year career that saw him work for six different ballclubs. Three of his first four wins were shutouts. He worked most of his last 10 seasons as a reliever, with exactly half (48) of his wins coming in […]

Born on October 17, 1859, in Hoagland, Ohio, a small town about 53 miles east of Cincinnati, William Ewing was the uncle of twentieth-century major league pitcher Bob Ewing and the older brother of major league pitcher John Ewing, with whom he formed a formidable battery for two years (1890-91) before John left the game […]

A good, if power-deficient, bat, sure hands, foot speed, and baseball smarts propelled infielder Roy Hughes to a solid nine-season major league career, highlighted by an excellent turn at shortstop for the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series. Although an everyday player for only one campaign, Hughes nevertheless made over 750 game appearances and […]

On Thursday, June 29, 1905, New York Giants rookie outfielder Archie Graham made his major league debut, playing the last two innings of a one-sided 11-1 victory over the Brooklyn Superbas. The twenty-five-year-old was the next to bat when the last out was recorded in the top of the ninth inning. After playing right field […]

Dave Baldwin didn’t talk to the baseball or scream at the hitters. Offering no self-styled Mark Fidrych or Al Hrabosky theatrics on the mound, the relief pitcher was a quiet guy to the point of being shy, almost unnoticeable. Yet in 176 games over six seasons with the Washington Senators, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White […]

Pitcher Joe Slusarski rolled with a lot of punches in his career. The college star won medals with Team USA in the late 1980s and made Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list in 1990. Two years later, arm problems rooted in a freak accident left “Slu” a journeyman. From 1993 through 1999, he spent roughly […]

Perseverance is defined as “(continuing) despite difficulties, opposition, or discouragement.”1 Robert Louis Hartman was a model of the above. He persevered throughout a baseball career that began at age 14 with the semipro Kenosha Chiefs and labored through five minor-league seasons. A 20-win season in 1958 earned the left-handed pitcher a promotion to the Milwaukee […]

In 2019, Tim Hudson enrolled at Auburn University, his baseball alma mater, as an interdisciplinary studies major. More than 20 years before, he had led Auburn’s Tigers to the College World Series as the SEC’s Player of the Year. Then he played 17 seasons in the major leagues, appearing in All-Star Games, playoffs, and a […]

This article is part 1 of a planned multi-part series on the history of the Chicago Cubs franchise. This chapter covers the journey from the White Stockings to the Cubs from 1876 to 1919.   The 1885 National League champion Chicago White Stockings. 1-George Gore, 2-Silver Flint, 3-Cap Anson, 4-Sy Sutcliffe, 5-Mike Kelly, 6-Fred Pfeffer, […]

From its beginnings in the 1880s, the franchise now known as the Los Angeles Dodgers has provided a parade of well-known players and managers, 23 pennant winners, and six World Series victories. Off the field, it has been associated with some of the most recognized front-office talent in the game’s history. Names such as Charles […]