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In the spring of 1972, Wes Stock worked as pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, a four-year-old team with a roster of unproven throwers in need of tutelage. A year later, he had the same job with a different employer — the world champion Oakland A’s. “Wes Stock must feel like the auto mechanic who […]
Although rarely in the everyday lineup for an extended period, George Shoch was a useful member of several late-19th-century major-league teams. In an era of small rosters, Shoch’s versatility – he could play second, shortstop, third, and the outfield competently – was coveted by his managers. His durability, strong work ethic, and temperate habits were […]
John Samuel “Jocko” Thompson pitched in 41 major-league games between 1948 and 1951. The 6-foot left-handed pitcher spent his entire major-league career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Overall, Thompson played 12 years of professional baseball between 1940 and 1955: four with the Boston Red Sox organization (1940-1941, 1946-1947) and eight with the Phillies organization (1948-1955). He […]
On September 27, 1920, suspicions about the integrity of the previous year’s World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds were given substance by a self-admitted fix insider named Billy Maharg. In an interview first published in the Philadelphia North American and syndicated nationwide immediately thereafter, Maharg maintained that a number of Chicago […]
For nearly a quarter century, Gussie Busch simultaneously led a nationwide brewing company and the St. Louis Cardinal franchise. Nicknamed “The Big Eagle”, Gussie lived life to its fullest. His enemies called him profane, tyrannical, hot-tempered, a philanderer, and a huckster. His friends saw him as soft-hearted, congenial, open, personable, philanthropic, and loyal. In 1953, […]
Right-hander Bill Castro pitched all or part of 10 big-league seasons (1974-1983) for the Brewers, Yankees, and Royals. A reliever with excellent control, he frequently induced double-play grounders with his sinker-slider repertoire. As a player, scout, and coach, Castro spent 44 years in professional baseball. In 2009 with Milwaukee, he became the majors’ first full-time […]
Although his playing days were not without accomplishment, Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Len Koenecke is remembered only for his bizarre and violent death late in the 1935 season. While aloft in midnight skies, he was beaten to death by the pilot of the six-passenger airplane that a berserk Koenecke had attempted to commandeer in mid-flight. The […]
The only native Pennsylvanian on the first Phillies pennant-winning team, outfielder Bud Weiser stepped into major-league play directly from Class D baseball. The “Ty Cobb of the North Carolina League” served in an apprentice’s role in 1915, and had a cup of coffee in 1916.1 Weiser then returned to the minors and independent ball, where […]
Like a lot of young players who first came to professional baseball in the very early 1940s, catcher Len Okrie may have wondered if he’d ever truly have the opportunity to play, given the Second World War. He came from a baseball family. His father, Frank Okrie, was a left-handed pitcher who appeared in 21 […]
As World War II began to encroach on major-league baseball teams as well as their minor-league affiliates, doors opened to players who otherwise would have been considered to lack major-league talent. Some who were rejected for military service and classified 4-F became increasingly prime candidates to play in the majors – selected because it was […]
When Ebbets Field locker-room attendant Dan Comerford arrived at work on the morning of July 12, 1929, several packages were waiting for him at the clubhouse door. The five boxes – each containing a dozen new baseballs – had been sent from the office of National League President John Heydler. Seeing the parcels did not […]
The Beaneaters’ first Western road trip of 1892 began in the final days of April. Two games apiece in St. Louis, Chicago, and Louisville preceded their season debut in Cincinnati on Friday, May 6. Losses in St. Louis and Chicago had brought Boston’s record to 14-3. The Reds, at 10-8, had lost three of their […]
Three weeks had passed in the National League’s 1896 season, and the Boston Beaneaters were fighting for first place. They trailed Philadelphia by a game and Pittsburgh by a half-game. By contrast, Louisville was entrenched in last place, 10½ games back. With a 2-16 record, the Colonels had been outscored 155-69 by their opponents. The […]
In the spring of 1891, Boston Beaneaters pitcher Kid Nichols worked out with players from the Kansas City Blues team in Kansas City of the Western Association, where he had gotten his professional start in 1887 as a 17-year-old. One of the daily newspapers reported on his prediction for the 1891 season: “He says the […]
It was a cold, wet day in Boston. The morning half of the Memorial Day twin bill had been canceled because of a downpour, and the afternoon contest seemed in doubt until the rain tapered off shortly before game time. Although the outfield grass was soaked and slick and the basepaths muddy, the attendance-challenged Browns […]
Described as “the largest throng to see a night game in the Mound City,” a capacity crowd of 33,527, including 267 servicemen, packed Sportsman’s Park to see the invading Brooklyn Dodgers face the hometown St. Louis Cardinals on August 25, 1942.1 The Sporting News praised the game as “one of the tensest, most dramatic games […]
On a cool 1960 September evening in Bloomington, Minnesota, one of the greatest rivalries in minor-league baseball came to an end. But nobody knew. When the St. Paul Saints visited Metropolitan Stadium to play the Minneapolis Millers on September 8, little did anyone know that it would be the last game ever between the two […]
Stan Musial entered the 1957 season with something to prove. Although the three-time National League MVP and six-time batting champion had already cemented his case for the Hall of Fame, Musial began his 16th big-league campaign fighting the perception that his best years were behind him. The 36-year-old had not won an MVP award since […]
By the end of the 1960s, it seemed that the Major League Baseball All-Star Game had turned into an annual exhibition of National League dominance. The senior circuit had won 11 of 13 games during the decade (two games were played in 1960, 1961 and 1962; one game was tied when it was called because […]
“There were just seven wonders of the world before this world series broke out and today there are nine,” gushed sportswriter Grantland Rice after the St. Louis Cardinals rode the exploits of Wild Bill and the Wild Horse of the Osage to a convincing 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics to take a three-games-to-two lead […]
It had been a rough opening month for the defending National League champions. Although they never dipped more than two games below .500, they had not risen more than two games above .500 either. After a 7-5 loss on May 25 to the visiting Washington Senators, the Boston Beaneaters were lingering in fifth place in […]
When his barrier-breaking tour of the National League reached Pittsburgh a month into the 1947 season, Jackie Robinson extended his double-digit hitting streak with a burst of speed and surprise, but three Pittsburgh Pirates home runs, all benefiting from Forbes Field’s newly shortened outfield, yielded a 7-3 win over Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodgers on May 15. […]
In 1931, Charles “Dutch” Schesler was midway through a professional pitching career that spanned 24 years (1920-1943).1 Though he won 147 games in the minor leagues, his major-league career – 17 games with the 1931 Philadelphia Phillies – was more mirage than oasis. He carried a résumé of a 7.28 ERA and no decisions through […]
This article appears in SABR’s “Baseball’s Biggest Blowout Games” (2020), edited by Bill Nowlin. There are a number of blowout games in the Negro Leagues. Alan Cohen drew my attention to one such blowout. He wrote: “On May 31, 1943, the Homestead Grays defeated the Baltimore Elite Giants 17-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, […]