Search Results

The story of Tony Horton, the young and talented slugger for the Red Sox and the Indians, is ultimately a tragic one from a baseball perspective. Just entering his prime seasons at the age of 25, he was forced to leave the game because of an emotional disorder, and ultimately he never returned. Piecing together […]

From 1975 through 1982, Dennis Lewallyn pitched in parts of eight seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, and Cleveland Indians. The 6-foot-4 righty totaled a year and a half of major league service time, going 4-4 in 34 games. “I threw a sinker, slider, change-up; did not throw a lot of pitches in […]

Nothing succeeds like success. So goes the familiar aphorism. Mel Deutsch turned that on its head, said Louisville sportswriter Tommy Fitzgerald. The “big, slow-moving, easy-going” right-handed pitcher was called up from the Colonels for spring 1946 delivery to the Boston Red Sox, and Fitzgerald marveled at how he’d built some of his reputation on pitching well in […]

Throwing over 45 consecutive scoreless innings for a last-place minor-league team? Yes, that deserved a call-up! Louisville-bred Rudy Schwenck, an early spitballer,1 went from working for a whiskey distillery to working on an incredible summer scoreless streak to a major league diamond over a six-month period in 1909. He was a “one-hit wonder” during a […]

A star in basketball and track, he never played high school baseball. He played one year in college and had a losing record in four years in the minor leagues before being promoted to the majors. Yet Bill Henry had a 16-year career in the big leagues, played in a National League All-Star Game, and […]

From 1903 to 1914, southpaw Charlie Fritz pitched in southern minor leagues with determination, endurance, and “varying success.”1 He won 116 games and lost 153.2 In 1907, after striking out 15 batters in a 12-inning game, he received a “cup of coffee” in the majors—three innings pitched for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. Charles Cornelius “Charlie” […]

Few jobs can match the excitement, adulation, and income that come with a spot on a major-league roster.  Some old ballplayers inevitably seal themselves in amber, forever living vicariously through the men they used to be.  The New York Giants’ Al Corwin was different.  For him the game was “more paycheck than passion,” as one […]

Heinz Becker, the only German-born big-leaguer who played during the years of World War II, had a modest four-year career and appeared in just 152 games for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. In 1945, his only full season in the majors, Becker became a fan favorite for the pennant-winning Cubs, and his feet were […]

Many players played for National and American League teams in Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia or St. Louis. Just a dozen men played for Washington teams in both leagues. Some of the best known are John Anderson, Jack Doyle, Win Mercer and Kip Selbach. Most of the rest are recognizable to fans of Deadball Era […]

In the summer of 1904, the Zanesville, Ohio, baseball team had a game scheduled with a team in neighboring New Concord. “When the time arrived for the boys to take the bus, there was one player missing, so the bat boy had to be used in right field to complete the team. As luck would […]

On August 6, 1912, Bill Hunter made his major-league debut as a ninth-inning pinch-hitter for the Cleveland Naps. Tasked with facing Boston’s Smoky Joe Wood, then in the midst of a celebrated (34-5/1.91 ERA/258 strikeouts) season, Hunter promptly struck out. Onlookers sympathized, with the Cleveland Leader observing, “There’s no disgrace in that. Better hitters than […]

Strong quick wrists, an open, positive demeanor, and unwavering confidence made young Ed Spiezio an outstanding baseball prospect. Cardinals Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst once told The Sporting News that Spiezio was the “the finest looking young hitter” he had ever seen.1 In five seasons with the Cardinals (1964-1968), Spiezio played on three National League […]

The third son of a saloon keeper who’d come to America to seek a better life, Albert Karl “Kip” Selbach played 13 years of major-league baseball and went on to become the proprietor of a bowling alley in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Selbach was born in Columbus on March 24, 1872. His parents, Charles […]

Having beaten the New York Yankees in the 1957 World Series, holding a 3-games-to-2 edge in 1958, returning home, and lining up Warren Spahn (albeit on short rest) for Game Six and Lew Burdette (if necessary) to start Game Seven, the Milwaukee Braves seemed in prime position to take the 1958 title. New York had […]

It was the third doubleheader in as many days for the weary Boston Beaneaters. Shortstop Herman Long, nursing a badly bruised arm after being hit by a pitch in the opening game of the previous day’s twin bill, was relegated to the bench, and first baseman Tommy Tucker, who’d played every game so far this […]

When Duane Pillette took the mound for the woeful St. Louis Browns against the Chicago White Sox for the final game of the 1953 season there was little to cheer about for the home team’s fans. The Browns already had 99 losses and were reported to be leaving St. Louis for a new home in […]

“Of all the skills wrapped up in the complex game of big league baseball, none is practiced with more ingenuity and less publicity than the fine art of diamond larceny.” – Martin Abramson1 A wiring system sending signals to an in-ground junction box and a vibrating device or maybe a telescopic sight from a World […]

The Chicago Cubs opened 1982 with rookie Ryne Sandberg at third base, months after acquiring him in an offseason trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. Held to one hit in his first 32 at-bats, the 22-year-old Sandberg entered the Cubs’ April 23 game with the Pittsburgh Pirates batting just .140. On a windy day at Wrigley […]

Willie Stargell began 1975 with a new assignment. For the first time in 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Stargell was the club’s Opening Day first baseman.1 Already Pittsburgh’s all-time home-run leader, he celebrated by belting two more homers and going 4-for-4 as the Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-4, on April 10 at frigid […]

“The [Pine Hill] grounds were in very poor shape … for when a man would go after a hard drive or a long fly his foot would, at the critical moment, drop into some slough and then the player would spend some few seconds in disentangling himself from the muss, and generally while this was […]

“I’m glad it’s all over with. Now I can go back to my regular swing,” a mentally exhausted Willie Mays groaned.1 “Every day, I’ve been trying to get it over with so I could go back to playing baseball.”2 The 10 days that passed in the spring of 1966 between Mays tying Mel Ott’s National […]

In the early part of 1927, the Midwest was bursting with anticipation as the baseball season segued from projections to facts delivered by daily sports accounts. By mid-April, pitching matchups, game summaries, and season standings would replace the “dreary box-scoreless winter” to provide “something in the newspapers.” Even an umpire might expect applause for one […]

St. Louis held its collective breath when reports emerged at the beginning of 1943 season that pitcher Mort Cooper’s right elbow was aching. To call Cooper an integral part of the Redbirds was an understatement. In what was then arguably the best season ever by a Cardinals pitcher, Cooper won the NL MVP award in […]

On May 4, 1871, the Fort Wayne Kekiongas1 opened the inaugural season of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players with a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Forest Citys. By the end of June the Kekiongas had compiled a 5-4 record, with two of the losses being shutouts. One of the shutouts came at […]