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In 1972 Hank Morgenweck achieved a long-held dream—a full-time umpiring job in the major leagues. Four seasons later, in bitter and disputed circumstances, he lost it. An experienced minor-league ump with a National League playoff game on his résumé, Morgenweck was named to the American League’s umpiring staff in spring 1972. But his contract was […]

George Turbeville pitched with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1935 to 1937. His best game performance came against the Cleveland Indians. He held them scoreless for 14 innings before losing on Earl Averill’s home run. Surrendering home runs is what Turbeville is best known for. He gave up Joe DiMaggio’s first major-league blast on May 10, […]

Edmund Hearne enjoyed two cups of coffee in 1910, one on June 9 and one on June 10. That was the sum total of shortstop Hearne’s experience in the major leagues. Two games, two at-bats. “Hearn, a California recruit, played shortstop for Boston, and performed well in the field.” So read the wire-service note in […]

They called him “Dirty Jack,” but John Joseph “Jack” Doyle never quite understood why. The name was given to him in recognition of his aggressive style of play and of his insistence that the base paths belonged to the runner. “I was a hard base runner,” he later recalled. “You had to be in those […]

Norman Howard John Larker played six seasons (1958-1963) in the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Colt .45’s, Milwaukee Braves, and San Francisco Giants. He had sufficient talent to make the All-Star team and receive votes for the Most Valuable Player Award in 1960. Unfortunately, his well-earned reputation as a hothead on the […]

A lot of people had a hand in making the Detroit Tigers the World Series champions in 1984, but by far the biggest hand belonged to Bill Lajoie, extraordinary scout and general manager. Lajoie always found the best part of his job to be finding talent. He considered himself a scout at heart, first and […]

Signed as a shortstop by the New York Giants in 1949, Foster Castleman appeared in 170 games with them in four seasons (1954-57). Finally in 1958 the Baltimore Orioles platooned the right-handed-hitting Castleman with switch-hitter Willy Miranda at shortstop. Castleman had begun his pro career as a heralded fielder, but three knee surgeries had taken […]

Jerry Standaert was an infielder who hit almost the same in the majors (.318 lifetime) and minors (.320 lifetime); while he enjoyed a good long career in minor-league ball, he had little opportunity to play in the big leagues. Third base was his preferred position in the minors, with over 90% of his games played […]

One could pull up Dickey Pearce’s statistics at the reference sites and be completely unimpressed. His numbers in the National Association and the National League are unremarkable. This is only part of the story; he was 35 years old when the National Association started and 40 when the National League began. Pearce’s reputation and contributions […]

Rafael Noble (pronounced NO-bleh) was a stocky, powerful catcher. “Look at my guy Ray Noble,” said his manager with the New York Giants, Leo Durocher, in early 1952. “If I didn’t have Wes Westrum, he’d be my No. 1 man. He’s a good catcher and he has a lot of power. He’d be even better […]

Versatile sandlot alumnus Mike O’Rourke packed a fair amount of action into his nine-game career as a major leaguer. As a pitcher for the 1890 Baltimore Orioles of the American Association, he completed all five of his starting assignments, albeit with only modest results. O’Rourke also served the club as a backup infielder and outfielder, […]

The short shortstop drew the shortest straw. On September 29, 1913, diminutive (5-foot-4) 21-year-old rookie Monte Pfeffer started at shortstop for the American League champion Philadelphia Athletics. The “Lilliputian wonder” had recently been promoted to Connie Mack’s squad from the Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Barons of the Class B New York State League, a team he had […]

Because of his dark complexion, he was called Nig.1 For the same reason, some sportswriters referred to him as the Cuban Warrior or the Cuban Hero. But Nig Cuppy was not African-American or Cuban. He was a first-generation American, son of immigrants from Bavaria. George Maceo Koppe was born on July 3, 1869, in Logansport, […]

Marty Krug appeared in only 20 games in 1912, his rookie season, mostly as a pinch-hitter, or a late-inning replacement. He watched the World Series from the superior but disappointing vantage of the winning team’s bench. He never once stepped onto the field against the New York Giants in those eight dramatic games. The knock […]

Steve Balboni played for the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals before he bookended brief stints with the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers around a second tour with the Yankees. He owns four World Series rings, one as a player with the Royals and three as an advance scout with the San […]

Escaping the Pennsylvania coal mines, which claimed the life of his brother Calvin, Jacob Ellsworth Daubert went on to a fifteen-year major league career with the Brooklyn and Cincinnati ball clubs. Frequently compared to the legendary Hal Chase, Daubert was arguably the premier National League first baseman of the Deadball Era. A slashing chop hitter […]

Even the most casual baseball fan is familiar with Eight Men Out, the book (and the movie) that tells the story of the eight members of the Chicago White Sox who were forever banished from organized baseball for fixing the 1919 World Series. Joe Gedeon was the “ninth man out.” The regular second baseman of […]

Once described as “a stocky mild-mannered man who cut his teeth on a baseball bat,” John Holland spent 30 years in professional baseball as a front office executive for the Chicago Cubs at the minor- and major-league levels.1 He continued the legacy of his father Jack Holland, who had played minor-league baseball from 1896 to […]

It was a Monday evening well into a season in which the Cincinnati Redlegs would fall short in their ambition to win their first pennant since 1940. The crowd that came to Crosley Field was smallish (13,477), as was the catcher pressed into service by the Redlegs in the late innings. Hobie Landrith had been […]

“A ludicrous way to end it all,” wrote Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle after Dick Groat had walked to force in the winning run in the 21st inning.1 “At least the team won,” said right-hander Gaylord Perry after pitching 16 scoreless innings and not figuring in the decision. “That’s the breaks of the […]

The Boston Beaneaters made a remarkable run in September 1891 to overtake the Chicago Colts, and they ultimately clinched the National League pennant on October 1 amid Chicago’s protests that Boston had gained an unfair advantage with the help of other teams in the league. The Colts had held the league lead for most of […]

On September 4, 1935, Chicago Tribune sportswriter Irving Vaughan wrote an article analyzing the National League pennant race. He specifically reviewed how the Cubs were faring in a three-way race involving themselves, the New York Giants, and the St. Louis Cardinals. He observed that if the front-running Cardinals played just .500 ball the rest of […]

It was quite a 10-month stretch for left-hander Jon Lester in 2007 and 2008. He had been diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma in 2006, during his first major-league season with the Boston Red Sox. Near the end of July 2007, he returned to baseball after an absence of 11 months for cancer treatment. He […]

For the first time in World Series history, the fall classic was coming to the Lone Star State, Texas, but things weren’t looking good for the team hosting the game. The National League champion Houston Astros came back to Minute Maid Park down two games to none to the American League champion Chicago White Sox. […]