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“He did his job. He got 27 outs. … Not to put Joe Cowley down, but it wasn’t impressive.” – Wally Joyner, 0-for-2, 2 BB1   It had been nearly two years since the major leagues had seen a no-hitter.2 Just 11 days shy of the anniversary of Mike Witt tossing the 11th perfect game […]

The 1886 Chicago White Stockings successfully defended their National League crown on the broad shoulders of captain Adrian “Cap” Anson, batting champ Mike “King” Kelly, and a dominant trio of pitchers. Between them, John Clarkson, Jim McCormick, and one-year wonder Jocko Flynn started and racked up a decision in every one of the team’s 124 […]

When Dave McNally started the 1962 season with Class-A Elmira, he never expected to be pitching in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium at the end of the season. His major-league debut against Kansas City on September 26 resulted in a sterling performance that impressed the Orioles enough to earn him a permanent major-league job for the next […]

It was the Deadball Era, where home runs were few and far between until the coming of George Herman “Babe” Ruth. Arthur Earl Wilson hit just seven home runs in 12 major-league seasons, mostly with the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs. When Wilson joined the Federal League’s Chicago Chi-Feds in 1914, he became a […]

Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates had eight RBIs in a game twice in his career and both within a year of each other: September 19, 2003, and July 2, 2004. Bay may not have realized it, but he just missed the all-time Pirates single-game record of nine in a game set by Johnny Rizzo […]

Folks by the Bay were still buzzing about the previous evening. A pitching matchup of two titans, Gaylord Perry of San Francisco and Bob Gibson of St. Louis, had gone toe-to-toe in a game that delivered what many had expected. Perry struck out nine and walked two as he hurled the only no-hitter of his […]

Pittsburgh baseball fans were frustrated over their team’s slow start to the 1912 season. Their displeasure escalated with the team’s inability to scratch out a run in the first game of a series against Cincinnati. The Pirates managed just seven scattered singles while being shut out by Reds hurler George Suggs. Because of a rainout, […]

On August 29, 1948, before a season record crowd of 33,826 at Sportsman’s Park, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals played in a “furiously fought doubleheader”1 that had postseason implications. In the first game, Brooklyn second baseman Jackie Robinson hit for the cycle,2 leading the Dodgers to a victory over the St. Louis […]

Baseball fans and former players love comparing great teams from different eras. So with the New York Yankees, baseball’s most storied franchise, in the midst of a historic 1998 season, comparisons to previous championship squads were inevitable when former Yankees greats gathered before a crowd of 55,638 at Yankee Stadium for the 52nd annual Old […]

Anticipation of the 1931 World Series steadily peaked all summer in the St. Louis area as the Cardinals clinched their fourth National League pennant in mid-September. The Redbirds eventually finished 13 games better than the runner-up New York Giants, but their previous league flags, in 1926, 1928, and 1930, were all secured by meager two-game […]

One of just two Philadelphia Athletics to make the 1934 American League All-Star roster, third baseman Mike “Pinky” Higgins was the subject of gossip that offseason that he might be sold to the New York Yankees for as much as $50,000. Owner-manager Connie Mack was peppered with questions about the proposed deal in January 1935 […]

Had World War II continued indefinitely, Carden Gillenwater might have fashioned a noteworthy major-league career. As a member of the 1945 Boston Braves, he posted solid offensive numbers and led National League center fielders in several fielding categories. But the return of baseball’s elite for the 1946 season soon relegated placeholders like Gillenwater back to […]

“When Mr. Reardon speaks you are under the impression that he has just spit out a hand grenade.” — Harry A. Williams, Los Angeles Times1   Beans Reardon learned a lot about umpiring at the age of 16 when he worked as a riveter’s assistant. “Riveting was good education for umpiring,” he recalled. “If I […]

“Baseball is our way of life in the Amaro family,” said Rubén Amaro Sr. Four generations of Amaros have played professionally. Amaro’s father, Santos, had a long and distinguished career in Cuba and Mexico. His son, Rubén Amaro Jr., became a player, executive, and coach in the major leagues. Rubén Sr. was in the majors […]

“Big Bill” Brennan was a large man, weighing 235 pounds and standing 6-foot-2½. He had a loud voice and could be heard all over the ball field. Brennan’s voice served him well not only as an umpire, but also as a football coach at the University of Tennessee Medical College. Brennan was born on October […]

Besides being a superb fielding but often light hitting second baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals for more than a decade, Julian Javier was a central figure in the history and development of baseball in the Dominican Republic. Javier completed his playing days with a career .257 batting average. But in 19 World Series games, […]

Before the lumber,1 natural gas,2 and oil3 industries brought unprecedented economic growth to Louisiana in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, baseball had already established itself as a favorite pastime throughout the state, centering on the cities of New Orleans and Shreveport.4 Baseball teams, created and maintained by industrial magnates, emerged. One such team, […]

John Milner idolized Hank Aaron, lockered next to Willie Mays, and on his best days could hit home runs with as much authority as either man. While injuries and inconsistency prevented Milner from becoming an elite slugger, he carved out a 12-year career for the Mets, Pirates, and Expos, helping each of those clubs reach […]

In 1900 Sporting Life called George Hogreiver “the very best base runner in the profession.”1 “Hoggie” stole 948 bases in the minors, more than anyone else in minor-league history, and he stole 48 more bases in two major-league seasons. Like Ty Cobb, he was a daring, hyperaggressive baserunner. “Daring, yet careful,” said the Des Moines […]

Bert Campaneris had a distinguished 20-year major-league career that included six All-Star selections, six American League stolen-base crowns, and a major role in the Oakland Athletics’ three world championships in the 1970s. Dagoberto Campaneris was born on March 9, 1942, in Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba. His father was a mechanic in a factory. Campaneris had three […]

A tall, rangy, 6-feet-4 Don Demeter played major-league baseball for 11 seasons, mostly patrolling the outfield grass, while also spending time at the infield corners. A man of deep abiding faith, he was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a pastor in his hometown, Oklahoma City.1 A very highly regarded player during […]

Vice and dissipation may have had their way. Meridian, Mississippi, was home to “The Father of Country Music,” Jimmie Rodgers, also known as “The Singing Brakeman.” It was also home to gas-station owner Danny Clark, and major-league pitchers Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and Jay Powell. Clark’s claim to fame came from baseball as well. He […]

Center field at Yankee Stadium is hallowed ground. Once upon a time, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle patrolled this section of the House That Ruth Built. Now, granted, Bernie Williams — whose 16-season New York Yankees career lasted from 1991 to 2006 — may at best be a borderline Cooperstown inductee, but he is a […]

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the December 2020 edition of the SABR Black Sox Scandal Committee Newsletter.   “Cook County what crimes are committed in thy name” — Ernest Hemingway, letter to a friend, August 1921 Things were looking good for aspiring author Ernest Hemingway in the summer of 1921. He had […]