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From the birth of the National Football League, in 1922, it took three years for Boston to host a professional football game. At the time, collegiate football reigned supreme, and with Boston area universities like Harvard, Boston College, Tufts, and Holy Cross all fielding powerful amateur teams, the professional variety held little allure for Beantown’s […]

Lefty Grove was on the verge of reaching a major career milestone in July 1941. Grove was attempting to become the 12th pitcher in baseball history, and sixth hurler in the twentieth century, to record 300 career wins. The 41-year-old living legend, pitching in his 17th season, is considered by historians1 and was considered by […]

On the evening of June 20, 1931, in Jamestown, North Dakota, an estimated crowd of 1,800 came out to the ballpark to see something old and something new. The “old” was Grover Cleveland “Old Pete” Alexander, the winner of 373 major-league games, who would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938. […]

Stunningly little is known about Norman Baker even though he was without question one of the most interesting characters associated with the sport of baseball in his day. From his photographs he appears to have been lean and lanky, but his height and weight are still unknown, as are the ways in which he batted […]

It’s not easy following in the footsteps of a famous big brother. Arthur “Doc” Hillebrand, two years older than Homer, was one of the most well-known athletes in the country at the turn of the century. A two-time All-American as a tackle on the Princeton University football team, Art was enshrined in the College Football […]

Although his tenure in Baltimore was limited to two good seasons and a comeback year, both of the nicknames for which Don Stanhouse became famous were earned while wearing an Orioles uniform. Manager Earl Weaver, overly apprehensive every time Stanhouse was retrieved from the bullpen, called him “Full Pack” after the number of cigarettes he […]

The 1981 made-for-television movie Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy “Satchel” Paige, opens with a scene at a game between the Dizzy Dean Major League All-Stars and the Satchel Paige Colored All-Stars.1 The first name to be announced for the starting lineup is Felton Snow of the Baltimore Elite Giants. Many details from the […]

Should the National League permanently adopt the designated hitter, Puerto Rican infielder Mario Ramirez’s big league career from 1980 through 1985 will serve as a time capsule of forgotten strategy. A lifetime .192 hitter in just 184 games, known primarily for his glove, he was nevertheless used as a pinch hitter on 39 occasions and […]

When you review how professional baseball integrated, it is easy to begin and end with the story of Jackie Robinson’s struggles. Scant attention is given the fact that African Americans faced tremendous resistance to their presence throughout the 1950s and 1960s, especially in the Deep South. One such player who experienced this was Blue Moon […]

When the curtain rose on the New York Yankees’ 1929 season, for the first time in team history each ballplayer wore a numbered jersey. Catching for New York that day was John Grabowski, the large block 8 on his back signifying his spot in the batting order. One of three backstops that Yankee manager Miller […]

“He has no weakness as a hitter. Pitch him inside, outside, high, low, fast stuff, breaking balls-anything you throw he can handle. He swings with the pitch; that is why he’s so great, He has no holes.”1 New York Yankee pitcher Catfish Hunter’s assessment of what it was like to pitch to Rod Carew may […]

In the spring of 1989, the movie Field of Dreams introduced the public to an obscure figure in baseball history named Archibald Wright “Moonlight” Graham. His time in the major leagues amounted to two innings in one game played on June 29, 1905. This piece of baseball trivia has fascinated both moviegoers and fans of […]

He was the Montreal Expos’ Jim of all trades. As general manager, manager, vice president, scouting director, even broadcaster, Jim Fanning held almost every position a ball club could have, primarily for the Expos, but for the Atlanta/Milwaukee Braves, Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays as well. This baseball Renaissance man was an only child […]

Baseball fans love streaks. And though the number 8 is not as recognizable as 56 or 2,632, it is nonetheless a cherished part of the national pastime’s lore. After bouncing around the minor leagues for 11 seasons, 30-year-old Dale Long was the unlikely center of national media attention in 1956, his second full season with […]

Bob “Ziggy” Hasbrook was the first athlete ever to be a member of both a World Series winner and a national basketball champion. The infielder’s big-league baseball career consisted of just 11 games, but two of those came with the 1917 Chicago White Sox, who included him on their postseason roster. In basketball, he was […]

From manager Don Heffner’s perspective, hurler John Tsitouris drew favorable comparisons to Hall of Famer Red Ruffing because “when you sent him out to the mound, you knew he was going to give you a good job.”1 Splendid likeness for a pitcher with a lifetime 34-38 record. Tsitouris’s tantalizing ability caused teams to continually try […]

Wilbur Wehde was born on November 23, 1906, in the hamlet of Holstein, Iowa. The town, roughly 45 miles east of Sioux City, was at the time home to fewer than 1,000 residents, mostly first- or second-generation German immigrants. Wehde’s father, Gustave, managed a creamery and brokered other farmers’ produce, while his mother, Frieda, managed […]

According to his obituary in 1891, Bill Crowley was “at one time, one of the best ball players that donned a uniform.”1 A 5-foot-7, 159-pound right-handed outfielder, Crowley often played bigger than his size, and was considered one of the heaviest and hardest hitters of his time.2 Crowley was known primarily for his defensive prowess, […]

Eddie Dyer was one of the “Rickey men” who built baseball’s first farm system. He managed the St. Louis Cardinals to their last World Series championship of the Branch Rickey era. Edwin Hawley Dyer was born October 11, 1899, in Morgan City, Louisiana, the fourth of seven children of Joseph M. and Alice Natalie Dyer. […]

“Not getting booed at Ebbets Field was an amazing thing. Those fans knew their baseball, and Gil was the only player I can remember whom the fans never, I mean never, booed.”1 — Clem Labine “… epitomizes the courage, sportsmanship and integrity of America’s favorite pastime.” — back of a 1966 Topps baseball card “Gil […]

Casey Stengel is best remembered for his managerial accomplishments with the juggernaut New York Yankees of the 1950s and the bumbling, beloved New York Mets of the early ’60s, but decades earlier he was a hard-hitting outfielder who compiled a .284 batting average over 14 seasons in the National League. Planting his right foot closer […]

“If Shipke only becomes a hitter! His work at third [base] yesterday was classy from start to finish. He had several of the closest kinds of plays on pick-ups and other varieties of slow rollers, but he had the knack of grabbing them while at full speed … and getting them toward first without any […]

Back when being a character could keep you locked in the minor leagues and being a reliever was considered a career demotion, Tug McGraw excelled in both roles like few before or since. As a rookie starter for Casey Stengel, McGraw ended the Mets’ long losing streak against Sandy Koufax; converted to a reliever by […]

Rinky-dink in a most charming way, Jarry Park — or Parc Jarry to Quebec’s French-speaking population — was home to the Montreal Expos from 1969 through 1976. The little ballpark seated just 28,456, and that was only after additions pumped it up from its amateur capacity of 3,000. Since the era of wooden stadiums ended, […]