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James “Farmer” “Slab” Burns, “the Ashtabula Midget,” had two more nicknames than innings pitched in Major League Baseball. Standing 5-foot-7 and weighing 168 pounds, it’s easy to assume how he earned one of those, but the origin of the other two monikers is not the only mystery presented by James Burns.1 As of 2017, no […]

Richard E. “Dick” Jacobs was the majority owner of the Cleveland Indians from December 1986 until February 2000. He purchased the team with his older brother, David H. Jacobs (1921-1992), from the estate of the late F.J. “Steve” O’Neill in December 1986 for $35.5 million.  Jacobs oversaw the restoration of the Indians to on-the-field and […]

On September 27, 1940, the Detroit Tigers were in Cleveland to start a three-game series against the second-place Indians. The Tigers had a two-game lead in the pennant race, so one win in the series would bring a league title back to Detroit. But Cleveland was starting off the set by sending the top pitcher […]

Statistics and anecdotes of early black player Charlie Grant are minimal and sketchy at best. The difficulty in seeking reliable evidence is compounded by the fact that many during his time and still today have consistently confused him with the great Frank Grant, who played in several white leagues during the nineteenth century and was […]

Right-handed pitcher Eddie Stack was a collegiate and semipro standout who never played a minor league game but underachieved as a mid-Deadball Era major leaguer. Stack had ample size, a strong arm, and first-rate intellect. His debut in the big leagues in May 1910 was spectacular: a three-hit shutout of a Chicago Cubs team headed […]

A versatile fielder who could play second, third, or short, Heinie Zimmerman rose to prominence with the Chicago Cubs during the early teens as a lovable eccentric whose aggressive batting style won the loyalty of fans and the respect of opposing pitchers. But despite winning the National League’s Triple Crown in 1912, the lifetime .295 […]

A tall right-handed twirler from a wealthy family who for financial reasons did not need to play baseball, Roy Witherup won only three games in three partial seasons in the majors but had a surprising impact on the pulsating 1908 American League pennant race. Illness and injury ended his promising career early. Foster Leroy Witherup […]

The name John Lickert flickered momentarily at baseball’s top level. On September 19, 1981, the catcher appeared in half an inning for the Boston Red Sox. The game ended before he stepped into the batter’s box, and though he played on in the minors through 1985, he was never seen again in a big-league box […]

How dedicated was Bob “Curly” Clement to the craft of umpiring? On two occasions, he suffered heart attacks while working games. Both times, after a recovery period off the diamond, he made his way back to umping.1 Clement spent almost all of his lengthy career in amateur circuits, particularly the summer college-age Cape Cod Baseball […]

Mike Flanagan was the ace of a Baltimore Orioles staff for over a decade. The 1979 Cy Young Award winner helped the Orioles to two World Series appearances and was part of a combined no-hitter in 1991. He relied on a repertoire of pitches, including a fastball, heavy sinker, slow curve, and changeup. Michael Kendall […]

The only thing a team with players named Dizzy, Ducky, and Daffy needed to become truly legendary was a dash of Pepper.  And that’s exactly what the famed Gas House Gang St. Louis Cardinals got in their sparkplug extraordinaire, Pepper Martin. Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin was a leap-year baby, born February 29, 1904, in Temple, […]

When Bob Keegan finally made a major league roster with the Chicago White Sox in 1953, he was 32 years old, a husband and father, and a long-time minor leaguer with enough credibility as a person and a ballplayer to have had a day in his honor at an opponent’s ballpark. Keegan didn’t have a […]

As far as Roy Lee Jackson was concerned, the highlight of his time in baseball wasn’t the 28 wins or 34 saves he compiled over 10 years (1977-1986) in the majors. Neither was it his induction into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. Instead, it was a conversation he had with a young autograph […]

Aspects of the life story of obscure mid-1880s pitcher Fleury Sullivan have doubtless been lost to time. But the surviving historical record militates that any profile of the brawny Sullivan focus on his relatively brief ballplaying career; his involvement in the political affairs of East St. Louis, Illinois; and his proclivity for resolving differences via […]

The photograph hanging on the wall of a Cincinnati area pizzeria inspired Russ Gastright to delve into some family history, specifically about the life and up-and-down career of a certain right-handed pitcher. A friend of Russ’s spotted the photo, a team shot of the 1896 Reds. One player’s name stood out. “My friend, Mike Draznik, […]

“As a reliever, you’ve got to have amnesia. Not only with the bad days, but with the good days. You may get them out one, two, three today, but you’ve got to forget about it immediately, because that may not happen tomorrow.” — Roberto Hernandez, 20071 “(In the 1989 Instructional League), Roberto (Hernandez) and (pitching […]

Puerto Rico and baseball. From the legendary Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda to Roberto Alomar, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and Pudge Rodriguez, the small island with only 3.5 million inhabitants has left an indelible footprint on the major-league landscape. As of 2016, the Caribbean nation has produced no fewer than 250 big-league players, including at […]

During a professional pitching career that spanned the Deadball Era, right-hander Bobby Keefe won more than 200 games. Regrettably for him, only 16 of these victories came while in a major league uniform. A curveball artist, Keefe’s time in the bigs was sidetracked by untimely health problems, a periodically sore arm, and the perception that […]

“Turkey Stearnes — that cat could play and hit. He could’ve made it.” — Thomas “Monk” Favors1 Over the years, the Baseball Hall of Fame’s research department routinely requested retired baseball players to submit a form whose details painted a picture of the player’s birth, family, and early years, and a sketch of his playing […]

Entering the twilight of a 12-year major league career, Nelson Potter joined the Boston Braves in midseason of 1948 and became the top relief man and spot starter for the NL champs with an impressive 5-2 record and a 2.33 ERA. This was his second stint with a pennant-winning team; as a nearly full-time starter, […]

By the end of the 1957 major-league season, Ed Bouchee had made good on all his early athletic promise with a fine rookie season as the first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. His slash line was .293/.394/470, with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs. The 24-year-old Bouchee, a former high school sports hero from Spokane, […]

When the Orioles nearly went from worst-to-first in their “Why Not?” 1989 season, Jeff Ballard epitomized their surprising success. Though he struck out fewer than three batters per nine innings, no major league lefty won more games than Ballard in 1989. By the time Baltimore did return to the post-season seven years later, however, Ballard […]

One of the most overlooked and underrated pitchers of the 1930s, southpaw Larry French was a “glutton for work,” according to the Pittsburgh Press.1 Over a seven-year stretch (1930-1936), French relied on a devastating screwball and good control to average 16 wins and 268 innings per season; during that time only Carl Hubbell logged more […]

When baseball’s stars convened in Pittsburgh for the 1994 All-Star Game, emerging pennant races and milestone quests shared headlines with labor-management discord. A strike shuttered the majors a month later, relegating the unfinished campaign to an ignominious place in the game’s history, but the National League’s 8-7 win over the American League in 10 innings […]