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“Good field, no hit” is an assessment of an athlete with lopsided skills on the baseball diamond. In essence, his contributions are far greater on defense than offense. Many of these men were catchers. In fact, of the ten major-league players with the worst career batting averages (minimum 1,000 at-bats), six were backstops. Barney Gilligan […]

Jim Boyer was born and raised in Maryland. He died in Maryland and is buried there. And when he left the American League’s umpiring staff in 1950 after almost seven seasons, it was to take a job in the Old Line State. Unfortunately, Boyer never umpired a major-league game in Maryland, since the St. Louis […]

In 1928, right-hander Ed Carroll’s six losses did more to win him a major-league berth than the six games he won that same year. He went on to an undefeated rookie year, pitching for a last-place team. Edgar Fleischer Carroll came from Baltimore, where he was born on July 27, 1907, the son of William […]

There are many quotes regarding the importance of living life. Just look it up on the internet; it’s a fact! One such quote is “It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.” That quote is attributed to Abraham Lincoln … and Adlai Stevenson … and Dr. Edward […]

Through the 2021 season, 29 of the 30 major-league teams have started a shortstop from the Dominican Republic on Opening Day at least once.1 Fifty-two different Dominican-born shortstops have achieved the feat, including 15 who became All-Stars the same year, four Gold Glove winners, and one MVP.2 Only Rafael Robles of the 1969 San Diego […]

Tall right-handed pitcher Ralph Brickner had an enviable first year in major-league baseball, with a .750 winning percentage and a career 2.18 earned run average. Unfortunately, his time in the minor leagues was not as productive and his career was a relatively short one. A Cincinnatian – born, raised, and buried there, Ralph Harold Brickner […]

It was Ted Williams who dubbed Bobby Doerr “the silent captain of the Red Sox” and a more down-to-earth Hall of Famer might be hard to find. A career Red Sox player, Doerr’s fame enjoyed a resurgence in 2004 with the publication of David Halberstam’s book about him and his famous teammates.1  Born in the city of […]

Thomas Edward O’Meara was known throughout his short tumultuous life as “Eddie,” a diminutive of his middle name. The younger brother of an Illinois state senator, he was already catching at the age of 16 for the Rivals club in the 1889 Chicago City League, one of the strongest amateur circuits in the Midwest. Born […]

Right-hander Chuck Rainey was a first-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox, the 19th pick overall in the January 1974 draft. A little more than five years later, he broke into the big leagues with Boston, pitching for the Red Sox, Cubs, and Oakland Athletics in a major-league career that lasted six seasons. Red […]

Arguably the best second baseman in Los Angeles Dodgers history, Davey Lopes’s playing career is loaded with noteworthy achievements. Appearing in four straight All-Star Games, he once collected the most votes of all players. He won a Gold Glove, two stolen base titles, set a team record for homers by a second baseman, and an […]

With the game in the balance, Lee Smith would walk ever so slowly1 from the bullpen to the mound. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Louisianan was in his time one of the most feared relief pitchers in the game.2 In his 18 major-league seasons (1980-1997), the right-hander pitched for eight different teams, and his records are notable […]

“Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.” — Satchel Paige   Three decades before Don Larsen threw his perfect game in the ’56 World Series, a 22-year-old Negro League pitcher “down the Shore” beat his big-city counterpart to the postseason punch. Claude “Red” Grier joined […]

Hank Aaron quietly and unassumingly approached another significant career milestone. Eighteen seasons into his major-league career in April 1971, the 37-year-old Aaron was one home run shy of joining two fellow sluggers, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, as the only players in baseball history with at least 600 career homers. Ruth topped the leaderboard with […]

Like muddy urchins tromping through Buckingham Palace and into the queen’s drawing room, here were the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates. What business did they have in October, challenging the New York Yankees? Fifteen World Series titles in the previous 30 years had made the Yankees a metaphor for elite performance. For Pittsburgh, those same years had […]

Houston Astros third baseman Doug Rader had hit two home runs in 164 at-bats over his team’s first 44 games. One was a three-run bomb in a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 13, while the other was a solo shot that aided a 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on May […]

When one thinks of home-run hitters and the Milwaukee Braves, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews immediately come to mind. However, Joe Adcock, the hulking 6-foot-4-inch former basketball player at Louisiana State University, had the reputation of smashing some of the longest home runs ever witnessed. Although measuring the distance home runs travel has historically been […]

Charles Evard Street’s long winding path to St Louis had a full share of twists, turns, and moments of high drama. He was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on September 30, 1882. It was said about him that he became a catcher because he was naturally “pretty tough” and possessed a good arm and a chattery […]

The Boston Red Sox had not won a World Series since 1918, almost 30 years. As all the teams reassembled their full rosters in the wake of World War II, the Red Sox found themselves with a superb team and jumped out to a very strong start. They were 21-3 by May 10. They clinched […]

Dave Morehead was sometimes stingy with hits. A graduate of San Diego’s Hoover High School—the same school that Ted Williams had attended—he broke into the majors with the Boston Red Sox at the age of 19 in 1963. His first game was a five-hit shutout of the Washington Senators on April 13. He threw a […]

The September 24, 1920, edition of the Akron Beacon Journal blared the following headline across its sports section: “Ban Johnson Called to Stand Today; Tell Plot Against Chicago.” Johnson, the American League president, was testifying before a Cook County (Chicago) grand jury about a plot to blackmail Chicago White Sox players. Johnson predicted that the […]

President Warren G. Harding, center, throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a Washington Senators game on April 13, 1921, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, NATIONAL PHOTO COMPANY)   In 1910 President William Howard Taft had begun a long-standing tradition of the president of the United States throwing out the ceremonial […]

In March 1964 Jerome Arthur “Jerry” Hummitzsch ranked as a sure-thing prospect with the Milwaukee Braves — a hard-throwing, confident, athletic kid from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, an hour north of Milwaukee. Coming off a good year in the minors in 1963, he earned praise from manager Bobby Bragan in spring training and was considered an up-and-comer […]

The first cycle — single, double, triple, and home run — in the major leagues was accomplished by Charles Joseph Foley (also known as Curry Foley) of the Buffalo Bisons in a National League game against the Cleveland Blues on May 25, 1882. The contest was played at Riverside Grounds, the home ballpark of the […]

Lexington Park served as the home of the St. Paul Saints from 1897 through 1956, opening one year later and closing one year after its counterpart in Minneapolis, Nicollet Park. It was built by Edward B. Smith, who operated a St. Paul real estate company (and had been a part-owner of a National League team […]