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He is the answer to one trivia question and half of the answer to another, but there was nothing trivial about the life of Will White. William Henry White was born in Caton, a farming community in Steuben County, in western New York, just a few miles above the Pennsylvania state line. He was the […]

Veteran broadcaster Lanny Frattare was the “Voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates” for two generations of fans. He belongs to a special roster of long-serving Pirates on-air talent that includes Rosey Rowswell, Bob Prince, and the team’s current play-by-play man, Greg Brown.1 Frattare served the Bucs from 1976 to 2008. He never called a World Series […]

During the first seven seasons of the 2000s, no team in the National League won more games or enjoyed more success than the St. Louis Cardinals. Guided by Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, the Cardinals won 658 games, five division titles, and one World Series. During the 2004-2006 seasons, La Russa handed the […]

Jimmy Johnston piled up record-setting stolen-base numbers in the minors, played every outfield and infield position, and contributed to the first two Brooklyn World Series teams. In 1920 he battled brother Doc Johnston of Cleveland as part of the first World Series sibling rivalry.1 Rooted in Tennessee, Johnston’s ancestors farmed, prayed, and played baseball. His […]

Gifted with intellect, musical acumen, and athletic ability, Deadball Era pitcher Eddie Higgins deferred a life in dentistry for the opportunity to play professional baseball. Though he pitched in just 18 big-league games in 1909 and 1910, and he was just 22 when he made his final appearance at the top level, he enjoyed an […]

Bob Anderson was the prototype pitching prospect – big, blond, and with a blazing fastball. He was called a “sure thing” and a “can’t miss” candidate for the majors. Injuries shortened a promising career that produced a 36-46 record over seven seasons (1957-63). Yet Anderson still fulfilled his dream of pitching in the major leagues […]

On the back of his 1955 Bowman baseball card, Mel Clark urges youngsters to have a glove, bat and ball at hand so they can be ready to play when the opportunity presents itself. When that opportunity arose for the war veteran from the sandlots of West Virginia, he seized it with a vengeance. Melvin […]

Right fielder Dick Porter played 5½ years with the Cleveland Indians, half a year with the Boston Red Sox, and 15 years in the minors – all but the very last one in the International League. That length of tenure in the I.L. helped him earn induction into the International League Hall of Fame. He […]

Glenn Beckert had a good-but-not-great career for the good-but-not-great Chicago Cubs teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Those teams starred a quartet of baseball immortals in Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams. Steadily and sometimes spectacularly manning the keystone sack and batting second, Beckert made four All-Star teams, received MVP […]

“Dave Roberts is a novice manager, but he seems born to the task,” longtime San Francisco sportswriter Bruce Jenkins wrote about the offseason Dodgers hire in mid-2016. “He took a disjointed clubhouse and made it whole, instilling a good-times brand of confidence and telling SI.com, ‘I put my hand on each player every single day […]

Chances are if one were to poll SABR members about the greatest left-hander in the history of the Dodgers franchise, the most frequent response would be, “Sandy Koufax.” But they would be incorrect. Without a doubt, the honor of greatest southpaw in organizational history belongs to Vincent E. Scully. Since the emergence of baseball broadcasts, […]

A local teenage pitching prodigy, Gene Schott signed with his hometown Cincinnati Reds and participated in spring training as an 18-year-old in 1932. He eventually went 28-41 in parts of five big-league seasons (1935-39). He etched his name in baseball and local Cincinnati lore amid the devastating Ohio River flood in January 1937. A widely […]

Many recognize Pop Dillon as merely a cousin of Hall of Famer Clark Griffith who happened to have a brief major league career. If he’s written about today, it’s usually in that context or in relation to his passing on a young fastballer named Walter Johnson. Dillon was in fact among the top names in […]

“(Curt) Motton has been Baltimore’s best pinch-hitter ever since I’ve been managing this club. He was an automatic choice in this spot.” — Orioles manager Earl Weaver after Motton’s game-tying double helped Baltimore come from behind to beat Oakland’s Vida Blue in the 1971 American League Championship Series1   Curt Motton grew up in the […]

He grew up in a small Nebraska town with a high school that did not field a baseball team. He signed professionally with an organization that notoriously signed hundreds of prospects with the expectation that such quantity would yield quality. Yet Johnny Hopp diligently overcame these obstacles to carve out a successful 14-year career in […]

There have been a dozen individual offensive seasons by a full-time catcher in MLB history with 30 HR, a .300 average, and 150 OPS+. Half of them came from Mike Piazza and three were by Roy Campanella. Joe Torre and Javy Lopez also achieved the feat – as did Rick Wilkins in 1993. Combining his […]

On the surface, it’s difficult to imagine a major-league ballplayer with more disappointing statistics — a pitcher with a career winning percentage of .000, a batting average of .000, and a fielding percentage of .500. But Pete Magrini had six very good seasons in minor-league baseball and, after all, attained a goal that most professional […]

Bob Stanley filled many roles during his career with the Boston Red Sox. He pitched 17 complete games in 64 starts between 1977 and 1981, including a 10-inning shutout in 1979. In 1982 Stanley was used exclusively as a reliever, and set an American League record for relief innings pitched (168⅓) while averaging 3½ innings […]

On July 15, 1942, Washington Nationals1 manager Bucky Harris stuck by 22-year-old rookie right-hander Early Wynn for 11 innings, through 15 hits and 4 walks. Wynn rewarded Harris with a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Wynn first pitched for Washington in September 1939, making three late-season starts at age 19. He threw 20⅓ innings, […]

David Ortiz was gunning for home run number 500 as the 2015 season wound down. The 500 Club wasn’t as exclusive as it had been when Ortiz reached the majors with the Minnesota Twins in September 1997, a season after Eddie Murray became its 15th member. Since then, 12 more sluggers had reached the milestone, […]

After Travis Blackley won his last seven decisions for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers to improve his record to 7-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 14 starts,1 the 21-year-old Australian received a surprise late-night phone call on June 30, 2004, from Seattle Mariners manager Bob Melvin. “He said he had a proposition for me,” Blackley recalled. […]

“My club is not going to win the National League pennant,” admitted Brooklyn Robins manager Wilbert Robinson as the 1924 season began. “It is simply going to make every effort to considerably better its [sixth-place] showing of last season.”1 Few batted an eyelash at Robinson’s modest expectations. But the season went far better than predicted […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers had every reason to feel confident as they approached the 2021 National League Championship Series. Not only were they the defending World Series champions (albeit in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season), but they had also amassed an impressive 106-56 regular-season record, second only to their division rivals, the San Francisco Giants (107-55). […]

The Red Sox were still hopeful, even in the final days of August 1955. They were in fourth place, but the standings were tightly bunched and they were only five games behind the first-place New York Yankees. Before this day’s game, the Indians and White Sox were one and 1½ games back of New York, […]