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Frank Oberlin’s major-league pitching record was 5-24. He was 2-8 for the Boston Americans and 3-16 for the Washington Senators. As a batter, he hit for a .104 average, again somewhat better for Boston (.154 in 26 at-bats) than for Washington (.078 in 51 at-bats.) He drew one base on balls for both teams, bumping […]

George Turbeville pitched with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1935 to 1937. His best game performance came against the Cleveland Indians. He held them scoreless for 14 innings before losing on Earl Averill’s home run. Surrendering home runs is what Turbeville is best known for. He gave up Joe DiMaggio’s first major-league blast on May 10, […]

While appearing in only 176 major-league games over six seasons, George McConnell split his time among three leagues (American, Federal, and National) and between two positions requiring different skill sets (first base and pitcher). McConnell’s versatility hampered his development, because he could not focus on pitching until after he had passed his athletic peak. A […]

Mike Sharperson was a super-utility man, a valuable role-player who could play any infield position or come off the bench to pinch-hit. While supersubs rarely get the credit they deserve, his skills were such that he made the National League All-Star team. Sharperson spent parts of eight seasons in the major leagues, winning a World […]

Few jobs can match the excitement, adulation, and income that come with a spot on a major-league roster.  Some old ballplayers inevitably seal themselves in amber, forever living vicariously through the men they used to be.  The New York Giants’ Al Corwin was different.  For him the game was “more paycheck than passion,” as one […]

He was as natural a ballplayer as you would ever want to see. His swing was as beautiful as a Michelangelo sculpture and his throws from right field were so powerful and accurate that a cartoonist for the Montreal Gazette drew a caricature of Ellis Valentine that had a cannon where his right arm should […]

Verdell “Lefty” Mathis, a pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox, was the premier southpaw in the Negro Leagues during the 1940s. His ability and popularity were such that he pitched in three East-West All Star Games, starting the 1944 and 1945 games for the West, and made the all-star roster a total of six times. […]

A strong-armed power hitter who “swung so hard he raised dust clouds,” Frank Fernandez spent parts of six seasons in the major leagues (1967-72) as a backup catcher and occasional outfielder.1 As a Staten Island, New York, high schooler, the multisport athlete competed on New York’s biggest stages. He signed with the Yankees at the […]

“I am proud of my two boys. Baseball is a clean, manly sport,” Amanda Cobb declared. “I cannot deny that I am prouder of Tyrus’ achievements than he ever is, and I know Paul will make good, too. He, some day, will be as great a ballplayer as his brother.”1 Whatever her other talents, Mrs. […]

Karl Kolseth owed his big-league career to two-way talent and a stroke of luck. When his pitching arm wore out, he had enough pop in his bat to reinvent himself as a slugging first baseman. Also, he was a star amateur player in Baltimore in 1915, when the Federal League’s Terrapins threw their doors open […]

He was a sports broadcaster and former college football player from the Midwest. Tall and grey haired, he sported a crooked nose as a football injury badge. Answering to the name Harmon, he called gridiron action working for ABC telecasts. It would be understandable to many if he were often mistaken for the great Tom […]

There was never an Alex Grammas question on Family Feud. However, if Richard Dawson, the late and long-time host of the popular game show, were to have asked a hundred of his contemporaries how they remembered Grammas, the survey would invariably point to three answers: flawless fielding, excellence as a third-base coach, and his Hellenic […]

“There isn’t a better third baseman in the American League than Gene Robertson,” St. Louis Browns player/manager George Sisler said on the eve of the 1925 season.1 Indeed, that proved to be Robertson’s best year of nine in the majors (1919; 1922-26, 1928-1930). Two years later, though, he was in the minors, supposedly banished because […]

In his short major-league career, Albert Edward Kaiser played only 155 games and batted only .216. Yet from 1909 through 1914, he was known in the Midwest as an exceptionally fast outfielder, daring baserunner, and somewhat reckless player. In fact the Indianapolis Star, reviewing the 1913 season, said that “his great speed enabled him to […]

During the fourth game of the 1927 World Series, Pittsburgh hurler Johnny Miljus threw a wild pitch in the ninth inning that scored Earle Combs from third base, completing a sweep by the New York Yankees. Perhaps the happiest player that day was New York shortstop Mark Koenig. His .500 batting average in the Series […]

He was the Bill Buckner of his era. Mickey Owen only committed four errors during his best year as a major league catcher, the 1941 campaign with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Three came in the regular season and one in the postseason. That last error, a dropped third strike with two out in the ninth inning, […]

Vivian Sheriffs Anderson played third base for her hometown Milwaukee Chicks in 1944, the city’s only year in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The spirited infielder suffered a season-ending injury in June of that remarkable season and missed out on the Chicks’ championship. Even though Anderson’s time in the AAGPBL was brief, the league provided […]

“We wouldn’t have won the World Series without him.” – Kevin Millar1 Mark Bellhorn is quite possibly the most underrated player on the 2004 Red Sox team. While other players like David Ortiz, Curt Schilling, or Dave Roberts rightfully garner much praise for the success of the Red Sox’ 2004 championship run, Bellhorn and his […]

Beginning in 1888 and for the next five summers, right-hander Huyler Westervelt was a pitching standout on various amateur baseball teams in the greater New York City area. As a result, he attracted a number of offers from major league clubs but did not accept one until he signed with the New York Giants in […]

At the turn of the 20th century, Emmet Heidrick was one of the best players in baseball. A .300 hitter, he could drop a “tantalizing bunt” or drive the ball to the fence.1 As a baserunner and basestealer, he was speedy and aggressive. And as an outfielder, “Snags” was considered “the best fly catcher in […]

It had been something like feast or famine for the Boston Red Sox for the six years leading up to the 2018 season. From 1998 through 2011, the Red Sox were consistently competitive, never finishing below third in the American League East Division while making the postseason eight times. Having not won a World Series […]

The Minnesota Twins were competing with the Kansas City Royals for second place in the American League West Division as June 1971 arrived. After stumbling through a lackluster April, Minnesota went 16-12 in May and jumped from fourth place to second. The Twins were reigning AL West champions, winning both the 1969 and 1970 titles […]

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Seattle Mariners out of the Republic of Korea at age 18, Shin-Soo Choo spent five seasons in the minor leagues before earning a September call-up in 2005. After being dealt to the Cleveland Indians during the 2006 season, he emerged as a major-league regular in 2008.1 Choo, who […]

It had been more than 116 years since the Boston Red Sox had found themselves in a road game where they trailed the New York Yankees by multiple runs with two outs in the ninth inning – but rallied and won the game. On June 2, 1908, the Red Sox were playing the New York […]