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Chicken Hawks was a double threat for those who construct imaginary teams of players named after birds.1 Despite batting .316, the lefty swinger had just 393 at-bats spread across two major league seasons. His time at the top level was limited because he was streaky at bat and suspect on defense in the outfield and […]

Pablo Ozuna was born on August 25, 1974, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Until 2002 Ozuna was believed to have been born on August 25, 1978, and this had a dramatic impact on the way he was viewed in his first several seasons in professional baseball. The son of Sotero Ozuna, who was employed at […]

For every 30-home-run hitter and 20-game winner, there is often a role player who, though contributing less, is embraced by the fans and given nearly unconditional support in return for those elusive attributes scrappiness and hustle. For the pennant-winning White Sox of 1959, that player was Sammy Esposito. Despite spending the majority of his career watching […]

Maurice Joseph McDermott, Jr. was a hard-throwing southpaw teenage “can’t miss” prospect who devolved into a journeyman reliever. Slated as the next Lefty Grove, Mickey McDermott played 12 seasons in the big leagues with the Red Sox, Senators, Yankees, Athletics, Tigers, and Cardinals. He spent the first half of his MLB career in Boston where […]

            “Starving for run making power, the Phillies’ Labor Day attendance found in their lap a brand new outfielder.             He hit a homer with the bases full. Also a triple, double, and two singles. He batted in six runs in the first game; 2 more in the nightcap….             Dangerous Dan Litwhiler is […]

Thirty men registered plate appearances for the 2004 Boston Red Sox, but one of the biggest contributors to the offensive juggernaut did not face a single pitch. Had it not been for the December 27, 2002, announcement of Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson as the team’s new hitting coach, Boston’s stunning rise to the zenith of […]

On April 20, 1970, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, a new pitching role was initiated for Dave Giusti. That Monday night, Dennis Menke of the Houston Astros stepped into the batter’s box to face Dock Ellis of the Pirates. Within a few moments, Menke smashed a line drive through the pitching box. Unfortunately, Ellis’ right hand got in […]

Some baseball players evoke a position. Recall catcher Mickey Cochrane. Others define managing: Connie Mack comes to mind. Many broadcast as a color analyst or play-by-play man, like Bob Uecker and Bob Costas. Few have performed all of the above at one time or another as well as the Blue Jays’ John Albert “Buck” Martinez, […]

Travis Snider arrived in the major leagues at age 20, seemingly destined to be a star. When he made his debut on August 29, 2008, he was the youngest position player in the majors. The corner outfielder, who batted and threw lefty, was an imposing 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. But as easy as Snider made […]

New York Yankees infielder Gil McDougald led a life of accomplishment both on and off the diamond. During his ten seasons in pinstripes, McDougald was the 1951 American League Rookie of the Year, a five-time All-Star team selection, and a member of eight American League pennant winners. Although often overshadowed by Cooperstown-bound teammates like Mickey […]

Wally Backman was perhaps the first major-league manager fired before his team played a game. His fiery personality may have cost him another chance at managing in the majors. Three times he spent short stints in jail. He declared bankruptcy. From this sordid interval in life, he emerged to become a successful minor-league manager. Walter […]

The Hall of Fame second baseman is not the only significant figure in New York baseball history to have the name Joe Gordon. Decades before Flash was anchoring the infield of great World War II-era Yankees teams, an earlier Joe Gordon was helping to put the franchise on the map, serving as the first president […]

Wyatt Reeder Toregas was a catcher who played 22 games over the course of two seasons with the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a player, he was known for his defensive-mindedness as a catcher and his quick bat and short, compact swing that generated good power. He was born on December […]

A two-year stint with the Cincinnati Reds, a fight with Honus Wagner, followed by a lengthy career as a successful mid-Michigan baseball man highlighted the career of John Albert Morrissey. Born to Irish immigrant parents in Lansing, Michigan, on May 2, 1876, he was the eldest child of Thomas and Catherine Morrissey. His father was […]

When he pitched a hitless inning in relief for the New York Highlanders (already beginning to be called the Yankees) on April 16, 1907, Roy Castleton became the first native of Utah to play major league baseball. Castleton, however, was much more than the answer to a trivia question. He was a promising left-handed pitcher […]

Richard Hidalgo’s career was notable for short bursts of remarkable performance. For the New York Mets, he once hit home runs in five consecutive games. For the Houston Astros, he had extra-base hits in 10 consecutive games. In September 2000 he recorded one of the greatest monthlong hitting performances ever, batting .477 for the Astros, […]

The Houston Astrodome was the first fully enclosed, air-conditioned major-league ballpark. It was formally unveiled in an exhibition game that pitted the Houston Astros against the American League champion New York Yankees on April 9, 1965. Unlike previous sports venues, the Astrodome was built to be a massive all-purpose, climate-controlled facility that would serve as […]

“What followed that year [2005] – after the new Nats brought baseball back to the District ending a 33-year drought – was an unexpectedly fun joyride, a 100-win pace through half a season that helped Washington re-embrace the sport that abandoned it.” – Barry Svrluga, Washington Post1     Baseball is a game of numbers, […]

This was it, a day when a dream could come true for three generations of Washington baseball fans. In a year that had produced one of the greatest pennant chases in American League history, involving a summer-long battle between the Senators, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers, the Washington Senators moved into first place entering […]

A World Series berth was 161 games and an NL playoff away. Coming off a third-place finish in 1972 with an 83-73 record – 13½ games out of first place – the Mets began ’73 with a 3-0 shutout against the Phillies and a declaration of power from a beloved member of the blue-and-orange squad. […]

Philadelphia resident George McFadden was there bright and early. There would be 6,055 games played in the history of Shibe Park (renamed Connie Mack Stadium decades later), and no one knows how many games Mr. McFadden attended. His claim to fame is that he was the first fan to enter the sparkling new and innovative […]

The second night game ever played at Wrigley Field was a Red Cross “Thank You” program exhibition between the Milwaukee Chicks and the South Bend Blue Sox of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. This was the first contest of a doubleheader held on Tuesday evening, July 18, 1944, serving as a break between the […]

On September 22, 1962, the second-place San Francisco Giants trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers by four games, with seven contests remaining in the regular-season schedule. One week later the Giants had closed the deficit to one game. In the final game on September 30, Willie Mays’ eighth-inning home run gave San Francisco a 2-1 victory […]

This article is part 1 of a planned multi-part series on the history of the Chicago Cubs franchise. This chapter covers the journey from the White Stockings to the Cubs from 1876 to 1919.   The 1885 National League champion Chicago White Stockings. 1-George Gore, 2-Silver Flint, 3-Cap Anson, 4-Sy Sutcliffe, 5-Mike Kelly, 6-Fred Pfeffer, […]