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ANTHONY MARCUS SANDERS personifies perseverance. Quiet with an engaging personality, he was well liked and respected by his teammates during his 15-year career. Sanders experienced countless professional joys and disappointments and crushing personal tragedies. He endured 26 stops in the minors, majors, Mexico, and Japan. He was an Olympian. He was a minor-league coach and […]

In their long and storied history, the New York Yankees have sent many fine pitchers to the mound in the World Series. Hall-of-Famers like Lefty Gomez, Whitey Ford, and Mariano Rivera have left their mark on the record books with their autumnal performances in pinstripes. Arguably, though, the Yankees’ top all-time Fall Classic hurler is […]

When asked in 2015 about his earliest baseball memory, Tomás Pérez replied, “Caimaneras,” referring to Venezuela’s “improvised baseball game, without referees, in which players are chosen spontaneously, which usually takes place in the streets, in the schoolyards or in some field…”1 He recalled that his parents were angry that baseball, a game, interfered with his […]

San Francisco’s Mike Finn was a pioneer professional as a California baseball player and manager. A versatile performer, he was an adept infielder, outfielder, and catcher, but was, in the Oakland Tribune’s opinion, “a pitching star of magnitude.” His managerial legacy was five championships during the California League’s formative years (1886-1893), more than any other pilot. An established […]

A fine major league pitcher for several years, Jim Brosnan wrote the first honest portrayal of the life of a baseball player. The Long Season and subsequent works have earned him continued praise ever since. His writings paved the way for many other players’ “autobiographies,” usually written with considerable help, and filled with more tawdriness […]

Righty reliever Kenny Greer’s 10-year career in pro ball featured two stints in the majors, in 1993 and 1995. In his big-league debut, he pitched a perfect 17th inning and got the win as the New York Mets scored the game’s lone run in the bottom half. His only other big-league decisions were both losses, […]

The major-league career of Dutch Schliebner can be summed up in three words: “George Sisler’s replacement.” When the 1922 American League MVP, Sisler, came down with sinus conditions after his banner season, it put the St. Louis Browns in a terrible bind. After the Browns experimented with Marty McManus and Cedric Durst at first base […]

Late-19th century American life could be grisly. Annually, from 1880 to 1900, some 35,000 workers died and another 500,000 were injured.1 Away from the workplace, the deadly and maiming effects of fires, explosions, and railroads took up volumes of newsprint. Medical and public health advances that would add decades to American lifespans lay mostly on […]

Like cats, many left-handed pitchers seem to have multiple lives. Drafted by four clubs five times over five years in the 1960s, lefty Rich Hinton pitched for five clubs in six years in an erratic career that largely spanned the 1970s. A star at the University of Arizona who also played in Mexico, Hinton pitched […]

Dave Skaggs played four seasons for the Baltimore Orioles in the late 1970s, a time in which “The Oriole Way” had helped propel the franchise to the top of the American League. Seeing action in the 1979 World Series was his biggest thrill in baseball. Just playing in front of 50,000 people was something that […]

When Charles A. Stoneham came home one night in October 1918 and told his teenage son Horace, “Horrie, I bought you a ballclub,” he set in motion a family commitment.1 For the next 58 years the Stoneham family name was synonymous with the New York and San Francisco Giants, one of the most storied franchises […]

“Baseball is our way of life in the Amaro family,” said Rubén Amaro Sr. Four generations of Amaros have played professionally. Amaro’s father, Santos, had a long and distinguished career in Cuba and Mexico. His son, Rubén Amaro Jr., became a player, executive, and coach in the major leagues. Rubén Sr. was in the majors […]

For a man who spent much of his life on the road as a baseball scout, Patrick Francis “Pat” Colgan was well grounded in his adopted community, Carbondale, Pennsylvania. He served as vice president of Carbondale’s Columbia Hose Company No. 5 for more than a decade. He was also active in many other community organizations. […]

The son of a Chicago policeman, Golden Gloves boxer, and “bonus baby,” Jim O’Toole would become a confident, competitive and highly consistent member of the Reds starting rotation throughout the early 1960s. The lefty made significant contributions to his team’s success in two of the most dramatic seasons in Cincinnati’s long major-league history: 1961 – the […]

Left-hander Ted Bowsfield spent seven seasons in the big leagues, initially signing with the Red Sox but later becoming arguably the best pitcher in the first year of Los Angeles Angels baseball. He later became director of stadium operations and team travel for the Angels, then head of the Kingdome in Seattle. Bowsfield was born […]

In a time before Super Bowls, when the Final Four was merely an afterthought in the sporting landscape, the World Series was truly the sporting event that the majority of Americans looked forward to each year. The ’48 series was no exception, as a nation checked in by radio, newspaper, and even on television (a […]

Del Rice was a major-league catcher for 17 years, primarily with the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Braves. While he was not a good hitter, his longevity was attributable to his excellent defensive skills and his ability to work with pitchers. He also knew how to win as a member of two World Series champions, […]

Dominican infielder Luis Ortiz forged a life in baseball. He began his career in pro ball in 1991 with the Boston Red Sox organization and made it to the top level with Boston in 1993. He got into 60 big-league games for the Red Sox and Texas Rangers from 1993 through 1996. Then after a […]

Bill McKinley was a steady, dependable American League umpire whose 20-season career, from 1946 to 1965, was marked by numerous highlights and one well-publicized low point. The highlights included four World Series assignments, three All-Star Games, five no-hitters—one behind the plate—and other historic moments. McKinley was working home plate in 1947 when Larry Doby of […]

Bob Locker threw 879 innings in the major leagues. His career earned-run average was 2.75. Pitching for the White Sox in the mid-1960s, he was an ace for a bullpen that led the league in ERA for four straight years. Oakland manager Dick Williams deployed him as his designated rally-killer in 1971, when the A’s […]

Richard Jackson,1 nicknamed “Workie,” began playing baseball in the black textile leagues in South Carolina, and had a ten-year career as an infielder in the Negro Leagues. During his professional career he played in Atlantic City; New York; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Baltimore; and Darby, Pennsylvania. Primarily known as a hitter, he was also known for his […]

This article was originally published in the Magnolia (Georgia) Chapter’s Spring 2025 newsletter.   In 2006, SABR founding members Tom Hufford, Cliff Kachline, and John Pardon gathered in Cooperstown to celebrate the organization’s 35th anniversary. The plaque honors SABR’s first organizational meeting at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library in Cooperstown on August 10, […]

In 1992 the Houston Astros finished fourth in the National League Western Division, with an 81-81 record. Determined to upgrade its starting pitching, the team made two major free-agent signings within a three-day span in December. First, on December 1, the Astros landed a former Cy Young award winner, right-hander Doug Drabek, for $4.25 million; […]

As the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers prepared to host the Atlanta Braves in the third game of a four-game series on July 5, the Dodgers were on their way to a third National League pennant in the decade while the Braves were struggling to avoid the fate of another 100-loss season as had befallen them […]