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On June 1, 1954, Brooklyn shut out the Braves, 2-0, in the first game of a crucial three-game series at Milwaukee. It was the third straight loss for the Braves, and afterward skipper Charlie Grimm devised a platoon system for the next game and beyond, saying, “I gotta do something to get some hitting.”1 The first-place […]

In 1910 attendance at the South End Grounds, home of the Boston Doves, was the lowest in the National League. By all accounts, only 985 fans showed up to see “the first game of the last series of 1910 on the local grounds,”1 a contest between Boston and the Philadelphia Phillies. The spectators witnessed the […]

It was still relatively early in the season and only 6½ games separated the American League-leading New York Yankees from the sixth-place Cleveland Indians. The 16-10 Tigers and 14-13 Red Sox were in third and fifth place. Managers Red Rolfe of the visitors and Steve O’Neill of the home team announced their starters for the […]

Despite his status as a budding star for the St. Louis Cardinals, a month into the 1955 season rookie pitcher Luis Arroyo longed to be home in Puerto Rico with his pregnant wife. As only the fifth pitcher in the formerly segregated major leagues to hail from Puerto Rico, he had no army of fellow […]

On September 3, 1964, Don Larsen of the lowly Houston Colt .45s tossed a four-hit shutout against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.1 Larsen allowed only six baserunners en route to his first whitewash in more than five years.2 Phillies third baseman Dick Allen, who was favored to win the National […]

Jeff Heath was 33 years old and in his 13th big-league season in 1948 when he surprised his critics and helped lead the Boston Braves to the National League pennant. Playing in just 115 games under manager Billy Southworth’s platoon system, he hit 20 home runs, drove in 76 runs, and batted a resounding .319. […]

It would be easy to mock someone with a nickname like Fothergill’s, but Fatty Fothergill couldn’t have been too fat.  Once after hitting a home run at Fenway Park for the Detroit Tigers, he rounded the bases and did a front flip landing on home plate. At 5-feet-10.5 inches he struggled with his weight and […]

With the possible exception of Sandy Koufax, no Dodger pitcher ever threw harder than Rex Barney. Throughout the late 1940s, Barney’s fastball was the talk of baseball. In 1947, at the age of twenty-two, he struck out Joe DiMaggio with the bases loaded in a World Series game. On a rainy night at the Polo […]

For nearly a quarter century, Gussie Busch simultaneously led a nationwide brewing company and the St. Louis Cardinal franchise. Nicknamed “The Big Eagle”, Gussie lived life to its fullest. His enemies called him profane, tyrannical, hot-tempered, a philanderer, and a huckster. His friends saw him as soft-hearted, congenial, open, personable, philanthropic, and loyal. In 1953, […]

Henry “Hank” Gehring wasn’t a household word around the neighborhoods of St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1900, but in the coming years the right-handed pitcher made a name for himself while leaving a distinctive mark or two upon baseball history. Gehring called St. Paul home during his entire career in organized ball. He made the climb […]

“Frank Killen is certainly a natural born pitcher,” opined sportswriter John M. Roche in Sporting Life in 1892 as the burly 6-foot-1, 200-pound southpaw was preparing for his first full season in the big leagues. “He is well built, young and possessed of all the attributes which go to make up a winning pitcher.”1 That […]

“Dad always told me: ‘When you put on a uniform, you hustle.’” So said Del Unser in 2011, looking back at his career and the lessons he learned from his father.1 Al Unser served the game for more than 40 years as a professional player (including four in the majors during World War II), manager, […]

Histories of Stanford University have referred to Zebulon “Zeb” Terry as “one of the greatest baseball players in Stanford history.”1 More than a century has passed since Terry graduated, but his name continues to come up when the early days of Stanford athletics are retold and the foundation of the university’s stellar athletics teams is […]

Baseball writer Jack Ryder covered the Cincinnati Reds with unfailing dedication. He was a keen observer and witty commentator. From 1905 to 1936, his eloquent prose graced the pages of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Reds were mostly mediocre during this period. Managers came and went, 14 in 32 seasons. Through thick and thin, fans could […]

One might expect to find “Sir” before the ever-so-posh name of Percival Edmund Wentworth Ford. If not knighthood, then perhaps an OBE would be in order. The reality was humbler, though — Wenty Ford was a soft-tossing little pitcher from the Bahamas who took the mound for just four games in the majors in 1973. […]

Early in his career on the baseball diamond he was a man without a position. Luckily for him, the power emanating from his bat allowed him to hang around the major leagues long enough to settle into the only position he could play reasonably well. He came from Native American – or, in the common […]

In the minors from 1902 to 1914, pitcher Rube Vickers achieved an impressive 217-134 record.1 His numbers were extraordinary in 1906: 517 innings pitched, 409 strikeouts, and 39 wins for Seattle in the Pacific Coast League.2 In 1908, his only full season in the majors, he posted an 18-19 record for the Philadelphia Athletics. Vickers […]

The 13-year professional baseball career of Bill Pleis almost ended before it even got started. Pleis, a St. Louis native, was signed after a tryout camp in late August of 1955, several weeks after his 18th birthday and several months after graduating from Kirkwood High School. Scout Danny Menendez signed the left-handed pitcher to a […]

Which pitcher earned the first win for the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969? If you said left-handed reliever Don Shaw, you would be correct. Besides the Expos, Shaw, a journeyman pitcher, applied his craft in parts of five seasons between 1967 and 1972 for the New York Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Oakland […]

At the turn of the century, professional baseball players had a general reputation for fast living and coarse behavior. While there were some notable exceptions, like Christy Mathewson, most players had little formal education, and many were poorly equipped for the transition after their playing careers ended. One exception to this portrayal is Simon Burdette […]

“Prince Hal” Newhouser had the unique distinction of being baseball’s best pitcher during the 1940s — as well as its most unpopular player. An uncompromising perfectionist who was as hard on himself as his teammates, he was famous for his hot left arm and mercurial temperament. Whether Newhouser was mowing down enemy hitters or smashing […]

Spittin’ Bill Doak still ranks second in career shutouts for the St. Louis Cardinals, behind only Bob Gibson. In 1914, his first full season in the majors, Doak came out of nowhere to lead the National League in ERA as the Cardinals achieved third place, their best NL finish ever. He followed with solid but […]

Picture this: You are standing in a dugout in St Louis. It is the seventh game of the World Series. The team you have managed for most of the year is nursing a 3-2 lead over the home Cardinals as you enter the bottom half of the sixth inning. Your ace pitcher, the eventual Cy […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Go-Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox” (2019), edited by Don Zminda.   On May 7, 2000, Dodgers announcer Vin Scully gave Fordham University’s 155th commencement speech. “Don’t let the winds blow away your dreams or your faith in God,” he said. “And remember, sometimes your wildest dreams come […]