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The story of Don Black is a tragic one. A pitcher with a strong, live arm, he pitched two no-hitters in the minor leagues and one in the majors. He had many chances to make the most of his ability and succeed in his baseball career, but Don Black was an alcoholic. And like many […]

“[Joe] Taylor has such a vile reputation that I guess I couldn’t have the remotest interest in him, but he impressed me very much as a player.” – Branch Rickey1 “When Taylor is ‘right’ he is definitely a Major League hitter. He has great reflexes, terrific wrist action and tremendously quick hands. He has as much […]

Chuck Connors was a career minor-league ballplayer who played portions of two seasons in the major leagues, with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 and Chicago Cubs in 1951. Connors gained greater fame as one of the very few ballplayers who was a successful actor in his post-baseball career, best known for his role as Lucas […]

President John F. Kennedy was said to have correctly answered a trivia question that had been floating around for years: Who is the only man to ever hit a home run off Sandy Koufax and catch a pass from Y.A. Tittle? The guess was always Alvin Dark. “It’s not quite accurate, however,” Dark always said. […]

Outfielder Les Wilson came from St. Louis – St. Louis, Michigan – and played the first three seasons of his career playing baseball in Canada. The city of St. Louis is situated in the “middle of the mitten,” the geographic center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. It was founded in 1853 and in 1868 mineral waters […]

Gene Conley excelled at the major-league level of two sports and is the only athlete to own dual-sport championships in major-league baseball and the NBA. Besides pitching for the World Series champion Milwaukee Braves in 1957, he was a member of three NBA championship teams with the Boston Celtics. He was the first player to […]

Jim Mutrie managed in the major leagues for nine seasons, two seasons in the American Association (1883-1884, New York Metropolitans) and seven seasons in the National League (1885-1891, New York Giants). As a big-league manager Mutrie achieved a .611 winning percentage, the second highest career percentage among major-league managers, trailing only Hall of Fame inductee […]

The career of a professional baseball player is wrought with many travels. This is true during the season, but it is even more so as a player ascends through the ranks of the minor leagues on his way to (he hopes) the big leagues. But the journey does not stop there, as demotions, promotions, and […]

Ed Eiteljorg had just turned one year old when his family disembarked from their ship Main at Castle Garden, New York in 1872. Soon after landing in the United States, the family settled in Greencastle, Indiana, where Eiteljorg learned the ways of America, including the national pastime of baseball.  Eighteen years later, he would be […]

Patriarch of a three-generation big-league family, hard-hitting Negro Leaguer Sam Hairston played, coached, and scouted in pro baseball for over half a century. As a scout, Sam brought in at least five men who played for the Chicago White Sox, for whom he appeared briefly in 1951. Two of Sam’s three sons signed pro contracts […]

Upon his arrival in the major leagues, Ken Holtzman was promoted as the new Sandy Koufax. A hard-throwing, left-handed Jewish pitcher, Holtzman quickly became the ace of the Chicago Cubs staff and one of the best pitchers in the majors. He enjoyed a fine career, spending his best years with the tumultuous and talented Oakland […]

Who hits the ball and makes it go? Dominic DiMaggio. Who runs the bases fast, not slow? Dominic DiMaggio. Who’s better than his brother Joe? Dominic DiMaggio. But when it comes to gettin’ dough, They give it all to brother Joe. — Parody of Les Brown song, Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio It is easy to overlook […]

Third baseman Andy Carey had a turbulent Yankee career as one of Casey Stengel’s chosen whipping boys and an equally turbulent personal life. The most famous story about Carey, repeated in many books on Stengel’s dynasty, involves his “called shot.” In his favorite place to hit, Fenway Park, the Yankees were trailing the Red Sox […]

Standing only 5 feet 11 inches tall, Billy Wagner did not look the part of an intimidating closer and yet he was often mentioned in the same circles as the Yankees all-time closer Mariano Rivera. In fact, both closers entered games to the same song, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” letting home fans know the game was […]

The National League’s ill-advised crackdown on balks had reached its zenith. On May 4, 1963, Milwaukee Braves starter Bob Shaw was charged with five balks in an abbreviated outing against the Chicago Cubs. The infractions were stunning considering Shaw had begun the season with just one balk in 970⅓ career innings in the big leagues. […]

“Magee came up to bat next, threw his bat on the ground, and started to call me names. He is bad when irritated—and tolerably easy to irritate, as shown by the way he knocked down Finneran, the umpire, last season.” – Christy Mathewson, Pitching in a Pinch (1912)1   During the third inning of a […]

The New York Mets were 4-4 nine days into the 1977 season. All of those wins had come from two of their starters, Tom Seaver and Nino Espinosa. The Chicago Cubs had arrived in town two days earlier, beating the Mets in the first game of their three-game series at Shea Stadium on April 15. […]

Granted, it was only the first week of the 1951 season, but the Washington Senators, perennial denizens of the American League second division, were perched atop the standings as they hosted the defending world champion New York Yankees on Saturday, April 21. The Senators were 4-0 with a pair of road wins at Philadelphia to […]

In the early part of 1927, the Midwest was bursting with anticipation as the baseball season segued from projections to facts delivered by daily sports accounts. By mid-April, pitching matchups, game summaries, and season standings would replace the “dreary box-scoreless winter” to provide “something in the newspapers.” Even an umpire might expect applause for one […]

On the third Sunday of April 1902, Toledo sheriff Charley Pierce waited at the Neil House, a landmark hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio,1 for a guest who never arrived. Pierce was there, at the hotel where the American League’s Cleveland Blues would be spending the night,2 to execute a warrant for the arrest of Adrian […]

“The baseball rule makers made sweeping changes in the playing code of the national game today, and heaped so much additional duty and authority on the shoulders of the umpires that next season the officials will all have to take a rest cure before the season is half over.” – New York Times, February 10, […]

Sources agree that a mere 306 fans turned out for the game on Thursday afternoon, October 1, 1964, at Boston’s Fenway Park. It can stand as the lowest documented attendance of a game at the ballpark, though there was a game there in 1922 which the Chicago Tribune claimed drew only, precisely, 68.1 That number […]

Crosley Field was the “married” name of Cincinnati’s beloved National League ballpark. Situated at the intersection of Findlay Street and Western Avenue, it lived the first 23 years of its life using its “maiden” name, Redland Field. Then in 1934, Powel Crosley appeared, swept it off its feet and blessed it with his own name. […]

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the June 2018 edition of the SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee Newsletter.   The Black Sox trial jury included, front row from left: Paul Luebke, Stephen Shuben, Harry Willis, William Barry (foreman), Joseph Vesely, bailiff H. Poppie; back row: bailiff James Gaul, John Schoenhofer, Edward Linman, […]