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A sunny Friday afternoon in July is a perfect day for a baseball game. When the venue is Chicago’s Wrigley Field and the opposing teams are the crosstown rivals Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, the setting is all the more idyllic. Throw in a pitching matchup of two young stars and it’s easy to […]

On April 20, 1970, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, a new pitching role was initiated for Dave Giusti. That Monday night, Denis 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 […]

While Fred Cone didn’t have much of a career at the plate with a mere 20 hits in his only season, he banged out one-quarter of those hits in one memorable game for the 1871 Boston Red Stockings. In the team’s July 12 game against the Fort Wayne Kekiongas, Cone collected five hits in a […]

Rafael Noble (pronounced NO-bleh) was a stocky, powerful catcher. “Look at my guy Ray Noble,” said his manager with the New York Giants, Leo Durocher, in early 1952. “If I didn’t have Wes Westrum, he’d be my No. 1 man. He’s a good catcher and he has a lot of power. He’d be even better […]

Jesse Orosco appeared in 1,252 regular-season games during his career, the most of any major-league pitcher. As of Opening Day 2015, the active hurler with the most appearances was LaTroy Hawkins with an even 1,000, so Orosco’s record endured for at least some time. The lefty spent most of his 24 seasons in the majors […]

A lifelong pursuit toward a ministerial career was put on hold for 21 years while the devoutly religious Lindy McDaniel labored in his temporary gig as a major-league hurler. During the interim employment he alternately became both the “toast of the town … [and] the roast of the town with his ups and downs.”1 Possessor […]

Many baseball enthusiasts recall the bottom-of-the-tenth pinch-hit home run that gave the underdog New York Giants a dramatic win over the Cleveland Indians in Game One of the 1954 World Series. Many remember that Dusty Rhodes was the batter, that Bob Lemon was the pitcher, and that the ball barely cleared the 258-foot-deep right-field wall. […]

At age 25, after becoming the best hitter in three different minor leagues – preceded by two-years’ service as an officer in the US Navy – Frank Saucier was the St. Louis Browns’ most sought-after and anticipated post-World War II rookie since the club signed future 20-game-winning pitcher Ned Garver and slugger Roy Sievers, the […]

When Bowie Kuhn was named the fifth Commissioner of Baseball in early 1969, he was touted by owners as the man needed to modernize and strengthen the game of baseball, which was declining in popularity as pro football’s increased. It was a time, Daniel Okrent noted, when professional baseball was fighting for survival.1 Kuhn, a […]

“How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away.” – Vin Scully1   Twenty-eight miles south of Pittsburgh, roughly along the Monongahela River (Western Pennsylvanians call it the Mon and the Mon Valley) lies the town of Donora. Donora and the surrounding communities were once a fairly thriving multi-ethnic area […]

Disco music peaked in the United States with the top six songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week ending July 21, 1979. At the time, “Disco Dan” Ford was starring for the California Angels club that was headed for that franchise’s first postseason appearance.1 Although the musical genre quickly fell out of […]

Andrés Mora was one of Mexico’s greatest sluggers. He could easily have been the all-time home run king south of the border, had he not spent time in the United States. By his own choice, he went back home – still aged just 24 – after four unfulfilling partial seasons in the majors. When he […]

In 1962 the Los Angeles Times veteran sportswriter Braven Dyer offered in three short sentences an apt analysis of the brief career of Ron Moeller: “Moeller is something of a problem pitcher. At times, he seems to have everything. The next time out, he seems devoid of confidence.”1 Emerging on the major league stage in […]

\Baseball aficionados know that trades, sales, and waivers are a part of the game. The general manager of the 1951 Chicago White Sox was Frank Lane, who earned the nickname Trader Lane for his propensity to exchange players. His attitude must have filtered down through the organization because minor-league director John Rigney engineered a trade […]

More than 19,000 players have played Major League baseball, but Dr. Bobby Brown’s life story has no parallel. He played professional baseball on a team that won five world championships, was a practicing cardiologist in Texas, served as interim president of the Texas Rangers, and spent 10 years as president of the American League. Robert […]

Frederick Romaine Applegate, who won one of three decisions pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1904, was born on May 9, 1879. His father, James, emigrated from England to America in 1871. James settled in Williamsport, Pennsylvania’s timber-industry hub, where he worked as a grocer. In April 1878 he married New York native Mary Williams.1 […]

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 […]

Wiley Piatt burst onto the major-league scene in 1898 with the Philadelphia Phillies. With just one year of minor-league ball on his resume, he tossed over 600 innings the next two seasons and won 47 games while orchestrating 64 complete games. None of those heroics earned him a lasting nickname. That had to wait until […]

“Running! turning! leaping! like little Al Gionfriddo — a baseball player, Doctor, who once did a very great thing.” The great thing novelist Philip Roth described took place on October 5, 1947. It was Game Six of the World Series. Outfielder Al Gionfriddo, a little-used reserve, made a racing, twisting catch in deep left-center at […]

Stan Benjamin used to say, “If they let you steal first base, I would have batted a thousand.”1 He was easygoing with a great sense of humor, often self-deprecating. His personality must have been forged early in life because a cartoon of the top regional high-school football players in 1932 labeled him “happy-go-lucky” and showed […]

Jackie Collum was a 5-foot-7 ambidextrous pitcher. Despite his lack of size, the Iowa farm boy played in nine major league seasons (1951-1958; 1962) with six teams. He appeared in 171 games, compiling a 32-28 won-lost record with a 4.15 ERA. He could also hit – his lifetime batting average was .246. Though Collum pitched […]

The only native Pennsylvanian on the first Phillies pennant-winning team, outfielder Bud Weiser stepped into major-league play directly from Class D baseball. The “Ty Cobb of the North Carolina League” served in an apprentice’s role in 1915, and had a cup of coffee in 1916.1 Weiser then returned to the minors and independent ball, where […]

Long before launch angles, exit velocities, infield shifts, and OPS calculations, Clarence Jones taught the basics of hitting to some of the greatest players in Atlanta Braves history. Jones played 19 seasons of professional baseball as an outfielder-first baseman. Though his major-league career totaled 58 games with the Chicago Cubs, Jones won two US minor-league […]

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tug McGraw celebrates after closing out Game Six of the 1980 World Series, clinching the first championship in franchise history. (Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phillies)   In the Beginning The first National League game in Philadelphia was played in 1876 with the Boston Red Stockings facing the Philadelphia Athletics, one of several […]