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The mood was gloomy and subdued at Sportsman’s Park in the Gateway City on October 4, 1930, as the Cardinals prepared to face the seemingly invincible Philadelphia Athletics in the third game of the World Series, having lost the first two contests in the City of Brotherly Love. There was “none of the concerted cheering, […]

Time was running out for the Detroit Tigers to keep the Chicago White Sox from running away with the 1919 pennant. Ten years after manager Hughie Jennings took his Tigers to their last World Series, their third straight appearance and third straight loss in the fall classic, he knew his team had a narrow margin […]

On the eve of the 1926 season, the venerated New York Giants were the consensus pick to win the National League pennant, while the Cincinnati Reds were expected to finish in fourth place.1 But when the two teams met on September 17, the underachieving Giants were mired in fifth place − 15½ games out − […]

Kicking off a string of unfortunate events for the 1942 Cincinnati Reds, an injury during May 24 pregame warmups shelved first baseman Frank McCormick with an ailing back. Hank Sauer, moving in from his usual outfield position, was “doing very well” as the perennial All-Star’s temporary fill-in before being sidelined himself with a sprained ankle […]

After winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award with the Chicago White Sox in 1972, Dick Allen needed some rest. “Toward the end of the season, I was completely exhausted, a nervous wreck,” he admitted. “I’d been carrying the team for months. … I didn’t think I could play anymore.”1 The newly adopted designated-hitter […]

True, a hitter going for .400 doesn’t like outs – but was this taking things a little too far? Bob Dunbar of the Boston Herald let it be known that Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams had “bored a couple of holes through the left-field fence with his new rifle. … Teddy’s sharp-shooting ability […]

The second game of a Sunday doubleheader on June 3, 1951, at Ebbets Field, began shortly after Brooklyn Dodgers starter Don Newcombe beat the Chicago Cubs 8-3 in the opener. Gil Hodges and Billy Cox, helped out by hitting home runs, while Duke Snider drove in three.1 Amid a career year, Preacher Roe, of spitball […]

In 1972 the Boston Red Sox finished a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League East. It was a strike-shortened season and Detroit played one more game than Boston, finishing 86-70 to Boston’s 85-70, the win in that one extra game making all the difference. The Red Sox had lost 16 one-run games […]

Heavy hitters for the 1930 Brooklyn Robins (L to R): RF Babe Herman (.393, 35 HRs, 130 RBIs), CF Johnny Frederick (.334, 17 HRs, 76 RBIs), 2B Jake Flowers (.320, 2 HRs, 50 RBIs), 1B Del Bissonette (.336, 16 HRs, 113 RBIs), and C Al Lopez (.309, 6 HRs, 57 RBIs). (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   […]

When Ebbets Field locker-room attendant Dan Comerford arrived at work on the morning of July 12, 1929, several packages were waiting for him at the clubhouse door. The five boxes – each containing a dozen new baseballs – had been sent from the office of National League President John Heydler. Seeing the parcels did not […]

On a dreary Monday night at Cleveland Stadium, 22,456 fans “shivered through 3 hours and 1 minute of action,”1 including errors, arguments, ejections, a rain delay, poor pitching, and, finally, great pitching. On May 10, 1954, the Indians prevailed over the New York Yankees, 8-7. The game began with an explosion of runs in the […]

Seventh place in the eight-club National League in 1946 and 1947, the Pittsburgh Pirates challenged for the pennant in 1948. The team’s success – and left fielder Ralph Kiner’s league-best home-run stroke – pushed total home attendance toward 39-year-old Forbes Field’s all-time high with a month left in the season. On August 31, before a […]

On June 15, 1940, Mother Nature must have been a New York fan. The Giants got in a full set of batting practice prior to a game against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. A rain shower then “washed out the Pirate chance to get in a few swings”1 but ended in time for the game to […]

On February 21, 1945, the major-league baseball All-Star Game for that year was canceled at the “request” of the Office of Defense Transportation.1 World War II was on in earnest in both Europe and the Pacific. The game was to have been held at Boston’s Fenway Park on July 10, 1945.2 The loss of the […]

The 33,704 fans who packed Forbes Field for the woebegone Pittsburgh Pirates’ final game of 1947 were there, in part, to see whether slugging outfielder Ralph Kiner could hit his 52nd home run and claim the National League homer crown. They didn’t get to see that. Kiner and the Giants’ Johnny Mize were each blanked […]

Approximately 200 diehard fans returned to a cold and cloudy Ebbets Field on February 23, 1960. Among those present were former players Ralph Branca, Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, and Tommy Holmes, reminiscing about the glory days in the iconic ballpark — opened in 1913 and vacated following the close of the 1957 season. Attendees sadly […]

From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, a visitor to Detroit’s Tiger Stadium would hear many crowd noises. One noise in particular could confuse spectators unless they were attuned to the Tigers stars of this period. Often, after the visiting team had been retired in the top of the first inning, a distinctive “ooooooooo” sound […]

Who was the last player to bat for the Washington Senators in the franchise’s final game and also the last active player from that team? Who played both complete games of a doubleheader at shortstop without handling a single chance? Who became one-half of the first set of American League teammates – and only the […]

“He came back from the war, raised seven kids, practiced law and life moves on.”1 So said Madison (Wisconsin) attorney John Gerlach in a 2012 interview about his late father and law associate, Johnny Glen “Henna” Gerlach, who captained the 1937 and 1938 University of Wisconsin baseball teams (a .415 hitter his senior season of […]

Bruce Bochy’s baseball career is filled with notable achievements. From being the first European-born manager to reach the World Series when he was with the San Diego Padres to becoming the first manager to call on his son to pitch in a game when he was with the San Francisco Giants, Bochy’s long career has […]

Red Barrett made a solid contribution to the 1948 Braves pitching staff, as both a spot starter and reliever. He appeared in 34 games with a 7-8 record and an impressive ERA of 3.65 (although he did not qualify for the ERA title), besting both ace hurler Warren Spahn’s earned run average of 3.73 and […]

Was it fate that placed infielder Mel Hoderlein with the 1948 Boston Red Sox rather than the Philadelphia Athletics? Writing in Sports Collectors Digest, Brent Kelley makes the point that Hoderlein probably would have had a much longer big-league career had he been signed to an Athletics contract (that team’s 1948 infield had an average […]

On a crisp mid-October day in 1984, Alan Trammell played a key role in putting the Detroit Tigers on the verge of the World Series championship their fans and city had been waiting for since the “Sock It to ’Em Tigers” team of 1968 upended the St. Louis Cardinals. The Tigers led their National League […]

Here are The SABR Bookshelf listings for Summer 2012. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: SABR, 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018. To ensure a listing in The Baseball Index — SABR’s online catalog of baseball research materials at www.baseballindex.org […]