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“Baseball had always been in my blood,” said versatile infielder Frankie Gustine, who signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a 16-year-old athletic prodigy in 1936. One of the most popular Pirates of his era, Gustine debuted as a September call-up in 1939 and was named to three consecutive NL All-Star teams (1946-1948) as a second […]

At the turn of the 20th century, Emmet Heidrick was one of the best players in baseball. A .300 hitter, he could drop a “tantalizing bunt” or drive the ball to the fence.1 As a baserunner and basestealer, he was speedy and aggressive. And as an outfielder, “Snags” was considered “the best fly catcher in […]

On graduation day in 1954, San Diego High School star athlete Floyd Robinson was signed personally by Bill “Chick” Starr, the owner of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres, for a reported $500 bonus.1 He appeared in three games — two in the outfield. He was 3-for-6 at the plate, and handled all eight […]

Franklin Walter Olin was born on January 9, 1860, in a backwoods logging camp in Woodford in the southernmost corner of the Green Mountains, near the Vermont-Massachusetts line. From that humble origin he went on to build a multi-million-dollar business that became the giant Olin Corporation, one of the largest in America’s military-industrial complex. En […]

In 1889 the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a human-interest story about Yank Robinson’s entry into professional baseball. The story centers on a “stickily-built lad of about 18 years whose ragged clothing caused much unfavorable comment.” He had just come to an unspecified Massachusetts town that day and asked to be part of practice as the town […]

In the eyes of Pittsburgh Pirates fans, Don Robinson showed up right on time for a city and a team looking for homegrown talent to fill out the Pirates pitching staff and add a piece to a team capable of winning a pennant in the late 1970s. Had the Philadelphia Phillies selected Robinson in the […]

Earl Robinson was a two-sport star at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1950s, leading the Golden Bears to the College World Series and finishing his basketball career among the school’s all-time leading scorers. After becoming the first African American to receive a bonus contract, he spent parts of four seasons between 1958 and […]

When 25-year-old Humberto Robinson appeared on the mound for the Milwaukee Braves on April 20, 1955, he became the first Panamanian ever to play in the major leagues.1 A quick glance through the statistics he compiled in the majors would indicate the oft-told story of the journeyman just hanging on in the majors for parts […]

It was one week into the 1977 season. Jim Kaplan of Sports Illustrated alluded to 34-year-old Bill Robinson’s frustrations in his 10th major-league season: “No matter where he is playing — be it Cincinnati or New York or Los Angeles — he is sure to hear it. ‘Weaser,’ someone will call to him from the […]

For most people, spending a decade as a reliable major leaguer with a .290 career batting average would stand as the achievement of a lifetime. But the argument could be made that Frank Baumholtz’s baseball accomplishments ranked third behind a standout basketball career and an impressive record of service in World War II. However you […]

This article appears in SABR’s “When the Monarchs Reigned: Kansas City’s 1942 Negro League Champions” (2021), edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin.   The year 1941 marked the beginning of an unforgettable period in American history. While some US soldiers basked in the comfortable confines of a Hawaiian breeze, half a world away […]

Chicago White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura joined the record books by blasting two grand slam home runs in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in a Monday night game at The Ballpark in Arlington. The White Sox put up eighteen hits and scored in each of the first five innings in a dominant […]

The year 1971 was a good time to be a sports fan in Baltimore. The Baltimore Colts had won Super Bowl V earlier in the year, defeating Dallas 16-13. It was the Colts’ third NFL championship. Earlier in the spring, the Baltimore Bullets made it to the NBA finals before getting swept by Milwaukee. And […]

The Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers concluded a critical August four-game series with a scorcher. Playing on a Monday night before a crowd of 26,852, the Reds and Dodgers endured “the 93-degree heat which had simmered down from an even 100 at 3 p.m.”1 Frank Robinson’s 10th-inning walk-off grand slam was the shattering and […]

When his barrier-breaking tour of the National League reached Pittsburgh a month into the 1947 season, Jackie Robinson extended his double-digit hitting streak with a burst of speed and surprise, but three Pittsburgh Pirates home runs, all benefiting from Forbes Field’s newly shortened outfield, yielded a 7-3 win over Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodgers on May 15. […]

Entering the 1977 season, expectations were low for the Baltimore Orioles. After they won 88 games the season before and finished second behind the pennant-winning Yankees, many experts were picking the Orioles to finish in the lower half of the American League East. The lowered expectations were primarily due to major-league baseball’s first year of […]

The defending National League champion Cincinnati Reds were languishing in fourth place with a 44-36 record, 9½ games behind the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, heading into a July 8 Crosley Field Sunday doubleheader against the expansion Houston Colt .45’s.1 The games would unofficially mark the end of the first half of the season since they […]

The Bicentennial loomed as the Cleveland Indians played a game at the home of their Triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens, on June 30, 1976. But by the end of the game, the 5,013 fans in attendance would see a different kind of fireworks. Instead of having a day off before starting a crucial series […]

In late April of 1967, the Detroit Tigers traveled to Baltimore to play four games against the defending world champion Orioles at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles’ Dave McNally bested the Tigers’ Denny McLain in the first contest, 5-3. Detroit’s Mickey Lolich evened the score the following day by defeating Wally Bunker, 4-2. On April 30, […]

Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers were slumping as they prepared to wrap up the season series with the sixth-place Cincinnati Reds (64-79) in Flatbush. Skipper Chuck Dressen’s squad still possessed the best record (89-53) in the big leagues and held a comfortable three-game lead over the New York Giants in the pennant race, but […]

They lined up. In the small hours after the New York Yankees won Game Three of the 1949 World Series with a three-run outburst in the top of the ninth that broke a 1-1 tie, the Brooklyn faithful lined up. Solo shots by Luis Olmo and Roy Campanella in the Dodgers half of the ninth […]

By the end of the 1960s, it seemed that the Major League Baseball All-Star Game had turned into an annual exhibition of National League dominance. The senior circuit had won 11 of 13 games during the decade (two games were played in 1960, 1961 and 1962; one game was tied when it was called because […]

Wayne Twitchell was making his first start of the season since having knee surgery.1 His last start had been on September 18, 1973, versus the Chicago Cubs. Twitchell recalled his recovery: “It seems in memory, to be the shortest winter I ever spent. Two months went by, there were no high points, nothing to remember. […]

With four home runs, 11 extra-base hits, and an argument that delayed the game for 15 minutes, the June 3, 1955, matchup between the Class B York (Pennsylvania) White Roses and the Lynchburg (Virginia) Cardinals was packed with events to remember. The game’s real significance, though, didn’t become fully apparent until years later. In the […]