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The mere mention of Edgar “Blue” Washington evokes thought and a curious smile, as he is undoubtedly one of the rarest of all Negro League treasures. During the early part of the twentieth century, Edgar flaunted his athleticism as a gallant young prizefighter in open-air boxing arenas in Southern California and on weekend afternoons could […]

Estalella was a pudgy, happy-go-lucky sort of a guy who struck people the right way.” — Ossie Bluege1   The 12th player among those in Dave Frishberg’s “Van Lingle Mungo” lyrics lineup is Roberto Estalella, and he is united by rhyme with Danny Gardella, the song’s sixth man.2 There may not have been anything intentional […]

Willie Ramsdell, nicknamed “Willie the Knuck,” mixed a colorful personality with the unpredictable knuckleball to produce a 13-year professional baseball career. Ramsdell made two brief pitching appearances for the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, but was ineligible for the World Series. He subsequently pitched in 32 games for the Dodgers over the next two seasons, and then […]

When baseball fans first encountered Ed “Peanuts” Davis, also known as “Peanuts Nyasses,” they knew right away that he was not the typical athlete. He wore his baseball cap sideways, and when he was pitching, his windup sometimes featured “flapping of the arms and jerking of the legs.”1 In addition, he was a member of […]

The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson estimates that the slowest pitch that could reach home plate on the fly would travel around 30 miles per hour.1 Stu Miller didn’t defy the laws of physics, but he challenged the equation that says Velocity = Success. “He’s got three speeds of pitches – slow, slower and reverse,” the sportswriter […]

Few players have been as synonymous with a team as George Brett and the Kansas City Royals. Yet the amiable, self-deprecating, and sometimes volatile Brett never viewed himself as being greater than the team he loved. A throwback to an earlier time, Brett favored pine tar over batting gloves, chewing tobacco over bubble gum, and […]

When San Francisco Giants skipper Wes Westrum signaled for Johnnie LeMaster to get into the game, the 21-year-old rookie couldn’t find his glove. He had joined the team only a few hours before the afternoon contest on September 2, 1975, in Candlestick Park against the Dodgers. “A couple of veteran players hid my glove on […]

 In the age of 100-pitch limits and “five and fly” starters, this sounds like a video game gone haywire: Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger each pitched 26 innings on May 1, 1920, completing the longest game in major-league history. Cadore was a Brooklyn favorite who spent his childhood in the borough and earned respect for […]

Bob Bolin did not have the decorated career Bob Gibson had, but in 1968, their paths crossed. Gibson’s St. Louis Cardinals were World Series champions in 1967 and would eventually make it back to Game Seven of the Fall Classic. Bolin’s San Francisco Giants would finish in second place in the National League every year […]

Larry Doby did not know what to expect as he arrived in Chicago on July 5, 1947. Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck had just purchased Doby from Newark of the Negro National League for $10,000. This transaction made Doby the first African-American to join the American League, the second in the major leagues in the […]

“Monge doesn’t need a rest;That’s why he’s among the best.He is one who earns his payPitching almost every day.” — Dan Coughlin, April 24, 1979   How many baseball players, good — even great — baseball players have never played in a World Series? Moreover, how many players can say that they played for both […]

A strong, quiet, and athletic 205-pounder who stood 6-feet-2, wore glasses, batted from the left side, and threw right-handed, Norm Siebern split time between first base and the outfield for six major-league teams. Originally a Yankee, he played in two World Series for New York, and was part of the package the Yankees sent to […]

“Some people say he was the greatest African American player ever. That may be so — I don’t know — but what seems clear is that he was the best black player of his time.” — Monte Irvin   The story of John Henry “Pop” Lloyd has many facets. It is a story of communities […]

The highlights of Dick Gray’s big-league baseball career all came in its first week – the first home run in Los Angeles Dodgers’ history and, two days later, the first major league home run hit in Los Angeles. But the highlights faded, the momentum could not be maintained and Gray’s career ended shortly. Richard Benjamin […]

This article appears in SABR’s “The Newark Eagles Take Flight: The Story of the 1946 Negro League Champions” (2019), edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin.   During the first half of the twentieth century, Newark, New Jersey, thrived as a city of commerce and culture. Its waterfront location and transportation facilities established Newark […]

Could a “blowout game” make a difference, or the difference, in a baseball pennant race? As much as a 1-0 “nail-biter?” Or a late-inning comeback win? Or the schedule’s final game? The 1948 American League pennant race was very close, ending in a regular-season tie and a playoff game. On August 6 four teams were […]

In 1972 Dick Allen won the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, and was named The Sporting News AL Player of the Year. Those tributes were tangible proof of Allen’s impact on the Chicago White Sox. After four straight losing seasons—including a franchise-record 106 losses in 1970—Chicago finished 87-67, and second in the AL West […]

Mark Davis brazenly introduced himself to the San Francisco Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers rivalry. On July 30, 1983, the Giants’ 22-year-old left-hander authored a crafty 8-0 shutout in his debut against the Dodgers before 38,771 fans at Candlestick Park. Making his eighth start since being recalled from the Giants’ Triple-A Phoenix farm club in June, Davis […]

“I think I just hit for the cycle.”1 That’s what Dwight Evans said to teammate Bill Buckner after hitting a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning on June 28, 1984, versus the Seattle Mariners.  Ed Nunez gave up the homer to Evans in what must have felt like a déjà […]

Let’s ponder these statistics for a moment: 187 pitches in a 10-inning complete game, 10 walks and 12 punchouts, one hit batter, at least 13 full counts, bases filled twice, 10 stranded runners, and three outfield flies. Together they produced Cincinnati Reds speedballer Jim Maloney’s no-hitter, arguably the most astounding in big-league history.1 “It was […]

On the morning of October 2, 2005, the Philadelphia Phillies still had a chance at their first playoff berth since they won the National League pennant in 1993. Philadelphia trailed the Houston Astros by one game in the wild-card standings entering the final day of the regular-season schedule. A Phillies win in Washington, coupled with […]

On September 20, 1981, rookie Minnesota Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti unwrapped a pregame piece of Bazooka bubble gum and found an auspicious fortune on the wrapper: “Something magical will happen today.”1 And it did. In his first major-league at-bat against the Texas Rangers, Gaetti hit a two-run home run, making him the third player […]

“BLASTED!” yelled the box score. “Senators Drub Tigers Again, 16-6,” lamented the sports page headline of the Detroit Free Press on September 3, 1954.1 Obviously, the Detroit scribes were miffed that the Tigers were soundly beaten by the Senators the day before, and to make matters worse, were swept in a three-game series in September, […]

Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, home of the Orioles from 1954 to 1991 (DAVID STINSON)   Memorial Stadium was located at 900 East 33rd Street in Baltimore, a mile northeast of Oriole Parks (I)-(V).1 Memorial Stadium was the home of the American League Baltimore Orioles from 1954 to 1991, and the National Football League Baltimore Colts […]