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The New York Mets acquired Gary Sheffield after he was cut by the Detroit Tigers at the end of spring training in 2009. They hoped that his experience and hitting prowess would provide some help to the Mets bench. “He has been a great addition to the chemistry of the team,” said Mets manager Jerry […]

Hugh Duffy strode to home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. His Bostons trailed 12-11 but Bobby Lowe stood on third and Herman Long was on second after his clutch double. It was another roller-coaster thrill ride for the 2,100 fans in attendance but this was special, as it would be the last […]

Walter O’Malley, president of the Dodgers, gives Carl Erskine a $500 check for tossing a no-hitter. Also celebrating are (L-R) Carl Furillo, Preacher Roe, Roy Campanella, and skipper Charlie Dressen. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   Some wondered if the game would even start. It was a hot, muggy Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn with temperatures in the […]

It was a perfect day for a perfect game. Under a clear blue sky 64,519 fans trooped into historic Yankee Stadium to witness a World Series contest between the two dominant teams of the era. The world champion Dodgers were facing the club that had won more World Series titles than any other two clubs […]

The Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates were heading in opposite directions on Memorial Day 1955. Entering the day, the National League-leading Dodgers claimed the majors’ best record at 30-10, six games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. The cellar-dwelling Pirates were tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the majors’ worst record at 13-29. The Dodgers opened […]

Upon their debut in 2008, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs quickly became one of the highest-drawing teams in the Triple-A International League.1 The Philadelphia Phillies’ top farm team, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has established itself as a supportive community presence, hosted future stars on the way up, and played the merchandising and promotion game as well […]

0-10, 10.32. That is the major-league career line for one William T. Stecher of Riverside, New Jersey. If you look it up, the record book tells you that Stecher holds the records for the “most career games by a pitcher who lost all his games (0-10) and the most career innings pitched by a pitcher […]

Fred Burchell pitched in 49 major-league games over four seasons and never once posted an earned-run average as high as 3.00. Burchell was born into a large family at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on July 14, 1879. His father, William, worked as an engineer, and his mother, Emily, bore at least eight children, of whom […]

After three years of college, Jake Flowers spent most of his life in Organized Baseball. He was a major-league infielder for seven full seasons and parts of three others; a minor-league player, manager, and executive; a coach with three major-league clubs; and a scout for three organizations. As a major-league player, Flowers was plagued by […]

Bob Chance – a lefty-hitting, righty-throwing right fielder and first baseman – played on three major-league teams in six seasons in the 1960s. At 6-foot-2, Chance was big and powerful. Gripping the bat with his right palm wrapped around the knob of the bat, he hit colossal home runs, some of which allegedly traveled over […]

Luman Harris said, “I wish baseball went on 12 months a year.”1 He spent 35 years in the game as a pitcher, coach, and manager, and enjoyed most of it, despite more losing seasons than winners. Chalmer Luman Harris was born in New Castle, Alabama, on January 17, 1915, the third of six children of […]

The second Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues was outfielder Luis Olmo, who joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, a year after Hiram Bithorn made his debut with the Chicago Cubs. These men led the way for more than 200 boricuas who have since followed. Bithorn’s life ended suddenly at the age of […]

Peanuts Lowrey, who was the 1964 Phillies’ first-base coach, enjoyed a 13-year career as a player with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies, playing in 978 games. Regarded as one of the best utility players and pinch-hitters of his generation, he was usually found roaming the outfield but he also […]

In sports, college or professional, individual or team, nothing captures a fan’s interest quite like a streak. This is especially true with baseball. Whether it is a team’s winning or losing streak or a player’s performance within the chalked lines, the fanfare and pressure may build each day. The fervent fan or even the uninformed […]

If ever there were a battery that was bound together in life and in death, it was probably pitcher Rube Waddell and catcher Osee Schrecongost. They were both born in small communities in western Pennsylvania, on opposite sides of the Allegheny National Forest, and a little less than 100 miles from each other. They both […]

A turn-of-the-20th-century left-hander with a singular first name, Welcome Gaston’s brief major league career included events out of the ordinary, as well. During his October 1898 audition with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, for example, Gaston started four National League games – but only two made the record books; his other two outings were called off before […]

Ralph Houk was the first manager to have two World Series championships in his first two seasons, piloting the 1961 and 1962 New York Yankees to triumphs over the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. His Yankees won a third consecutive pennant in 1963, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. A […]

On a sunny but windy and cool September Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, Bob Trice toed the pitching rubber at Connie Mack Stadium and peered in to the catcher for his signs. With the release of his first pitch, Trice made history. He was the first person of color to play for the Philadelphia Athletics; in […]

Harold Wolfe is among the several baseball players from northern Ohio to make it to the big leagues via the minor-league Duluth (Minnesota) White Sox in the second decade of the 20th century. The White Sox player-manager from 1909 to 1916 was Cleveland native Thomas J. “Darby” (aka “Dook”) O’Brien (1876-1964). O’Brien recruited boys from […]

More than a few contemporary baseball insiders viewed John Clarkson as the finest pitcher of the 19th century. He won 30 or more games in a season six times, including two of the top four all-time totals, 53 in 1885 and 49 in ’89. In the 10-year period between August 1884 and July 1894, he […]

This article was originally published in “From Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium: Great Games in Philadelphia’s Lost Ballpark” (SABR, 2022), edited by Gregory H. Wolf. Black ballplayers first set foot on the field at Shibe Park at the end of the 1919 season when the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey faced off […]

Sixteen members and guests of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter gathered at The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis on Monday, December 19, 2016. Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order. He began by recounting some of the subjects discussed at the recent chapter board meeting, including the need to replace the stolen […]