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In the sizzling summer heat of the 1957 National League pennant race, Fred Hutchinson turned philosophical. “Baseball doesn’t have many naturals, a lot less than you might imagine,” said the Seattle-born-and-bred skipper of the St. Louis Cardinals. “The ones who work the hardest are the ones who make it, the ones who win. Sometimes that’’s […]

Eddie Dyer was one of the “Rickey men” who built baseball’s first farm system. He managed the St. Louis Cardinals to their last World Series championship of the Branch Rickey era. Edwin Hawley Dyer was born October 11, 1899, in Morgan City, Louisiana, the fourth of seven children of Joseph M. and Alice Natalie Dyer. […]

Joe Quinn’s 17 seasons between 1884 and 1901 marked the first appearance by an Australian in major league baseball. For 102 years, Quinn was the only player from “Down Under” to feature at the top level of American pro ball, and he remains the only Australian to manage in the major leagues. He played on […]

R C Stevens, said one of his minor-league managers, was “capable of breaking up a game anytime he took his bat in hand.” He hit 191 home runs in 12 minor-league seasons, but didn’t meet the test in the major leagues, and played only briefly in four seasons, three of them (including 1960) with the […]

Scrap Iron: the punchy, evocative nickname fit Phil Garner well in the 1970s and ’80s — but it fit catcher Clint Courtney even better a generation before. The punchy part was one reason. Journalist Bob Addie wrote in 1959, “Clint put his aggressive temperament to work several times and was involved in some notable fisticuffs […]

Chicago fans were outraged when the White Sox traded their most popular player, Minnie Miñoso, to Cleveland in December 1957 with Fred Hatfield for Early Wynn and Al Smith. Wynn was a 37-year-old right-handed pitcher who had posted a losing record for the Indians that season, and his best days appeared to be behind him. […]

Joe Simmons was a pioneer for the Jim Leylands and Ron Washingtons of the game, men who are affectionately referred to as “baseball guys.”  Simmons was a great fielder but an inconsistent hitter who managed to catch on with pro teams throughout the 1860s and 1870s. As a manager, he was a firm disciplinarian who […]

When Louisiana State University junior Ben McDonald surrendered a home run versus Mississippi State University in 1989, the hitter raved, “It’s an honor to hit a homer off him. … It’s something to tell the grandkids.”1 An Alabama player retrieved the ball he’d knocked out of the park off McDonald so he could get the […]

For five years beginning in 1961, no relief pitcher was more important to his team’s success than Jack Baldschun. Starting with a single pitch that the great Stan Musial said often “humiliated”1 the greatest hitters of the day, adding the ability to pitch four, five, and even six games in a row, and underscoring that […]

Cal Ripken Sr. spent 36 years in the Baltimore Orioles organization as a player, manager, coach, scout, and minor league instructor. Hundreds of Oriole prospects benefited under the tutelage of the man who once said, “Don’t just practice. Practice right, and you’ll do things right in the game. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes […]

A biography may be defined as a “remarkable odyssey through life and the lessons learned.”1 This description could have suited virtually anyone, but Bart Mindszenthy adapted it to introduce Ron Taylor before the Empire Club of Canada. Taylor’s odyssey ranged from the University of Toronto (the only alumnus to play major-league baseball), to the Ontario […]

He’s been termed a “reluctant pioneer.” All Pumpsie Green wanted to do was play professional baseball. He didn’t even aspire to the major leagues at first, and would have been content playing for his hometown Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League. That said, Pumpsie Green took pride in the fact that he helped accomplish […]

David Earl Nelson was born on June 20, 1944, in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He loved sports and played in the Little League, the Babe Ruth League and Connie Mack ball. Basketball was also a favorite sport. Nelson’s idols growing up were Oscar Robertson and Jackie Robinson. Nelson graduated from Junipero Serra High in Gardena, California, […]

One of baseball’s original bonus babies, Chuck Stobbs was signed by the Red Sox at the age of 17 and went on to enjoy a 15-year career in major league baseball. The lefthander posted a record of 107-130 playing for teams which often placed low in the standings. He came from an athletic lineage. His […]

In 1979, the Minnesota Twins’ third baseman, 24-year-old John Castino, emerged as the American League’s co-Rookie of the Year. His fielding prowess drew comparisons to some of the all-time great glove men at that position, including Brooks Robinson and Billy Cox. But Castino’s career was derailed by a congenital back defect that became a chronic […]

For decades, Hugh Duffy was a franchise fixture in Boston, a small white-haired man who over the years had served the Red Sox as manager, scout, occasional first base coach and batting instructor, tryout camp supervisor, and all-around good will ambassador. To the younger Sox faithful, Duffy seemed to have been a club functionary forever. […]

Sandy Koufax was a 23-year-old hurler in his fifth season as a Dodger, and was off to an abysmal start: “My own start in 1959 had to be seen to be believed.”1 He feared receiving a one-way ticket to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Spokane from Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi.2 Expectations of Koufax […]

The 1945 Negro World Series, the final one before the desegregation of professional baseball, featured the veteran-led Homestead Grays vs. the upstart Cleveland Buckeyes. The Grays won both the first and second halves of the Negro National League season, with an overall league record of 40-20-2 (.667). Likewise, the Buckeyes won the first and second […]

SABR’s Mark Armour gets little argument to his claim, “[Jim Brosnan’s] legacy will remain his writing, especially his two classic books [The Long Season and Pennant Race].1 Yet, Brosnan left behind another legacy, this one less desirable. He was one of a trio of Cubs pitchers who in 1957 set a National League record that […]

New York Giants manager Bill Rigney had a simple message for rookie Bill White, who had been called up from the Triple-A Minneapolis Millers hours earlier. “I’ll play you if your glove arrives,” Rigney told him as the 8 P.M. start time approached.1 White learned of his promotion on a midnight phone call to his […]

Well aware of Carl Yastrzemski’s reputation as the best prospect in the Boston Red Sox minor-league system, Minneapolis Millers manager Gene Mauch couldn’t wait to get the young second baseman into his lineup. He should have. The timing seemed perfect. Mauch’s Millers had finished their American Association season in second place in the Eastern Division […]

The Cincinnati Reds signed Ryan Joseph “Scooter” Gennett late in 2017 spring training after the Milwaukee Brewers released him on March 28, five days before Opening Day. Gennett was Milwaukee’s regular second baseman for three years, but the team felt that he didn’t fit into their future any longer. After joining the Reds, the 27-year-old […]

Much as the 1989 season would prove to be a refreshing change from the dreariness of the 54-107 season that preceded it, the afternoon skies in Baltimore on April 3, 1989, surprised forecasters and fans with pleasant sunshine and warm temperatures. The 1989 Opening Day game between the Orioles and Red Sox at Memorial Stadium […]

“The Cubs had 25 base runners, and (the public-address) announcer grew hoarse saying, ‘Next batter …’” 1 The league-leading Cincinnati Reds completed a four-game series at Wrigley Field with a doubleheader on June 28, 1961, and found that the seventh place Cubs were not without life. Despite their lowly station, the Cubs (25-41) had won […]