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Nineteenth-century baseball often suffered game delays, suspensions, and even cancellations due to weather or dusk. But a game between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Beaneaters on May 15, 1894, at Boston’s South End Grounds concluded prematurely for a more life-threatening reason: fire. “It was a hot game, sure enough,” the Boston Globe reported.1 Spalding’s Guide […]

Struggling at third base during the first two months of the 1998 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates summoned their top-rated prospect, 19-year-old Aramis Ramírez, from Triple A. Ramírez, who had just 40 games of professional experience above Class A, went hitless in his first 24 big-league at-bats before breaking through with a game-clinching two-run double on […]

“He didn’t like to lose to anyone in anything,” catcher Tim McCarver wrote about pitcher Bob Gibson, his 1960s batterymate with the St. Louis Cardinals.1 One imagines that Gibson didn’t much like to tie anyone, either. But on May 1, 1971, the future Hall of Famer found himself on neither the long end nor the […]

For many baseball fans, 1901 marks the beginning of the “modern” era.1 That year saw the arrival of the eight-team American League to go with the recently realigned eight teams of the National League, and a stability that lasted for over 50 years.2 It also marked the emergence of one of the greatest pitchers in […]

When the New York Yankees arrived in Boston in April 2007, the Boston Red Sox had not swept a series from the Yankees at Fenway Park for 17 years. The last time had been August 31-September 2, 1990, part of Boston’s only season home sweep of the Yankees in franchise history. The last time the […]

When Jeff Montgomery took the mound for the Cincinnati Reds on August 1, 1987, he was living out the storybook baseball tale. A three-sport athlete from small Wellston, Ohio, Montgomery grew up a couple of hours down the road from Riverfront Stadium in the era of the Big Red Machine. His idol, Reds manager Pete […]

Baseball teams rely on their stars and regulars to make the greatest impact. Of course, backups also play important roles, giving starters a rest and filling in when injuries occur. Oscar Boone assumed the role of second-string catcher behind future Hall of Famer Roy Campanella for the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1939 after Biz Mackey […]

The accolades surrounding Philip Daniel Bradley place him among stars of Blackball’s Deadball Era. “For second catcher, Phil Bradley of the (Brooklyn) Royals is easy (sic) the second-best catcher in colored baseball. He is a better hitter than Bruce Petway, and has a head along with a true snap throwing arm,” according to reporter Harry […]

Tommie Agee was one of the key components to the 1969 Miracle Mets, solidifying the defense and serving as the club’s chief power source, albeit from the leadoff spot. His on-field heroics during the ’69 season—including socking the only home run to ever reach Shea Stadium’s upper deck—helped propel the Mets to their first postseason […]

Juan Francisco Herrera Villavicencio played three years for the Philadelphia Phillies (1958; 1960-61). Yet that accomplishment just scratches the surface of Herrera as a ballplayer and a man. “Pancho” – or, as he was typically known in Cuba, “Panchón” – was a childhood idol to many who grew up in his homeland. He also played […]

Called “too small for a pitcher” by his high-school coach, Billy Johnson switched to the outfield, and eventually to third base, where he played well enough to be given a “day” at Yankee Stadium. It took place before a crowd of 42,267 on July 25, 1948, between games of a doubleheader. The day was hot […]

“I was a character in baseball. I saw it as an interim type of career,” Lou Skizas told Bill Gleason.1 Skizas, known as “The Nervous Greek” during his four-season major-league playing career, was perhaps best known for an unusual ritual that he followed before coming to bat. Before reaching the plate, the right-handed-batting Skizas dropped his […]

“He’s either the poorest great third baseman or the greatest poor third baseman.”1 In perhaps one of the best non-Yogi-Berra quotes in baseball history, this was Branch Rickey’s assessment of Frenchy Bordagaray, a colorful outfielder/third baseman who played for several teams in the 1930s and 1940s. He was free-spirited enough to fit in with both […]

“If the talents of Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Ban Johnson and Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis were combined in a single body, and that body was enveloped in a black skin, the result would have to be named Andrew ‘Rube’ Foster. As an outstanding pitcher, a colorful and shrewd field manager, and the founder and stern […]

Could a friendly poker game among minor-league teammates lead to a Hall of Fame career for a 29-year-old who had been pitching in professional baseball for nine years, never had won a major-league game, and seldom had put together two good years back to back in the minors? Perhaps. Arthur Vance had earned the nickname […]

“Oh, Puddin’ Head Jones was fat and funny Dumber than sticks and stones. Now that is just why the kids all called him, Wooden head, puddin’ head Jones.”   Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees sang these words in 1933. Legend has it that Willie Edward Jones’s nickname came from the song. Wherever it came […]

But for a bit of luck—if he’d been with a different organization, in which he wasn’t caught behind an all-star like Dick Groat or if he hadn’t suffered two broken bones in the seventh of what would turn out to be 10 minor-league seasons—shortstop Dick Barone might have had a longer stint in the major […]

In the foreword to Chuck Hinton’s autobiography, My Time at Bat, Sam Lacy said of Hinton, “He is a family man – one who does his baseball thing as a sideline.”1 Hinton’s devotion to family grew from the large and close-knit one into which he was born, but his life and that of his brothers […]

Tommy Warren lived a complex life. He was the first player with overseas combat experience in World War II to appear in a major-league baseball game.1 Known for his pitching skills, he could also swing the bat quite well. Prideful of his indigenous heritage, he would often be stereotypically referred to by the press as […]

Patrick Edward Dobson Jr. was born February 12, 1942, in Depew, New York, a small village ten miles east of Buffalo. In his youth, Pat often took the bus there to watch his heroes Joe Caffie and Luke Easter, stars of the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. Pat attended Lancaster Central High School, where […]

Baseball history is filled with all variety of wonderful-sounding names. But has there ever been a more perfect name for a baseball player than Champ Summers? “With a name like that, you gotta be halfway decent anyway,” Champ would say years later. “If my name had been George, nobody would have noticed me, but Champ?” […]

During Harry Grabiner’s four-decade-long tenure as a front-office official with the Chicago White Sox, he saw the team experience its highest highs and lowest lows. Beginning his career as a scorecard salesman in 1905 and serving for many years as the team’s secretary and vice president, Grabiner was involved with the White Sox’ first two […]

Pitching in a pennant race must have seemed tame to Skinny Brown; when he was 19 years old, he jumped out of a shot-up bomber into the cold waters of the English Channel. Brown took the game seriously, but not himself. He said, “It takes a lot of guts to walk out there with the […]

In the midst of a successful career in the major leagues, Jim “Nixey” Callahan quit the Chicago White Sox after the 1905 season, pinning his fortunes on a plan to establish a semipro club in Chicago. He first purchased the rights to an old amateur playing field in Logan Square, a section of Chicago. Then […]