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“Coldwater Jim” Hughey is still the last major league pitcher to lose 30 games in a season. Hughey was more than a footnote in history, more than someone who had the misfortune to pitch for a team, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, that made the 1962 Mets look like an invincible juggernaut. At the time, he […]

In January 1983, NBC television debuted a new action series titled The A-Team. The show followed the exploits of a fictional group of former U.S. Army members with such colorful names as Face, Hannibal, and the brawling, straight-talking, ludicrously bejeweled B.A. Baracus, the fictional embodiment of the character’s actor, Mr. T. Within months of the […]

When considering Rhode Island natives who played major league baseball, you can’t get much closer to the heart of Rhode Island than with Ray Jarvis, who grew up playing baseball on the State House lawn. Ray was born in Providence on May 10, 1946 and grew up on Smith Hill. Most of the kids in the […]

Mark Baldwin could burn the ball in there. He terrorized opposing batters with his nervous tics on the mound, which were usually followed by one of the swiftest fastballs of the 19th century, if not the swiftest. His catcher at Columbus of the American Association, Jack O’Connor, certainly thought he was the fastest. O’Connor said […]

When the curtain rose on the New York Yankees’ 1929 season, for the first time in team history each ballplayer wore a numbered jersey. Catching for New York that day was John Grabowski, the large block 8 on his back signifying his spot in the batting order. One of three backstops that Yankee manager Miller […]

Luis Clemente Tiant y Vega, a charismatic right-handed pitcher whom Reggie Jackson called “the Fred Astaire of baseball,” won 229 games over parts of 19 seasons in the major leagues.1 His midcareer comeback, dramatic family reunion, and World Series heroics inspired a region, likely leaving him one of the most beloved men ever to play […]

The children of the elite often will have difficulty establishing their own identities and achieving success, particularly if their interests parallel those of a parent. Such was not the case with Joe L. Brown, whose father was Joe E. Brown, the popular comic actor, film star, and baseball aficionado who (unlike practically all celebrated sports […]

Robin Mark Ventura was one of the outstanding third basemen of the last decade of the 1900s. After a stellar college career, Ventura played integral parts in the success of the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets during his career. Ventura was born on July 14, 1967, in Santa Maria, California, to John and […]

The cover of the March 20, 1978, annual baseball preview issue of Sports Illustrated featured a picture of Kansas City Royals rookie Clint Hurdle looking ready for action, with the caption “This Year’s Phenom” in bold yellow letters right next to his smiling face. Keeping with the “phenom” theme, the article described the 20-year-old Hurdle […]

Say the name Jeff Kent to a baseball fan and you’ll get a variety of responses, ranging from aloof to egotistical to downright nasty. One of the most polarizing players of the last 30 years, Kent won the 2000 MVP Award but not many fans along the way. While some appreciated his competitive, old-school approach, […]

When Neifi Pérez signed his first major-league contract, on November 9, 1992, his employer had yet to engage in a single professional baseball game. Denver had been awarded a major-league baseball team in June of 1991, and the newly minted Colorado Rockies had already participated in the amateur draft of 1992. However, it wasn’t until […]

During Michael Cuddyer’s 15-year major league career, he was an All-Star in both leagues, helped lead the Mets to the World Series, won a batting championship for the Rockies, and was the longtime heart and soul of the Minnesota Twins. Marked for stardom at a young age, Cuddyer battled to establish himself in the big […]

The son of an All-Star, a two-time All-American at Harvard University, and a first-round draft pick, Mike Stenhouse seemed destined to thrive in the majors. But in a five-year career with three teams that never saw him play in more than half the schedule, Stenhouse never hit. While he did not make the postseason roster […]

(On arriving at Kauffman Stadium for the first time) “As we drive up we see the Crown. There was a little mist and I’m thinking ‘this is an unbelievable sight.’ The lights are on. It doesn’t get any better than that. Then all of a sudden we pull in, we go into the clubhouse, and […]

Born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, on December 26, 1947, Carlton Fisk embodies traditional New England values like pride, ruggedness, and individuality. Those virtues were what the late Boston Red Sox public relations director Dick Bresciani was trying to capture in 1997 when he wrote that Fisk was a “native of Vermont” on his original plaque […]

Twenty-four games and 19 plate appearances with two hits for the 1968 Baltimore Orioles were the extent of Lorenzo “Chico” Fernández’s major league action, but he spent over 40 years in professional baseball. After a nearly fatal beaning ended the Cuban-born infielder’s 12-season playing career, Fernández coached in the Orioles and Dodgers organizations for more […]

When Ned Garver won his 20th game on the last day of the 1951 season for the lowly St. Louis Browns in 1951, he became the first pitcher in major league history to win 20 games for a team which lost 100. One of the most durable pitchers of his era, the right-handed Garver led […]

Hank Behrman was a minor contributor to the golden age of baseball in Brooklyn. His career was all promise and little delivery. Yet the five-feet-eleven, 174-pound right-hander did have one sterling season for the Dodgers. In 1946, his rookie campaign, he appeared in forty-seven games and posted an 11-5 record with a sparkling 2.93 ERA. […]

In his heyday, Raymond Brown was on top of the Negro League baseball world. He was the Sunday pitcher for the Homestead Grays and played outfield when not on the hill. He was selected to tour with the Negro National League All Stars in 1936, a contingent that included five future Hall of Famers. Articles […]

Kenneth Jerry Adair was born to Kinnie and Ola Adair on December 17, 1936, at Lake Station, an unincorporated area named for a station on a trolley car line between the northeastern Oklahoma cities of Sand Springs and Tulsa. Jerry claimed Sand Springs as his hometown. He was a fair-skinned, blond-haired descendant of mixed-blood Cherokee […]

Kevin Hickey had one of the most unlikely careers in the history of baseball. Then he had another one. In the span of a few years, he transformed himself from 16-inch softball ringer into a big-league reliever deployed against some of the best left-handed hitters of his era. When he found himself at rock bottom, […]

By the time Mike Schmidt retired early in the 1989 season, he was regarded as perhaps the greatest all-around third baseman in baseball history. No major-leaguer hit more homers during the 1980s, but he was not a one-dimensional threat: he curbed his tendency to strike out and stole bases when needed. In the field, he […]

As a Native American playing in the Deadball Era, Jack Meyers couldn’t avoid being saddled with the nickname “Chief,” but he did as much as any Native American of his generation to battle the stereotypes. Sportswriters who covered Meyers found him to be far more sophisticated than most of his fellow players. One reporter wrote […]