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Terry Francona raised the art of self-deprecation to a new level. Decades after his playing career ended, the man who had become one of the most successful managers in big-league history loved to downplay his talents as a ballplayer. He claimed that the last thing he wanted was his players to hit like he did. […]

When has a criminal paid his or her debt to society? When has an apparent psychiatric disorder been cured, or at least managed? When does an offender who violated social mores deserve a second chance? These are some of society’s weightier, knottier questions, and in an ideal world, people come to baseball parks to escape […]

Baseball is a game of statistics, and there appears to be a number to objectively measure every aspect of player performance. For instance, when evaluating the effectiveness of relief pitchers, the percentage of inherited runners that score is key.1 A hurler who enters the game with the bases loaded and retires the side without giving […]

SABR maintains a Triple Play Database, which lists all major-league triple plays executed since 1876. Through the 2024 season, there have been 737 of them. Sometimes whole seasons go by without even one triple play. There are devoted fans who have attended hundreds of baseball games who have never seen one. Sometimes, however, triple plays […]

In the 2007 postseason, the 96-66 American League Central Division champion Cleveland Indians faced the 94-68 wild-card New York Yankees in one AL Division Series, while the 96-66 AL East champion Boston Red Sox hosted the 94-68 AL West-winning Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the other.1 From their 13th game of the season, on […]

July 4, 1921, fell on a Monday, giving baseball teams a golden opportunity for not only a potentially lucrative Sunday doubleheader, but also another twin bill on the holiday. The Atlantic City Bacharach Giants took full advantage of the calendar, hosting two games on Sunday against archrival Hilldale of Philadelphia, and two more on July […]

On the morning of Saturday, September 20, 1952, the St. Louis Cardinals had only the slimmest of mathematical chances to win the National League pennant. Since July 1, the closest the Cardinals had been to first place was on September 9, when they were within 6½ games of the league-leading Brooklyn Dodgers. When play closed […]

The hopes of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of repeating as division champion in 2008 appeared to be derailed by injuries before the season began. As players reported to spring training in Tempe, Arizona, number-two starter Kelvim Escobar suffered a reaggravation of a shoulder injury and was certain to begin the season on the […]

In a Monday-afternoon game at Wrigley Field, the “Cubs buried Philadelphia under an avalanche of twenty-four hits,” defeating the Phillies, 21-8.1 Every Chicago batter had at least one hit, reached base at least twice, and scored at least one run.2 Cubs center fielder Hack Wilson led the barrage with five hits, including the cycle. The […]

As the construction timeline for the new Yankee Stadium emerged, speculation that New York would host the 2008 All-Star Game ran rampant. Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Commissioner Bud Selig confirmed the rumors on January 31, 2007, at a press conference announcing that the 2008 midsummer classic would take place during the Stadium’s final season. Selig […]

You wind him up in the spring and he goes all summer. He hits .330 or .340 or whatever, and then you shut him off in the fall. – Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez1   Charlie Gehringer was a model of consistency throughout his major-league career with the Detroit Tigers. This Hall of […]

The manager of the Hotel del Comercio in Caracas, Venezuela, summoned George Genovese for a phone call from the San Francisco Giants in November 1963. It sent Genovese’s hopes soaring. “Maybe I’m their new manager,” he said to his wife, June. When the call was completed, Genovese was crestfallen. His career as a manager was […]

Right-handed pitcher Merlin Nippert pitched six innings of major-league baseball for the Boston Red Sox in September 1962. He appeared in four games between September 12 and September 22. It was but a brief stint, yet he had made the grade and acquitted himself reasonably well as a big leaguer. Merlin Lee Nippert was born […]

An artist by training and education, Brett Tomko also painted corners as a pitcher. Tomko’s major-league career is notable both for its longevity and its mediocrity. Over 14 seasons spanning 1997 to 2011, he accumulated 100 wins and 103 losses. He was the epitome of a journeyman, pitching for 10 clubs in the majors and 18 […]

When the Red Sox arrived at their spring training camp at Chain-O-Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Florida, in 1967, manager Dick Williams seemed to have a pretty good idea who would comprise his pitching staff. However, in its preseason outlook, Sports Illustrated was not impressed with the group, which the magazine mocked as a “prospect […]

“He was a missionary extraordinary for the game itself. … Wherever he went … Barrett talked and preached baseball.” i He was referred to as the King of Weeds, a play on words about scouts who “beat the bushes” for prospects. He signed the second most major-league players in baseball history, second only to his […]

Benny McCoy was the talk of every town in 1940 when the obscure rookie became baseball’s first big-money free agent. He failed to live up to the hype — who could? — and crumpled under the weight of great expectations. “Benny’s problem was too much attention,” Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Cy Peterman wrote.1 We’ll never know […]

Over the years, the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s leading African-American newspapers, used the following superlatives to describe Pittsburgh Crawfords infielder Chester Williams: Peppy, snappy, aggressive, hustling, scrappy, flashy. He was also referred to as sure-fielding, hard-hitting, a sparkplug, and even an inspired devil. From 1931 through the team’s demise in 1938, Williams was […]

“I got the name Show Boat in St. Louis with the Cards in 1930,” wrote George “Showboat” Fisher in a 1985 letter. “The show ‘Showboat’ was in St. Louis most of the summer, the fans liked what they saw, so they started to call me ‘Show Boat.’ I hit .374 to lead the club, and we won […]

When the expansion Kansas City Royals hired Cedric Tallis as the team’s GM, he assumed an almost impossible task. Before the first expansion season was even half over in 1969, Kansas City owner Ewing Kauffman was proclaiming that a glorious future was not far away. A hard-driving yet generous pharmaceutical entrepreneur, Kauffman publicly stated that […]

Who was Curt Walker? With a career .304 batting average, he might be the best hitter you have never heard of. A consistent, productive outfielder throughout the 1920s, he might be one of the most overlooked players of his generation. And playing at a time when Babe Ruth dominated the baseball world, Walker also had […]

I was strictly a submarine pitcher, a lot of junk. I had a good fast one, but I didn’t throw it when I didn’t have to. With the hard hitters, I’d time them. I’d throw mixed pitches – “56 varieties” they used to call me. And then when I showed them a good fast ball, […]

The 1923 World Series was tied at two games apiece as the venue moved to Yankee Stadium. The New York Giants were attempting to make it three world championships in a row, the first two at the expense of their neighbors from the Bronx. Perhaps a change of scenery was the medicine the New York […]

Jeff Newman had a long career in professional baseball, spanning 36 years from 1970 to 2006. After six years in the Cleveland Indians’ minor-league system, he played nine years in the major leagues, mostly as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox. After his playing days, he was a coach for […]