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In his long and accomplished baseball career, San Francisco Bay Area native Emil “Lefty” Mailho managed over 2,500 hits, yet all but one — a pinch single in a 1936 contest — came in the minor leagues. One writer described Mailho as “arguably the best .056 lifetime hitter the majors (have) ever seen.”1 Mailho, who […]

Left-hander George Brunet pitched professionally in a record 33 consecutive seasons. After his major league career with nine different teams ended in 1971, he pitched in Mexico until he was 54 in 1989.1 He eventually set the minor league record for strikeouts and earned a place in the Mexican League’s hall of fame. Counting winter […]

Midway through the last Saturday afternoon of the 1992 baseball season at Fenway Park, the large electronic scoreboard that sat atop the center-field bleachers flashed a welcoming message to the 73-year-old one-time proprietor of Wright’s Exxon Service Station in Dyersburg, Tennessee, who was among that day’s attendees. The previous time this man had set foot […]

With his thunderous left-handed home-run stroke, the self-converted catcher Carl “Swish” Sawatski established a reputation as one of the most feared sluggers in Organized Baseball by leading four different leagues in round-trippers in his first five years as a professional (1945 to 1949). Despite his slugging potential, Sawatski bounced around in four different organizations struggling […]

Tony Kubek was a bit anxious. Not just because he was the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees, or that he was a rookie who was participating in his first World Series. But the series had shifted to his hometown of Milwaukee. For the first time, his family would see him play in […]

There was a possibility that first baseman Paul Campbell’s major-league career might last only one game and, at that, might have been without an at-bat. He was a pinch-runner for the Boston Red Sox in the first game of the 1941 season, on April 15. In the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox were […]

In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Hal King defined the moniker of journeyman catcher. A left-handed hitter with some pop in his bat, King played for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds for parts of seven seasons. Never quite consistent enough with either bat or glove to keep a starting […]

Infielder Bill Ripken attacked the game of baseball with reckless abandon and paid the price, sustaining an inordinate number of injuries during his career. He never changed his all-out, hustling style of play, earning the reputation of a player who left it all on the field. The Ripkens were a baseball family. Bill’s father, Cal Ripken […]

Richard E. “Dick” Jacobs was the majority owner of the Cleveland Indians from December 1986 until February 2000. He purchased the team with his older brother, David H. Jacobs (1921-1992), from the estate of the late F.J. “Steve” O’Neill in December 1986 for $35.5 million.  Jacobs oversaw the restoration of the Indians to on-the-field and […]

A few more feet was all Clint Conatser needed. His hard shot to center with the bases loaded and the Braves trailing 4-1 in the eighth inning of Game Six of the 1948 World Series was caught by Cleveland’s Thurman Tucker against the outfield fence; had the ball hit or cleared the wall just above […]

When people think of Nicaragua and baseball, the first name that comes to mind will always be El Presidente, Dennis Martínez. The second Nicaraguan in the majors was Tony Chévez, who signed together with Martínez with the Baltimore Orioles in 1973. Chévez was the bigger star at home, and expectations were higher for him.[fn]Hernández, Gerald. […]

Baseball is a young man’s game. A game of quick reflexes, short memories and the daily grind. In the opening week of the 2009 season, 22-year-old Nick Adenhart had already overcome an untimely Tommy John surgery and four seasons in the minor leagues to make the Los Angeles Angels’ Opening Day roster as their number-three […]

Most great players have something similar during their careers: a dominant year, a key series in which they made their name — or a signature play. Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter’s even had a nickname. His “Mad Dash” in Game Seven of the 1946 World Series took place on the brightest of stages. It’s certainly […]

An integral role player on the Big Red Machine’s World Series-winning teams in 1975 and 1976, Dan Driessen developed into a dependable, consistent, clutch-hitting first baseman over his 15-year major-league career. One of the best fielding first-sackers of his era, Driessen was the first designated hitter in the history of the National League when he […]

Mayo Smith was a baseball lifer who served the game in many ways in his 38-year career. Except for being the manager of the 1968 World Series champion Detroit Tigers, he was not well-known by the public. However, within the game, he was a very well-known and well-liked figure who had the nickname “America’s Guest” […]

July 15, 1933, should have been the greatest day in Jim McCloskey’s sporting life – or, perhaps, the first in a string of great days. The 23-year-old lefty was in Buffalo, New York, where he’d grown up, pitching for the visiting Jersey City Skeeters of the International League. July 15 was Jim McCloskey Day at […]

Of all seasons, the least likely in which to expect a pitchers’ duel in the World Series would have been 1930. That year major-league teams scored an average of more than 5½ runs per game, the most for any season since 1896, and nearly 10 percent more than the height of the “steroid era” of […]

The Washington Nationals had seen their season go south after a 50-31 start propelled them to first place in the NL East, where they remained as late as July 25. About to send John Halama, a reclamation project, to face 23-year-old Dontrelle Willis on a Wednesday night, the Nats were five games over .500 at […]

The Houston Astros owned a 3½-game lead in the National League West when they hosted the Atlanta Braves on August 3, 1979. Their starting pitcher, ace J.R. Richard, took the ball with a 9-11 record. As is often the case with pitchers’ won-lost numbers, though, the sub-.500 record failed to reflect the overall strength of […]

“Screams, shrieks, whoops, bawls, howls, hollers, roars swept through the ball-yard with the weird noise raised by cow bells, auto horns, whistles, rattles, and musical instruments,” wrote Damon Runyon about the wild scene at Sportsman’s Park for first World Series game ever played in St. Louis.1 A member of the National League since 1892, the Cardinals had spent […]

Phil Rizzuto had the nickname “Scooter” because of how he got from place to place. He’d earned the moniker as a 5-foot-6 minor leaguer, with short and quick shuffles to any ball or base that needed him.1 He embodied it with the New York Yankees for 13 seasons, turning more double plays than all but […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords” (2020), edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin.   As the 1935 baseball season approached, Pittsburgh Crawfords owner Gus Greenlee had every reason to be optimistic about his team’s chances to win the Negro National League championship. Although the 1934 squad had […]

This article appears in SABR’s Dominicans in the Major Leagues (2022), edited by Bill Nowlin and Julio M. Rodriguez.   Since their embarrassing first-round knockout in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, the Dominican Republic team had been determined to make an improved showing in 2013. In the first WBC competition, in 2006, and again in […]

Editor’s note: During our Stay Home With SABR initiative, enjoy these light-hearted Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau by Joanne Hulbert of SABR’s Boston Chapter to stay engaged with baseball until the games return. Check out what’s new and keep up with all the news in the Boston Chapter on Facebook at BostonSABR or on Instagram […]