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¡Arriba! The Heroic Life of Roberto Clemente Edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks Associate Editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers Publication Date: September 27, 2022 ISBN (English ebook): 978-1-970159-87-5, $9.99 ISBN (English paperback): 978-1-970159-88-2, $34.95 8.5″ x 11″, 338 pages The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary year of Roberto Clemente’s final year in […]

One baseball executive said Willie Mays’ glove was “where triples go to die.” (SABR-Rucker Archive)   One of the game’s greatest players of all time was also one of the greatest defensive players of all time. Willie Mays set a standard of excellence for outfielders that is virtually unmatched. As Dodgers executive Fresco Thompson said, […]

Handedness historically has been of importance to how the game of baseball is played. For example, professional baseball has long alternated players at the same position of varying handedness in order to gain a competitive advantage. That advantage—the platoon effect—is in play when batters hit better when facing pitchers who throw with the opposite hand […]

This article was originally published in SABR’s Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 29 (2000).   Imagine if a young major-league pitcher, like Andy Pettitte of the Yankees, decided, for whatever reason, to become an outfielder in the year 2001. And imagine if he hit over .300 for the next five years, culminating in 2005 by winning […]

What with Bill Veeck Jr.’s gregarious nature, numerous achievements, and well-known career as “a champion of the little guy” (to quote from his Hall of Fame plaque), it is not surprising that writers have penned quite a few profiles of the flamboyant baseball executive. On the other hand, regrettably little ink has been spilled in […]

The San Diego Padres have retired the uniform numbers of five of their players. Three are Hall of Famers: Tony Gwynn (number 19), Dave Winfield (31), and Trevor Hoffman (51). The fourth was the franchise’s first star player and a fan favorite, Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones (35). The fifth? He played only four […]

President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave baseball new life when he issued his “Green Light Letter” during World War II. He knew how important the game was to the country and how much encouraging the game to continue could boost American morale. His letter not only helped major-league baseball survive but helped the game on so […]

Before King George took over the Bronx, Before the Dodgers and Giants flew west; Baseball stars sparkled in New York During seasons that ranked with the best. Terry Cashman recited many of their names While singing Willie, Mickey and the Duke; Players who excelled on lustrous green grass, Gaining glory, but few piles of loot. […]

Editor’s note: This article is from our special issue of The National Pastime looking ahead to the future of baseball in the 21st century, in which  contributors from many fields of study present their predictions and opinions.    What does climate change have to do with baseball? There are various factors: First, the relationship of climate […]

What’s My Line? was a popular primetime game show which ran on CBS-TV from 1950 through 1967, with a daytime syndicated version lasting from 1968 to 1975. Its format was simple and clever: a quartet of panelists questioned individuals to determine their often unusual or unlikely occupations, which ranged from the offbeat (safety pin maker, […]

Back in the Deadball Era, Sherry Magee was called “one of the greatest and most neglected of sluggers,” “a born dynamiter with the bat,” and “a genuine murderer of the pill.” Today we’d call him a five-tool player: he could hit, run, field, throw, and hit with power. We might also call him a psychopath. […]

By the end of the 1963 season, the jury will have been out on the 1964 rookie crop for 20 years. Sole remaining exhibits in the majors as of the end of ’83 were pitcher Tommy John and infielder Bert Campaneris. The ’64 rookies may or may not be judged the best ever, but if […]

Merle Harmon interviews Herb Score. The 1955 American League Rookie of the Year winner later joined the baseball broadcasting fraternity after his career ended prematurely. (COURTESY OF MERLE HARMON)   He was a sports broadcaster and former college football player from the Midwest. Tall and gray­ haired, he sported a crooked nose as a football […]

When Bill James first made his Game Score widely public in the Historical Baseball Abstract (1988), he humbly called it a “garbage stat.” He did feature a three–page essay on it and sprinkled it about that book, his last Abstract. Since then, it’s been broadly used, but only shallowly, as though through his description of […]

Japanese baseball was front and center as the excitement of the new millennium kicked off with an unprecedented Opening Day celebration and ended with a matchup between two star-studded teams battling for world baseball supremacy. Between these two major events, Japan’s greatest closer would win the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award, and the […]

This article was originally published in SABR’s The National Pastime, Spring 1985 (Vol. 4, No. 1).   Everyone, both those who cheered the Bronx Bombers and those who muttered, “Damn Yankees,” expected the pinstriped powerhouse to win the pennant again. It was a great time to be a Yankee fan. It was 1959. New York […]

The 1931 baseball season began as the teeth of the Great Depression sank into economies around the world. Barnstorming baseball clubs hustled to entertain for the scraps of disposable income held by the agrarian public. When the northwestern Minnesota city of Crookston staged a pair of ballgames the weekend of Decoration Day, on May 30 […]

The first ballpark on the site (Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street) of what would later be known as Sportsman’s Park was Grand Avenue Grounds. That park was first used for major league baseball as the home of the American Association St. Louis Browns in 1875. The next ballpark on this site, Sportsman’s Park I, was […]

The image of American higher education reflected by college athletics is any­thing but flattering. As of March 1982, 17 schools were on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s pro­bation list—the highest number for a single period—and the Association’s enforcement department declared that the list would lengthen before it shortened. An additional 35 schools were under investigation […]

Editor’s Note: This is an article that appeared in the August 1984 issue of Baseball Gold.   Memories of Lane Field & Westgate Park Franklin Roosevelt swamped Alf Landon to win a second term as President, King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to court Mrs. Simpson, and Bing Crosby introduced his newest hit, “Pennies […]

Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth on July 4, 1939 on Lou Gehrig’s last day at Yankee Stadium. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.)   Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig weren’t exactly best friends or worst enemies, weren’t exactly master and pupil, weren’t exactly equals on or off the field. Half a generation apart in age1 […]

Introduction Baseball had just completed perhaps its most profitable season ever, with every club in both leagues reportedly showing a profit. There was concern about the decline in hitting as well as questions about the length of the season. Even with these issues, the winter meetings of 1905 were expected to be routine affairs. However, […]

Introduction and Context The 1987 winter meetings were held at the Loew’s Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, in the middle of the “collusion era.”1 Collusion is a complex tale and, as such, only a brief summary is presented here. Peter Ueberroth became commissioner of baseball in 1984, after concluding his successful management of the 1984 […]