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In their one-season history (1969) as an American League expansion franchise, the Seattle Pilots played 14 extra-inning games. On July 19 they hosted an 18-inning night game at Sicks’ Stadium. That game was suspended after 17 innings and completed the following day, with the Minnesota Twins winning, 11-7.1 After the Twins left town and the […]

Tim McCarver’s major-league baseball life spanned 60 years, from his debut at age 17, through 21 seasons as a player, and into a broadcasting career covering 24 World Series and 20 All-Star Games.1 McCarver played on three World Series champions, made two All-Star teams, finished as runner-up for the 1967 National League MVP Award,2 and […]

When second baseman Bill Ripken was named to the Double-A Southern League All-Star team in 1986, the stars seemed to be aligning for him to join his father, Cal Sr., and older brother, Cal Jr., in the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles. The elder Ripkens had already spent several years together in the majors, […]

The surprising Senators, riding a three-game losing streak, entered the May 12 game tied for fourth place in the American League with a 14-14 record, four games behind the front-running Cleveland Indians. The Tigers, winners of four straight and seven of their last eight under new manager Jimmy Dykes, were 9-16, 6½ games off the […]

Thirteen years before Yankee Stadium opened, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Deacon Phillippe hit a second inning inside-the-park grand slam in Forbes Field during a 14-1 rout of the Brooklyn Superbas.1 Phillippe remained the only pitcher to achieve the feat until 55 years later, when right-hander Mel Stottlemyre lined Bill Monbouquette’s first pitch between Red Sox left […]

Since its opening in 1965, the Houston Astrodome, known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” had seen many epic and varied events that included sports, concerts, political conventions, and daredevil displays. It was big, like Texas, and the events were big as well. In fact, there wasn’t much that couldn’t be done there. What […]

“One day when I was three years old my Uncle Bathis (my daddy’s only brother) asked me what my name was. I said to him, ‘Preacher.’ Don’t know why I said that but it’s stuck with me ever since.”1 — Preacher Roe   There is an excitement that builds in anticipation of each World Series […]

The Asheville (North Carolina) Tourists were in their ninth season as a member of the Class B Tri-State League in 1954.1 They’d won the pennant in 1948, their third season in the league, then lost in the playoffs. But they had the 1954 pennant wrapped up by late August. After play on September 4, manager […]

Right-handed pitcher Steve Arlin always knew there was more than baseball. After leading the Ohio State University to two consecutive berths in the College World Series and a national title in 1966, he brokered an unusual professional baseball contract that permitted him to pursue a degree in dentistry in the spring and early summer. Dr. […]

Billy Hamilton was the greatest base stealer and most prolific run scorer of nineteenth-century baseball, but few recognized his name when he gained admittance to the Hall of Fame long after his death. Bill James, who ranks Hamilton as the ninth-best center fielder of all time in his book, The New Historical Baseball Abstract (1999 ed.), remarked […]

Right-hander Dennis Tankersley took the mound at Miller Park in Milwaukee on May 26, 2002, in search of his first major-league victory. It was a cool 69 degrees and the wind was whipping at 14 mph. The 6-foot-2 right-hander had started three previous games for the San Diego Padres, getting three no-decisions. But on this […]

One of the early relief specialists in the majors, George “Sarge” Connally started just 67 times in 304 games across a 12-year big-league career (1921; 1923-29; 1933-34). Connally never shied away from hard work. In 1933, at the age of 34, he exemplified his other nickname—“Rubber Arm”—by making eight relief appearances for Cleveland from June […]

In groups of twos and threes at first and then, little by little, in larger groups, the fans rose and cheered for their hometown team. It spread throughout Fenway Park until virtually every one of the 35,000 fans had joined in the spontaneous standing ovation. The top of the ninth inning on October 12, 1967, […]

It was a series between cellar dwellers in the American League’s East Division as fifth-place Washington came to Cleveland for a five-game set starting on July 6, 1970. The Senators had spent their holiday weekend taking three out of four games in New York while the sixth-place Indians were licking their wounds after getting swept in […]

Richard Jackson,1 nicknamed “Workie,” began playing baseball in the black textile leagues in South Carolina, and had a ten-year career as an infielder in the Negro Leagues. During his professional career he played in Atlantic City; New York; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Baltimore; and Darby, Pennsylvania. Primarily known as a hitter, he was also known for his […]

Medical student Doc Tonkin’s first and only major-league appearance came on August 19, 1907. Any expectation of an improved season for his team, the Washington Senators, had died in June when they hit the bottom of the standings. Manager Joe Cantillon had his scouts scouring the countryside for fresh talent. The plan was for prospects […]

The Negro Leagues featured many of baseball’s greatest two-way players: Leon Day, Martín Dihigo, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, and Bullet Rogan. Yet before these leagues began in 1920, many Black players alternated between pitching and position play. Few in this era excelled in multiple roles as did Harry Buckner. From 1896 to 1914, the righthander […]

Ralph Houk was the first manager to have two World Series championships in his first two seasons, piloting the 1961 and 1962 New York Yankees to triumphs over the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. His Yankees won a third consecutive pennant in 1963, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. A […]

Born into poverty, raised by a single mother, and dead of cholera at age 33, Harry McCormick led a short but eventful life. Some of his accomplishments will endure in baseball lore forever. Baseball historian Lloyd Johnson wrote, “Rarely would a star shine so brightly and burn out so quickly.”1 Patrick Henry McCormick was born […]

Before committing suicide under mysterious circumstances in the spring of 1907, Chick Stahl forged a reputation as one of the best center fielders in the game over the course of a 10-year major-league career. A lifetime .305 batter, the left-handed Stahl could also hit with power, and often ranked among the league leaders in extra-base […]

Bob Gilks devoted more than 40 years to professional baseball, as a player, manager, and scout. As a player, his greatest strengths were his versatility and fielding ability. As a minor-league manager, he schooled youngsters in the right way to play the game. And as a scout, he recognized the potential of future stars like […]

“No one, and I mean no one, knows the game better than Jimy,” said Hall of Fame executive Pat Gillick.1   Jimy Williams became a baseball lifer, signed to his first professional contract by the Boston Red Sox. After a brief big-league playing career, he won a world championship ring as the third-base coach for […]

In April 1954, as Philadelphia Athletics third baseman Jim Finigan was launching his major-league career, The Sporting News contributor Art Morrow characterized him “as a fellow who could not miss major league stardom.”1 Earle Mack, a son of future Hall of Fame skipper Connie Mack, echoed the sentiment five months later: “[Finigan] played good, steady […]

“You Called That a What . . . ?”The Newsletter of the Official Scoring Committee Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) October 2017, Volume 3, Number 1 Past newsletters   Editor: Stew Thornley Howdy Conundrum of the Month (or Quarter or Whatever) Non-Guest Column Q & A with Gary Mueller Official Scorers Confab at Winter […]