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Chris Hartje’s fleeting big-league career consisted of nine games with the 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers. In 16 at-bats, the right-handed hitting catcher recorded five hits and just as many runs batted in. Hartje, who served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II, was attempting to resurrect his professional baseball career with the Spokane […]

After two successful seasons at Triple A, Matt Brown was in his third spring-training camp with the Anaheim Angels in 2009. An exhibition game in late March showed what a challenge it was for Brown, 26 at the time, to make the Angels’ Opening Day roster. The Angels and Brown both got off to good […]

Pitcher Paul Hartzell played four complete major-league seasons (1976 through 1979) and parts of two others (1980 and 1984). He was a swingman, starting 77 of the 170 games in which he appeared. He threw 22 complete games yet also posted 12 saves, a statistical combination that is difficult to imagine in today’s game. His […]

If Joe Pepitone were a car, he’d be a Ferrari — powerful, Italian, and high-performance. Though his career .258 batting average may not evidence power, Pepitone placed in the American League’s top 10 in total bases twice, in RBI twice, and in home runs thrice in his 12-year major-league career (1962-1973). He also clouted seven […]

Pitcher Mark Worrell, who was known for his funky sidewinder delivery, will forever be linked to two home runs – one he hit and the other he gave up. In his second major-league game, on June 5, 2008, Worrell blasted a three-run homer in his first career at-bat. Three years later, in his final game […]

After completing the rough draft of his Hall of Fame acceptance speech during the summer of 1993, Reggie Jackson asked legendary New York Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard to critique it. “Now, I want you to be honest with me,” the verbose slugger known as Mr. October told the man he had dubbed “The […]

Maynard Faye Throneberry was the decidedly less-colorful — and less-celebrated — of the major leagues’ two Throneberry brothers. His younger brother was dubbed “Marvelous Marv”, a player who gained infamy as a symbol of baseball ineptitude, particularly in the field and on the base paths. Faye (he was never referred to by his first name) […]

“That night might have been the best thing anyone has done in baseball in the last 10 years.” — Mike Downey, August 28, 1985 ***** In 1985 Eddie Murray drove in a career-high 124 runs, had a career-high 37 doubles (a total he matched in 1992), and reached the 30-home-run mark (31) for the fourth […]

Left-handed pitcher John Michaels had a pretty straight shot right to the major leagues, advancing through three years of minor-league baseball and signed by a Boston Red Sox team desperately in need of pitching. The first years of his professional career were with his hometown team in the Eastern League, the Bridgeport Bears, beginning in […]

An accomplished two-sport college athlete, Garry Roggenburk saw his baseball career ultimately shortened by an elbow injury suffered after his rookie major-league season.  A tall, hard-throwing left-handed pitcher, he had one healthy and effective big-league year, and then six more trying to hang on with three different big-league teams. But even late in his career, […]

It was the sixth inning of a 1913 exhibition game between the Brooklyn Superbas and Ty Cobb’s All Stars, and “there suddenly boomed from the first base coaching lines a chatter, the likes of which has not been heard from our side since the day of the Big Wind.”1 Benny Meyer was giving both teams […]

Ottawa’s Art “Doc” Hillebrand was a force to be reckoned with in what would be his final season before an arm injury cut short his career. Appearing in all 34 games, he posted an estimated 1.74 ERA and a 10-6 record, tying for the league lead in wins. His contributions extended beyond the mound, as […]

As World War II neared its conclusion in the summer of 1945, an increasing number of major leaguers who had served in the military returned to civilian life and resumed their baseball careers. Hank Greenberg thrilled Tigers fans on July 1 with a home run in his first game back. Bob Feller made a triumphant […]

The Atlanta Braves of the mid-1980s weren’t progressing toward the ultimate World Series appearance Ted Turner had projected when the bombastic cable television pioneer/yachtsman acquired the team before the 1976 season.1 Earlier in the decade, the Braves had breached .500 three times, captured a division title, and used the promotional tag, “How Much Excitement Can You […]

In July 1952 Boston Red Sox rookie and Opening Day shortstop Jim Piersall was hospitalized with manic depression, more recently classified as bipolar disorder. Struggling to learn the nuances of switching positions from the outfield, coupled with the fear of failure, Piersall with his seeming playfulness on the field became progressively troublesome. He fought with […]

America’s Memorial Day festivities in 1948 included parades honoring fallen veterans and doubleheaders graced by the heroics of World War II comrades-in-arms. At Shibe Park in Philadelphia, former Navy and Marine Corps pilot Ted Williams drove in three runs in a win over the hometown A’s. Cincinnati Reds portsider Ken Raffensberger, inducted into the Navy […]

Fully bought into rallying cries like “Humm Baby” and “Don’t get your dauber down,” the 1987 San Francisco Giants picked up right where they left off the previous season, coming from behind to beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3, in 12 innings on Opening Day at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In 1986 — their […]

One of the rarest occurrences in baseball is the natural cycle. Of 334 known cycles in major-league history through the 2021 season, only 17 have been identified as natural cycles, meaning the single, double, triple, and home run happened in that order.1 In August 1886, three seasons after the first known natural cycle in big-league […]

For all intents and purposes, the ballgame did not figure into a pennant race. The Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels were atop the second division of the American League as they began a four-game set at Cleveland Stadium on July 29, 1963. The Tribe trailed the first-place New York Yankees by 15 games, and […]

The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies were scheduled to close out the 1965 season with a three-game weekend series at Shea Stadium. The games had no impact on the National League standings. Philadelphia, 82-76, was in sixth place, 12 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, while New York was mired in the NL […]

At the end of his 23-year career, Henry Aaron wanted to play a little longer. Aaron’s sixth-inning infield single off Detroit Tigers left-hander Dave Roberts drove in a run – his major-league record 2,297th RBI – in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 1976 season finale. Milwaukee manager Alex Grammas promptly sent a pinch-runner, rookie Jim Gantner, to […]

In the early part of 1927, the Midwest was bursting with anticipation as the baseball season segued from projections to facts delivered by daily sports accounts. By mid-April, pitching matchups, game summaries, and season standings would replace the “dreary box-scoreless winter” to provide “something in the newspapers.” Even an umpire might expect applause for one […]

From 1925 until 1933 the Philadelphia Athletics finished in third place twice, second place four times, and first place three times (winning the World Series in 1929 and 1930). Beginning in 1934, however, the A’s were on a downward spiral that saw them with just two fourth-place finishes between 1934 and 1968. As for the […]