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During the Philadelphia Stars’ 1934 championship season, a pitcher named “Blackwell” poured himself a cup of coffee but didn’t stick around for a refill. Blackwell has been described as a “fringe player” who “pitched briefly” with the Stars that year, but that “his playing time was severely restricted.”1 His only documented appearance with the Stars […]

In March 1884, young pitching prospect Jim McElroy1 joined a contingent of ball-playing California hopefuls headed east in search of employment by a professional club. Before the season was out, McElroy achieved his objective, pitching for both the National League’s Philadelphia Quakers and the Wilmington Quicksteps of the Union Association. But success eluded him, as […]

The Black Sox Scandal shocked the sporting public and led to fundamental changes in the governance of professional baseball. Central to this astonishing fix were eight Chicago White Sox ballplayers, including star center-fielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch. An unpretentious Milwaukee native, the “Pride of Teutonia Avenue” only left his hometown to play ball. Felsch, one of […]

Quincy Trouppe’s passion for baseball led to a long career as player, manager, and scout. An exceptional catcher and switch-hitter, “Big Train” played on Negro League teams including the St. Louis Stars, Kansas City Monarchs, and the Homestead Grays. He also played for and managed the Cleveland Buckeyes, twice leading them to the Negro American […]

“I never wanted to be a superstar, or the highest paid player,” Don Sutton said. “[A]ll I wanted was to be appreciated for the fact that I was consistent, dependable, and you could count on me.”1 By that measure, Sutton achieved his goal and more, as few pitchers in baseball history were as reliable, and […]

Before John Stefero was 30 years old, his baseball statistics included 18 broken fingers1, a fractured hand, and a cracked kneecap. “A catcher’s life,” he sighed. Over three major league seasons, the left-handed hitter also earned a World Series ring in 1983, standing ovations and curtain calls from his hometown fans, and enough memories and […]

Vaughan Pallmore “Bing” Devine, a soft-spoken, modest man, spent more than a quarter-century as a baseball executive and played a major role in building four National League champions and three World Series winners. Devine left his biggest mark as the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, whose owner fired him in 1964 just as […]

Tom Hernon was a career minor leaguer who as a 30-year-old outfielder gained a four-game trial in 1897 with Chicago in the National League before his premature death in 1902 at age 35. Thomas Hernon was born on November 4, 1866, in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the oldest son of Irish immigrants John Hernon and Mary […]

William Orange Forman, who pitched briefly for Washington in 1909 and 1910, was born on October 10, 1886, in Venango, Pennsylvania, the youngest of William (Billy) and Almira (Myra) Forman’s three children. The elder Forman came to northwestern Pennsylvania during its oil rush, and made a living drilling wells and refining their product. Young Will […]

George Winn had one win and two losses in his dozen major-league games, and he hit .300 as a batter. Winn had first become known to baseball fans in Boston when secretary Larry Graver of the Boston Red Sox announced on March 3, 1919, that “Pitcher Winn had signed with the Red Sox. Winn comes […]

“Believed by many to be the first black sports broadcaster, he also was known as an unofficial historian of baseball’s Negro Leagues, from his days as a sportswriter and sportscaster in Newark, N.J.”1 Sportswriter Jerry Izenberg wrote on numerous occasions that one man gave us reports and box scores for the Negro Leagues and that […]

“I’ll never forget the experience of going to spring training for the first time. Then, there was our first opening day against the Mets in New York. We came back to Denver for our first home game and Eric Young hit the home run leading off the bottom of the first inning. The home run […]

Over a 50-year career in baseball, a man is likely to pick up a few nicknames, and for Jack Onslow this was no exception. He liked to call himself “The Travelling Man,” and the logic to that will become obvious. He also was referred to as “Happy Jack” and “Honest John,” names that could have […]

Father Time remains undefeated, but for one day in June 1966 at Houston’s Astrodome, 35-year-old Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs turned back the clock to a decade earlier, when he was in the top 10 in triples in the National League.1 The Houston Astros (30-25) had won the opening game of the three-game series […]

After a three-season Negro National League liftoff, Minnie Miñoso’s career as integrated baseball’s first Afro-Latino star blazed almost entirely in the American League, from 1949 debut with the Cleveland Indians through late-season appearances with the Chicago White Sox more than a quarter-century later. Miñoso crossed over to the National League only once, in 1962, when […]

“It’s nice just because I’m helping the team out more than I did in 2012 and 2013. It’s not a good feeling to get your butt whupped. I vowed to myself I was going to get better.” — Dallas Keuchel1   Dallas Keuchel more than helped the Astros in 2015. The eventual American League Cy […]

The New York Yankees (36-24) were in a fight for supremacy in the American League East. The defending World Series champions were in second place in the middle of June 1978. At the close of play on June 15, the Yankees trailed their oldest adversary, the Boston Red Sox (43-19), by six games. After posting […]

When the New York Mets played the San Francisco Giants in the 2000 National League Division Series, it was the first time the teams had faced each other in the postseason. The Giants had finished in first place in the National League West Division with a 97-65 record, the best in baseball. They clinched their […]

“I really wasn’t scared,” a grinning Chris Pittaro quipped. “That’s a lie. I was scared. Nervous. Everything.”1 And who could blame him? The 23-year-old had just made his major-league debut as the third baseman for the defending World Series champion Detroit Tigers on Opening Day 1985. Despite a fine 1984 campaign, when he batted .284 […]

Both the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers were out of contention when they played the final game of the 1952 season on September 28, but there were still some individual titles to be decided, including the American League home-run crown. It had been only five years since Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947; […]

Hey, it’s Opening Day. Fans had been without live baseball for more than five months. You’d think fans would want to stick around and see a full game. But at the Fenway Park home opener on April 10, 1998, Peter Gammons wrote, there were only “about 13,000 remaining” of the 32,805 in attendance at the start.1 […]

July 1976 was filled with breathtaking events. Operation Sail’s parade of Tall Ships in New York Harbor marked the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.1 NASA navigated the Viking 1 lander onto the surface of Mars to search for evidence of life.2 And Israeli commandos freed 103 hostages from a hijacked […]

When the 1931 World Series opened at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis on October 1st, it appeared to be a mere continuation of the regular season. The Philadelphia A’s star pitcher, Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove, rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to cruise to a 6-2 win for Connie Mack’s team. Grove had outdone himself […]

It was a short day’s work for Hector “Heity” Cruz on April 27, 1977, but he got a lot done as one of the offensive stars for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 21-3 rout of the Chicago Cubs. Cruz’s accomplishments in only six innings included three hits and two walks in five plate appearances, […]