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Throughout his minor league career, pitcher Lou Polchow was a notoriously slow starter, struggling with his control and effectiveness until the weather warmed. When he failed to round into shape in the spring of 1911, there were claims that he was “an indifferent sort of fellow”1 and, “not in the best of condition.”2 No one […]

In late July 1958 newspapers nationwide published a brief Associated Press dispatch announcing the death of Deadball Era pitcher Jack Rowan.1 Follow-up articles supplied poignant detail. The elderly gent, believed to be about 85 and without family, had spent his final years living alone in a small Detroit hotel room, surviving on a small monthly […]

In the New York State League, he came to be known as “Bill Ging with the Wonderful Wing.” William Joseph “Bill” Ging was born in Elmira, New York, on November 7, 1872, the second son of Lawrence and Mary Ging. Lawrence was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1860 before marrying […]

Al Smith was an accomplished ballplayer whose major-league career spanned 12 seasons with four American League teams. Primarily an outfielder, he played six positions as a major leaguer and was a fine defender with a strong arm and good speed. Smith finished with a .272 lifetime batting average, hit 164 home runs, and reached base […]

In averaging 27 homers a year from 1964 through 1968 to become one of the more feared power hitters on the San Francisco Giants, Jim Ray Hart first had to learn how to avoid getting clobbered at the plate. In his second game as a major leaguer, on July 7, 1963, Hart’s shoulder blade was […]

“He’s a quality player who’s getting better all the time. A year ago, he played on talent alone. Now he’s doing it on talent and know-how. His potential is unlimited.”1 — Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland   No word better describes Bobby Bonilla’s baseball career than “potential.” He was selected as an All-Star six times. […]

A tenacious, feisty catcher who played six years in the 1890s with the Chicago club of the National League, Tim Donahue appeared in 466 major league games and compiled a .236 lifetime batting average. He was an outspoken individual, having what one sportswriter termed “a tongue as nimble as a squirrel’s and as sharp as […]

If the fates had been kinder to George “Kiddo” Davis, he would have had the opportunity to display his skills in five World Series during his eight major-league seasons. In two Series with the New York Giants, 1933 and 1936, the center fielder complemented his outstanding defensive work with 8 hits in 21 at-bats, a […]

Jason Davis, a 6-foot-6-inch right-handed fireballer, pitched in seven seasons from 2002 through 2008 for Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Known for a high-velocity sinking fastball in the upper 90s, Davis in 2003 led all American League rookie pitchers in innings pitched (165⅓), his first full season. Indians pitching coach Mike Brown compared […]

With their first-round pick in the 1978 amateur draft, the Minnesota Twins selected Lenny Faedo, a high-school shortstop from Tampa, Florida. Sixteen rounds later, the Twins selected Kent Hrbek, a first baseman from Kennedy High School in Bloomington, Minnesota. Faedo and Hrbek both rose through the Twins farm system quickly. Faedo made his major-league debut […]

In 1957 The Sporting News selected Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jack Sanford the National League’s Rookie of the Year by an overwhelming margin. The “Baseball Bible” provided an in-depth analysis of the abundant freshman class with kudos extended to players who received little to no votes. When the breakdown reached Cal Neeman, the weekly post raved, […]

John Lyston was a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher from Baltimore, Maryland, who played professionally in the late 19th century. The talented tosser possessed an outstanding curveball that complemented his powerful fastball. Early on, John was a standout hurler in the amateur and semi-pro ranks in and around the Baltimore area. Word of his pitching prowess soon […]

Robert Francis “Red” Daughters appeared for the Boston Red Sox in a game against the New York Yankees on April 24, 1937, and for the next five decades could reminisce about how he’d played with Bobby Doerr, Joe Cronin, Lefty Grove, Pinky Higgins, and Doc Cramer against Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Frankie Crosetti, Red Rolfe, and […]

One teammate said Brad Radke was his hero. Another said Radke had more heart than anyone he ever played with. His pitching coach — after nearly three decades in professional baseball — said Radke was the man he respected most in the game. Stoic toughness. Steady reliability. Big-game guts. Brad Radke displayed it all during […]

It took a special type of athlete to play for Chicago American Giants manger Rube Foster. He liked to engage in small ball and built his teams around speed and bunting. He wanted only smart competitors on his team. Foster was known to say, “If you haven’t got intelligence enough to fit into this play, […]

“I don’t care for Rockefeller’s millions and I have no desire to share Wilson’s honors,” Heinie Wagner once quipped to a group of players during a long, hot train ride out west. “But I would like to be as good a pitcher as Walter Johnson and always be able to pitch for a team as […]

Ed Moriarty was a .324 hitter, rising star, and fan favorite with the Boston Braves in 1935. Well, in his first eight games, anyway. He then shocked the Boston baseball world by suddenly calling it quits, saying he had a higher calling and was going to enter the priesthood. This player with 34 at-bats was […]

Heralded as the second coming of Whitey Ford, the New York Yankees inestimable ace of the time when he broke into organized baseball, Walter Gary “Rip” Coleman eventually became one of baseball’s many might-have-been stories. A fast-balling left-handed pitcher, Coleman was born on July 31, 1931, in Troy, New York, to Walter Donald and Martha […]

In the days leading up to one of Yankee Stadium’s most surprising comebacks, it was the visitors’ ballpark that was making headlines. The previous week, the New York Yankees dropped a two-game series to the Minnesota Twins, and placed the blame on the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome’s roof. After New York fielders lost some routine […]

The 1986 Boston Red Sox went 95-66 during the regular season, their most wins in nearly a decade (99 in 1978), and won the American League East flag by 5½ games over the New York Yankees. It was their first postseason appearance in 11 years, since they lost the 1975 World Series to the Cincinnati […]

A season of great promise suddenly looked impossible. The Red Sox fans who stayed to the end of this evening’s game at Fenway Park could hardly have been more despondent. Boston fans had been waiting 86 years for a world championship and 18 years since their team’s spirit-crushing defeat at the hands of the New […]

Felix Hernandez, the greatest pitcher in Seattle Mariners history, was past his prime but still a fan favorite when he celebrated his last night as King Felix on September 26, 2019, with 20,921 adoring fans at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.1 It was an emotional farewell for a pitcher whose 15-year career was filled with dazzling performances […]

In the opening contest of the most pivotal series of their baseball lives to that point, the Houston Astros lost on a Joe Ferguson walk-off blast in the 10th inning that breathed new life into the Los Angeles Dodgers’ fading 1980 playoff hopes. Yet, despite those heroics, momentum was still the greatest ally of the […]

A season after leading the Chicago Cubs out of a 39-year postseason drought, Rick Sutcliffe was Chicago’s Opening Day starter in 1985. He continued his run of excellence on a chilly afternoon at Wrigley Field, pitching into the eighth inning before Lee Smith’s bullpen assist secured the Cubs’ 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Chicago […]