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Boston Red Sox catcher Scott Hatteberg had himself quite a night on Monday, August 6, at Fenway Park in 2001. With two men on base and no outs in the fourth, he ended a potential rally by hitting into a triple play. The next time up, however, Hatteberg hit a grand slam, providing the runs […]

Alvin Davis expected to spend 1984 in Triple A with the Salt Lake City Gulls. But a pitch from Milwaukee’s Jerry Augustine fractured Ken Phelps’s finger in the first week of the season, creating an opening at first base for the Seattle Mariners. After playing just one game in Salt Lake City, Davis, the former […]

Matt Kilroy was just 19 years old when he made his major-league debut for the American Association’s Baltimore Orioles on April 17, 1886. It wasn’t any ol’ debut, either; the young left-hander was the Orioles’ Opening Day pitcher. There was “already a buzz”1 in the Oriole Park crowd of approximately 6,000 spectators, as Kilroy had […]

The Washington Senators finished dead last in the 12-team National League in 1893, and a few changes were made for 1894. Washington parted with manager Jim O’Rourke and hired a new skipper, Gus Schmelz. “Prominent third baseman”1 Bill Joyce had been acquired from the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in February 1893 but refused to play for the […]

Hugh “Red” Alexander was a promising 20-year-old, having just hit 57 home runs with a high batting average in two minor-league seasons, and tasting his first cup of coffee in the big leagues. He managed one single in 11 at-bats during his late-season callup and was looking forward to a long career as a player. […]

Jim Mecir pitched professionally for 15 years, from 1991 to 2005, including all or part of 11 seasons in the major leagues, with a permanent disability that would have kept most people on the sidelines. Mecir (pronounced Mah-sear) was born with a club foot, a condition that was only partially corrected by medical procedures in […]

On September 2, 1969, Phil Hennigan made his major-league debut in Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium in relief of Cleveland Indians starter Luis Tiant. Entering the sixth inning with his club trailing 5-1 and the Twins threatening more, Hennigan retired the always-dangerous Rod Carew on one pitch by inducing the future Hall of Fame famer to fly […]

A long-time left-handed pitching ace for one of baseball history’s best staffs, Dave McNally was also a legend and hero in his native Billings, Montana, where he lived his entire life outside of baseball. Though a World Series pitching (and hitting) star, he might be best known in some circles for the role he played […]

Esteban Bellán was a pioneer. In 1871, the half-Irish Cuban became the first Latin-born player in a top professional league. Bellán, a pro since 1868, played for the Troy Haymakers in the National Association, which predated the familiar National League. He continued with Troy and the New York Mutuals through 1873. After that season, he […]

Jim Bagby Jr. was a second-generation major leaguer, his career neatly echoing that of his father, James “Sarge” Bagby, Sr. Both were right-handed pitchers; both at various times led the American League in innings pitched; and both spent the bulk of their careers with Cleveland. Both compiled some memorable seasons. Twice Jim’s pitching merited his […]

“It would be hard to say I am not a typical minor leaguer.  I’ve spent 11 years in the minors, practically my whole career. It doesn’t feel good to say I am a typical minor leaguer. It doesn’t feel good to say it at all, but I suppose it’s the truth. I still keep hoping […]

When baseball fans reflect on the great Oakland Athletics teams from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, there is a lot to recall. Three straight pennants (1988-1990) and one world championship (1989) is a good start. Teams do not put together those types of seasons without a solid core of players. A starting rotation […]

During his two stints as a broadcaster for the Athletics, Monte Moore covered some of the best teams in their history, and some of the worst.  Beginning his major-league broadcasting career in the final years of the A’s time in Kansas City, he followed the team to the West Coast and broadcast six American League […]

Kory DeHaan played professional baseball for seven years, including 2000 with the San Diego Padres as a Rule 5 draftee, and has coached in minor-league baseball since 2010. Korwin Jay (Kory) DeHaan was born on July 16, 1976, in Pella, Iowa and has two younger sisters, Kara and Kami. His father, Guy, taught German at […]

Claude Jonnard, the lesser-known half of the Jonnard brothers battery, was a prominent right-handed relief pitcher in the 1920s, leading the National League in saves with the New York Giants in 1922 and 1923, and in pitching appearances with 45 in 1923.  By the end of the decade his skills had diminished, but he still […]

Three days before the start of the 1990 season, Omar Vizquel, the Seattle Mariners’ slick-fielding shortstop, sprained his left knee during a collision in a Cactus League exhibition. The injury sidelined him until July. That same day, April 6, the Mariners signed utility infielder Mike Brumley to fill the void. Before the signing, Brumley had […]

On June 23, 1931, sportswriter Walter W. Smith encountered George Watkins, the St. Louis Cardinals right fielder, in the lobby of Philadelphia’s Franklin Hotel, where the team was staying for a series against the Phillies. Both men were relatively new to their jobs; Smith had begun covering the team for the St. Louis Star the […]

In the history of major-league baseball, there have been two players named Hausmann. Both of them debuted in April 1944, played in 1945, and then returned to the majors for one final year in 1949. They were not related in any known way; New York Giants second baseman George Hausmann was born in St. Louis, […]

When Dick Newsome joined the Boston Red Sox in 1941, it might have seemed as though he would pair with Skeeter Newsome for a Southern radio program, “The Dick and Skeeter Show.” Or perhaps the “Heber and Lamar Hour.” The two were both Southerners, but not related, and neither was related to Bobo Newsom, the […]

Burleigh Arland Grimes, who pitched in four games for the St. Louis Cardinals at the beginning of the 1934 season, was born on August 18, 1893, on his parents’ dairy farm about halfway between the towns of Emerald and Clear Lake in northwestern Wisconsin. (Wisconsin records indicate he was born in Emerald, but he always […]

When Orioles’ first baseman Eddie Murray went on the disabled list for the first time in his Hall of Fame career in July 1986, Baltimore turned to a player who had grown up just a 30-minute drive from Memorial Stadium. In Jim Traber’s first 17 games, the brash, left-handed-swinging rookie whacked eight homers, drove in […]

An average major-leaguer and a professorial manager who tried to treat his ballplayers like grown men, Steve Boros was a baseball lifer whose career spanned over two dozen teams across six decades. Broadcaster Ernie Harwell called him “one of the most cerebral baseball men I’ve ever known.”1 Born September 3, 1936, in Flint, Michigan, Stephen […]

In 2002, in his sixth major-league season and 12th season of professional baseball, Damian Miller was named to the National League All-Star team. His manager was happy his catcher received the recognition. “I definitely have a soft spot for guys like Miller,” Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. “They’re the guys who weren’t drafted high […]