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The defending World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates were in need of another pitcher early in the 1910 season. They traded a pair of players to the Boston Doves for a 26-year-old right-hander with one of the best curve balls in the league. Early in the 1911 season, an arm injury ended Kirby White’s major league career. […]

Except for a brief September call-up in 1953, Eddie Phillips spent his entire 11-year pro baseball career in the minor leagues. Yet, during those 2½ weeks with the St. Louis Cardinals, he established a record for most runs scored in the major leagues (four) without a plate appearance or taking a defensive position. His pinch-running […]

Part of the story of Willard Eben Mains is typical of the era, but his achievements during his baseball career are not. Mains pitched in professional baseball for 20 years (1887-1906). He played briefly in the majors; the bulk of his career was spent in various minor leagues, where he was the first pitcher to […]

His story is typical of many pitchers in the early history of the game. A blazing fastball provided an opportunity to escape a life of working the local coal mines. But wildness and constant conflicts with team management over his salary limited him to just ten major league games. His talent allowed him to pitch […]

Until age and arm miseries precipitated his release in May 1919, right-hander Joe Benz was a valuable member of the Chicago White Sox pitching corps. During the preceding eight seasons, Benz had alternated between the starting rotation, spot-starter duty, and long relief, never posting an ERA higher than 2.90. Usually overshadowed by mound mates like […]

Thousands of baseball players have been labeled with a nickname. Some depicted the player’s size like “Rabbit” or “Jumbo”. Others were based on where they came from: “The Hoosier Thunderbolt”, “Vinegar Bend”, “Dominican Dandy”. Some became iconic like “The Babe”, “Joltin’ Joe”, “Hammerin’ Hank”. Some nicknames were so obvious that a player could not help […]

Left-handed pitcher Charlie Whitehouse had a career in baseball that was like many marginal players in the early twentieth century. He had enough talent to attract offers from professional scouts, but was probably only given a crack at the major leagues due to the fact that he was a lefty and because of the formation […]

The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates had their fair share of heroes and players who had career years, but when all is said and done, without Vernon Law they might well have been just another team that came close to glory. Heading into 1960, Law had just turned 30 and was an eight-year veteran of the Pirates, […]

Before Ray Chapman, Mickey Cochrane, Tony Conigliaro, Dickie Thon, and Adam Greenberg, the list of careers compromised by pitched baseballs claimed Danny Hoffman. On July 1, 1904, a Jesse Tannehill fastball caught the dynamic Philadelphia Athletics outfielder above his right eye, nearly killing him. Hoffman returned after months of recovery, and, despite significant damage to […]

From 1903 to 1914, southpaw Charlie Fritz pitched in southern minor leagues with determination, endurance, and “varying success.”1 He won 116 games and lost 153.2 In 1907, after striking out 15 batters in a 12-inning game, he received a “cup of coffee” in the majors—three innings pitched for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. Charles Cornelius “Charlie” […]

In his April 27, 2014, major-league debut, righty Scott Carroll tied the Chicago White Sox record for the longest initial outing by one of its pitchers: 7⅓ innings, last established by Gerry Janeski in 1970. After a dubious start to his major-league career – four hits and a hit-by-pitch to his first six batters – […]

The man Frank Graham called “the greatest third baseman ever to wear a Giant uniform” and Grantland Rice’s third baseman on his all-time Giants team, Art Devlin was born October 16, 1879, in Washington, D.C., one of several children of Edward Devlin, an Irish immigrant who made his living in Washington as a harness maker […]

A hitting star for more than a decade in the minor leagues, Joe Hicks batted over .380 twice and compiled a career batting average of .313 while playing in the White Sox, Senators, and Mets farm systems. Hicks’s major-league career was brief and a lot less successful (a .221 career average in 416 official at-bats), […]

Being enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown puts a player in an elite class among their peers. Achieving the required 75 percent of votes in their first year of eligibility is something only 60 players have done. Frank Thomas was one of those 60; he also did things in his career […]

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer was close to achieving baseball immortality, but he didn’t know it. It was June 15, 1938, and he was on the mound in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field with the bases loaded, two outs, and a 1-and-1 count on the irrepressible Dodgers shortstop Leo Durocher. One more out and his name […]

On September 28, 1903, the New York Highlanders auditioned a 21-year-old right-hander. The surname of this youngster had much in common with the duration of his tenure as a major leaguer — and indeed, his life. All were quick. More particularly, the entire big-league career of Eddie Quick consisted of one game appearance and 12 […]

Walter Moser pitched for three teams in 1906 and 1911 – the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and St. Louis Browns. His major-league record was 0-7, losing four games for the Phils, one for the Red Sox, and two for the Browns, with an earned run average which climbed from one team to another: 3.59 […]

Should a midseason exhibition be included among the greatest games in Metropolitan Stadium history? After all, as the United Press International wire service candidly pointed out, by the end of the game, “many of the Twins had left the dugout, showered and gone home.”1 If the players left early, how could the game be all […]

The evening after catcher Christian Vazquéz homered to give the Boston Red Sox a walk-off win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Three of the 2021 American League Division Series, the Red Sox won Game Four and wrapped up the ALDS in another walk-off.1 Vazquez was again instrumental – this time as a table-setter. […]

When the New York Yankees took the field against the Cleveland Indians on June 8, 1921, Babe Ruth was not among them. He was not anywhere to be found in the Polo Grounds. He was instead nine miles downtown, at 300 Mulberry Street, formerly New York police headquarters but then home to the city’s traffic […]

The National Football League (NFL) is replete with famous games that have titles attached to them. Every serious football fan knows that the 1958 NFL championship match between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts became known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” and that the 1974 playoff tilt between the Oakland Raiders and […]

With his 51st home run of 2006, hit off Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins in the first inning on September 21 at Fenway Park, David Ortiz set a new Boston Red Sox record for the most home runs in one season, passing Jimmie Foxx, who hit 50 home runs in 1938.1 Foxx’s franchise record […]

Jonathan Stilwell looks at the best pitchers of the 19th century.

SABR Salute: Bill Deane Editor’s note: The SABR Salute, first bestowed upon writer Fred Lieb in 1976, was designed as a manner of recognizing the contributions of some of the older members of the Society. Subsequent SABR Salutes appeared in the SABR Membership Directory and honored members who had made great contributions to baseball historical […]