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On April 8, 1960, the Los Angeles Dodgers traded infielder Don Zimmer to the Chicago Cubs for three minor leaguers and $25,000. Just four days later, on Opening Day, Zimmer hit a home run off Don Drysdale at the Los Angeles Coliseum in his first at-bat against his former team. After the home run, Zimmer […]

Nearing an ignominious record for consecutive losing seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates dealt center fielder Nate McLouth for prospects in June 2009, then called up promising minor leaguer Andrew McCutchen to replace him. McCutchen’s Pittsburgh debut, a day after the controversial trade of All-Star and Gold Glove-winner McLouth, showcased the talents eventually instrumental to leading the […]

Typically, baseball ground rules require the public-address system of a ballpark to be silenced during a game. But when the leader of the free world is resigning from office, exceptions can apparently be made. The Syracuse (New York) Post-Standard reported that a portion of President Richard Nixon’s resignation speech on the night of August 8, […]

His career curtailed by prejudice, his life by AIDS, Glenn Burke hit just two home runs in four seasons of part-time play with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A’s, but the circumstances of his first big-league homer made it significant, decades before the major leagues recognized him as the first openly gay player. As […]

Decisively beating the visiting New York Yankees, 14-1, on April 10, 2018, the Boston Red Sox won their ninth consecutive game, giving them a 9-1 season record, the best 10-game start in franchise history. They had lost on Opening Day to the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-4, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, then won the […]

Expectations for the Atlanta Braves heading into the 2006 season were that they would make the playoffs. They were riding a current postseason streak of 14 straight appearances, and there was no indication that it wouldn’t become 15.  For the Arizona Diamondbacks the picture wasn’t as clear. The team had shocked baseball with its thrilling […]

In his only season in professional baseball, Frank Bowes manned seven different positions for the Brooklyn Gladiators of the 1890 American Association. The Gladiators, however, were a hapless club, and when the tail-end (26-73-1, .262) franchise disbanded in late August, Bowes reverted to his former obscurity. His name mostly vanished from newsprint until January 1895, […]

Between the two of them, brothers Michael and Larry Corcoran won 177 games and pitched three no-hitters in the major leagues. But all of those wins and pitching marvels belong to Larry, who was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the early 1880s, and led Chicago to three straight pennants. Michael, however, had […]

George Boehler is “the ace of the minor leagues.”1 — Nathan E. Jacobs, Omaha News, 1923   Pitcher George “Rube” Boehler had a blazing fastball and a sweeping curve.2 In the minors from 1911 to 1930, he won 249 games3 and was a seven-time 20-game winner. For the 1922 Tulsa Oilers, he won 38 games, […]

The headline on John Lawrence Smith’s New York Times obituary called him a “noted chemist,” a label the unassuming executive would have appreciated. It wasn’t until later that the story mentioned he was a part-owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. To the non-baseball world, Smith had made his name an executive of Charles Pfizer & Co., […]

Robert Alexander “Bob” Unglaub was, at best, an average ball player. One newspaper referred to Unglaub’s career as a “meteoric rise,” but in reality it was anything but. In fact, little in his professional or personal life was out of the ordinary, and his career was typical of the players of the dead ball era, […]

Mike Dorgan was the older brother of major league outfielder Jerry Dorgan, who died at an extremely young age of alcohol poisoning. Both brothers dealt with a severe alcohol problem during their playing days, but Mike eventually won the battle. Michael Cornelius Dorgan was born on October 2, 1853 to Cornelius Joseph Dorgan and Mary […]

Looking back when he was nearly 70 years old, 19th-century pitcher Bob Black said, “I tell you this modern baseball is made to order for hitters. When I was pitching the distance was 50 feet, and you could take a hop, step, and jump and believe me, there weren’t any Babe Ruths or Jimmie Foxxes […]

In George Vecsey’s modestly titled Joy In Mudville: Being a Complete Account of the Unparalleled History of the New York Mets from Their Most Perturbed Beginnings to ’Their Amazing Rise to Glory And Renown, a moment illustrating the time-flies transformation of the Mets franchise from bottom feeders to top dogs in eight short seasons is […]

Arthur Rhodes forged a 20-year major-league career by establishing himself as a reliable left-handed reliever for nine franchises. He is the career leader (as of 2020) in holds since it became an official statistic in 1999, with a total of 231. Rhodes overcame family tragedy to become one of the oldest first-time All-Stars at the […]

“I have never seen a recruit pitcher with a more deceptive hook,” gushed syndicated sportswriter (and AL umpire) Billy Evans about rookie right-hander Sam Gray of the Philadelphia A’s in 1924.1 Gray rode his impressive curveball to a 10-year career, the final six with the St. Louis Browns. Three years after winning 20 games for […]

There aren’t many in baseball who have had the thrill of catching the ball, thus making the final play that seals their team winning a world championship. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Four of the 1990 World Series, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Todd Benzinger took his position and hoped the Reds […]

Eric Hetzel was selected four separate times in the major-league draft, ranging from January 1983 to June 1985. The last two times, he was a first-round pick. The Red Sox wanted him, the Royals wanted him, and the Pirates wanted him. He finally signed with the team that first selected him, the Boston Red Sox, […]

William Clarence Rotes spent his entire life in his birthplace of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and made such a name for himself on the baseball diamonds of his hometown that he got a chance to pitch in the National League for two months in 1893. There was nothing remotely unusual about his life, nor did his accomplishments fail […]

The 1994 major-league baseball season came to an abrupt end on August 11 because of a player strike. The strike lasted for 232 days, which meant that the 1994 postseason was not played. This was the first time a major professional sports league did not play a postseason because of labor struggles. Before the strike […]

Cuban infielder Miguel de la Hoz – better known as “Miguelito” or its English translation, “Mike” – played in 494 games in the majors from 1960 through 1969. A good hitter with an “easy swing,”1 he put up some strong numbers in the minors and winter ball. Yet he never won a full-time starting job […]

There are numerous examples of young ballplayers with great potential whose careers may have been ruined due to mismanagement by team owners or other circumstances. In the 1950s, the opportunity for bonus babies to gain experience in the minor leagues was delayed because the rules required them to stay on major-league rosters. At other times, […]

When Rafael Palmeiro retired, he joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray as the only players to accumulate more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. A Hall of Fame-caliber career it was.1 But, with all Palmeiro accomplished, he is best known for wagging his finger at Congress as he denied ever having used […]

Debuting as a September call-up for the Chicago Cubs in 1939, 22-year-old southpaw Vern Olsen tossed four shutouts in a span of eight starts in 1940 en route to leading all NL rookies with 13 victories. A dependable starter and reliever on weak Cubs teams, Olsen averaged 10 wins and 166 innings per season (1940-1942) […]