Search Results

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 […]

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 […]

“I felt I’d be happier trying to make a living from baseball than any other business I know,” Judge Emil Fuchs said.1 “Happy” would not describe the Judge in the baseball business world: he lost nearly everything he had as owner of the Boston Braves, unsuccessfully striving to make them into a contender from 1923 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

In September 1976 Hall of Fame inductees Yogi Berra and Warren Spahn were only the two most prominent names among a large field of managerial candidates available to the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. But the Jays startled the baseball world by selecting the hardly-household-name Roy Hartsfield as the franchise’s first skipper. But the surprise may […]

Andy Seminick was a rock-solid catcher who had a career year in 1950 and had a lot to do with the Phillies winning their first pennant in 35 years. He was the antithesis of bonus babies like Curt Simmons, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, and Stan Lopata because he was anything but highly sought after. He […]

Joe Girardi had the big hit in the deciding game of the 1996 World Series, caught a perfect game, won a Manager of the Year Award with one team, and skippered another to a World Series win. An above-average major leaguer for 15 seasons, Girardi will be remembered most for his time helming the post-Joe […]

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), […]

Dick Hughes had a memorable rookie season in the big leagues in 1967. He led the world champion St. Louis Cardinals with 16 wins, while losing just 6 and posting a 2.67 ERA. At age 29, Hughes was runner-up to Tom Seaver for 1967 National League Rookie of the Year honors. The bespectacled right-hander, who […]

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” […]

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 […]

Butch Nieman had a short but productive major-league career. Considered a replacement player during World War II, Nieman patrolled the Boston Braves outfield on a regular basis from 1943 to 1945 and can best be described as a streak hitter with a penchant for delivering the big hit in the clutch. In his three-year stint […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

From 1946 through 1965, the Hearst newspaper chain sponsored events in as many as 13 cities culminating in the annual Hearst Sandlot Classic between the New York Journal-American All-Stars and the United States All-Stars. Chicago sent two players to the games from 1946 through 1957, and the players were selected based on their performance in […]

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 […]

When Eddie Cicotte‘s first pitch crossed the middle of home plate for a strike, everything appeared normal to the 30,511 fans at Redland Field for Game One of the 1919 World Series. It was a festive day in Cincinnati, and one long overdue. The city was celebrating its first pennant winner since 1882 as well […]

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