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Bob Harvey was a menacing hitter, who reliably anchored right field for the Newark, Houston, and New Orleans Eagles from 1943 to 1951. Harvey was a large man, who stood 6-feet tall and weighed 220 pounds but was a capable fielder and possessed a deadly throwing arm.1 He threw right-handed but was a left-handed hitter, […]

Tony Fernández was all limbs. At shortstop, the gangly fielder scuttled after groundballs before pirouetting to make an underarm throw with a slight flick of the wrist. At the plate, he slashed at the ball before scurrying around the bases. Tall and lean at 6-feet-2 and 165 pounds, the infielder enjoyed a 17-season major-league career. […]

When in your vaunted pride you hear The roaring welcome of the stands, The unleashed hero-tinted cheer, The echo of applauding hands, Lift up your head above all men – Think how these thousand worship you – Go to it – eat it – pal – and then Remember Donahue When headlines on the Printed […]

Wally Shaner was an outfielder and occasional first baseman who played a decade of organized ball, including stints with the Indians, Red Sox, and Reds in the 1920s. He appeared in 207 games, batting for a .278 average and drove in 72 runs. He later moved on to a career as a moving picture operator […]

The National League boasted some of the hardest-throwing and most intimidating starting pitchers in baseball history during the 1960s, from Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale to Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, and Jim Bunning. But one pitcher has faded from our collective memory of the great ones from that era: Jim Maloney. Troubled by chronic shoulder […]

Overshadowed on the diamond by the antics and accomplishments of his younger brother Patsy, George Tebeau was little more than a journeyman late-nineteenth century outfielder-first baseman. The lasting impression that he made on the game came only after his playing days were behind him. For almost two decades, George was arguably the most powerful force […]

Through 2024, over 23,000 players have played baseball in the major leagues; only 152 were born in Mexico. Fernando Valenzuela stands above them all. One of the game’s brightest and most beloved stars over the course of his 17-season MLB pitching career (1980-1991, 1993-1997), Valenzuela’s 173 victories, six All-Star selections, and 41.5 career WAR topped […]

Catcher Frankie Pytlak was the youngest of eight children born to Polish immigrants Casimir and Antoinette (Niemier) Pytlak. He was born as Frank Anthony Pytlak, in Buffalo, on July 30, 1908. His father, Casimir, had arrived from Poland in 1882 and at the time of the 1910 census worked as a blacksmith for the railroad […]

Curt Gowdy was the Cowboy behind the mike. Ned Martin quoted Ted Williams and Eudora Welty. Ken Coleman meant the Jimmy Fund. Bob Starr had a gentle lummox William Bendix kind of charm. In evaluating the Red Sox during the mid-to late 20th century, all helped baseball bewitch. Ken Harrelson was the Red Sox’ Southern-fried […]

“GAMER 1. A player who approaches the game with a tenacious, spirited attack and continues to play even when hurt; a competitor; a player who doesn’t make excuses. The term is a compliment, most especially when it comes from another player.”1 Bill Buckner was a gamer. He played the game of baseball as hard as […]

Ed Gharrity was a player, manager, umpire, scout, and coach during his professional career. Invited to spring training with the Washington Senators in 1916, he made an immediate positive impression. Catching for the rookies in an intrasquad game against the regulars in Charlottesville, Virginia, he threw out four would-be basestealers in the 1-1 tie. That […]

Floyd Baker was primarily a third baseman who played a good number of games at second base, too, though he began as a shortstop. He batted from the left side, but threw right-handed. He was a Virginian, relatively small of stature: 5-foot-9 and listed at 160 pounds. He played in 13 major-league seasons, with 2,692 […]

Game Six of the 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets will forever be a part of baseball lore. Many fans will say that no matter how many games you may attend, there is always something bound to happen that you may have never seen before. This was certainly […]

A biography may be defined as a “remarkable odyssey through life and the lessons learned.”1 This description could have suited virtually anyone, but Bart Mindszenthy adapted it to introduce Ron Taylor before the Empire Club of Canada. Taylor’s odyssey ranged from the University of Toronto (the only alumnus to play major-league baseball), to the Ontario […]

“In my mind’s eye, I can still see Joe Torre – he was playing third base for the Cardinals – jumping and the ball going over his glove. Jerry Reuss was pitching. He threw me a slow curve. It was a clean hit. A single down the left-field line. When you get only one hit, […]

It looked, at first glance, like a mistake. The Associated Press’s obituary for Ron Plaza, which ran in newspapers across the US in April 2012, noted that the Oakland Athletics’ roving minor-league instructor was entering his 61st season in professional baseball, but listed his age as only 77.1 There was no error. The prodigious infielder […]

Ed Delahanty, one of baseball’s most feared sluggers and most tragic figures of the 1890s and 1900s, appeared in what turned out to be his final game on June 25, 1903, seven days before his death in the Niagara River at age 35. It was fitting that Delahanty’s last game was in Cleveland, his hometown, […]

Before a nearly sold-out Anaheim Stadium crowd of 41,805, and with a national television audience tuned in, Nolan Ryan took the mound for the California Angels with four no-hitters under his belt. He shared the record with Sandy Koufax. Might the Ryan Express break the record against the visiting Yankees, the defending world champions? The […]

Montreal Expos general manager Omar Minaya had shocked the baseball world. Just over a month before the 2002 trade deadline, he acquired the most coveted player available, Bartolo Colón, in a blockbuster deal with the Cleveland Indians. The Expos paid dearly to obtain one of the best pitchers in the game. In what turned out […]

Every kid dreams of hitting the game-winning grand slam with two out in the bottom of the ninth.  It is highly doubtful that the young Geoff Jenkins ever fantasized about hitting the bases loaded game-winning fly ball that was dropped by the left fielder. But if he did, that fantasy came true on September 23, […]

The Angels rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi, and won the game, 4-3, in the 11th when Bobby Grich‘s one-out single scored Jerry Narron. California took a three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven ALCS, and put themselves one victory away from the franchise’s first trip […]

On Saturday, September 30, 1967, as the thrilling American League pennant race neared its conclusion, the Boston Red Sox entered their final series of the season needing two victories against the Minnesota Twins — whom they trailed by one game — plus two Detroit Tigers defeats to make their Impossible Dream become reality.1 Left fielder […]

In the summer of 1915, momentum carried the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. Over the preceding five years, the number of Western states granting women full voting rights leapt from four to 11, while Illinois granted them the vote in presidential elections.1 The push for a constitutional amendment needed victories east of the […]

Mourning hovered over Brooklyn like a crib mobile. Charles Ebbets, a Brooklynite loyal to his core, had passed away.  It was Ebbets who scampered up the corporate ladder of Brooklyn’s professional baseball team from office clerk to owner. It was Ebbets who sold half his interest in the ballclub to finance the building of Ebbets […]