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On May 15, 1921, a 27-year-old Oregon native, Harvey Scott “Suds” Sutherland, stepped into the batter’s box at Navin Field in Detroit to face the legendary Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson. Sutherland, a side-arming right-handed pitcher, had made his major-league debut with the Detroit Tigers just a month before, and had quickly made his mark […]

As a 22-year-old Bill DeLancey caught every inning of the 1934 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals as the club won its third championship. Later, he was named by Branch Rickey as one of the best three catchers he had ever seen, alongside Roy Campanella and Mickey Cochrane. However, DeLancey accumulated only 686 plate […]

With two minor-league seasons under his belt and the 1969 Midwest League campaign rapidly approaching, Leo Mazzone, then a starting pitcher with the Decatur Commodores, sought clarity about his short-term pitching prospects. The young hurler split his first two seasons in the San Francisco Giants system, a total of 56 appearances, between the Medford Giants […]

Between games of a doubleheader in Chicago on May 5, 1963, on a day the White Sox honored Minnie Minoso for his outstanding seasons there, a 31-year-old rookie with the Washington Senators was feted by a marching band and presented with a new car and other gifts.1 The player was Richard Eugene Phillips, the pride […]

From 1979 through 1984, Scott McGregor’s six-year winning percentage of .650 was the majors’ best.1 Characterized by his strong Christian faith and constant changing of speeds with his pitches, the lefty had great success over parts of 13 seasons (1976-1988) with the Baltimore Orioles. McGregor was an All-Star, a 20-game winner, and pitched clinching games […]

Both Bob Garbark and his brother Mike played major-league ball, both wrapping up their big-league careers in 1945 when Mike was with the Yankees and Bob was with the Red Sox. Both brothers had the same middle name – Michael. The elder brother was Bob – Robert Michael Garbark – and he was born on […]

In 1912, with only 40 games of professional experience, Lee Dashner was recruited by the Cincinnati Invaders franchise of the newly formed United States Baseball League. Franchises in eight cities hoped to create a third major league playing a 126-game season.1 Dashner made at least six appearances, including a winning relief stint against Pittsburgh and […]

Jack Matchett made his debut with the Kansas City Monarchs in Memphis on May 12, 1940; he shut out the Birmingham Black Barons.1 In 1942, when the Monarchs swept the Homestead Grays in the best-of-seven Negro Leagues World Series, Matchett won Games One and Three. The first game was a two-hit shutout. He was one […]

Dwight Smith entered the major leagues with a bang, thanks to a dynamic rookie season that included clutch hits, a playoff appearance, Rookie of the Year votes, and even a chance to sing the National Anthem. He never matched the success of that first season, but Smith still had a respectable eight-year career in the […]

In 1990 an old-school scout, Dick Wilson, stated that it was hard to explain that intangible something that told him a player had what it took to be a major-league player, but he “knew it when he saw it.” About Dave Rader, Wilson relayed, “I saw him at South Bakersfield High School, and I knew […]

St. Cloud, Minnesota, native Jim Eisenreich retired from baseball in 1998, capping a career that spanned 15 major-league seasons and included two World Series appearances. Still, with all of his success, Eisenreich’s baseball career may be most remembered for how it was almost ended before it ever really started.   Eisenreich was born on April 18, […]

In early 1925, the New York Yankees offered to trade Lou Gehrig to the Boston Red Sox for first baseman Phil Todt to repay Boston for the blockbuster Babe Ruth trade a few years earlier. The Red Sox turned the Yankees down. So says the official Gehrig site (www.lougehrig.com). But was it true? Both debuted […]

From 1922 to 1929 George Harper batted .314 with 91 home runs for five National League teams. Only six NL players hit more home runs during those years.1 He was a superb defensive outfielder with a cannon arm. In a career that spanned from 1913 to 1936, Harper amassed more than 2,500 hits with a […]

“He’s a little guy. Thinks he can do anything. Damn near can.” That description of John W. Galbreath came from the longtime manager of his Darby Dan Farm, Olin Gentry. Galbreath built his Kentucky farm into a world-renowned thoroughbred racing stable. He owned the controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Pirates for 35 years and celebrated […]

Winner of 158 major-league games, Willis Hudlin was a mainstay of the Cleveland Indians’ pitching staff in the 1920s and 1930s. His best pitches were his fastball and sinker. He was later a team owner, manager, coach and scout, in a professional baseball career that lasted nearly 50 years. George Willis Hudlin was born in […]

Kenneth William Penner was a baseball lifer. From the time he broke into organized ball as a 17-year-old pitcher in 1913, until his final pitch, thrown at the age of 47, Penner spent parts of 28 seasons in the minor leagues, pitching for 17 teams in 11 leagues and four classifications. In between, the right-hander […]

In the outfield, Jack Mayo was an excellent fielder, smooth, graceful, and fast. On the basepaths, he was one of the fastest men in the National League. His speed and fielding prowess earned Mayo a place on the famous Whiz Kids of the Philadelphia Phillies. But his inability to hit consistently limited him to part-time […]

A smallish spitballer, right-hander Jimmy Dygert joined the Philadelphia Athletics in September 1905. Two years later, his career season almost enabled Philadelphia to overtake Detroit in the heated 1907 American League pennant race. From there, Dygert’s wildness undercut his prospects. When the Athletics claimed their first world championship in 1910, Dygert was an afterthought, his […]

Like so many ballplayers of his generation, Jack Hallett gave what may have been the best years of his career to the service of his country. Yet, after Navy duty called him from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching staff in 1943, he had enough talent to return as a major leaguer in 1946 against postwar competition […]

Sophie Mary Kurys, born into a Ukrainian-Polish family in Flint, Michigan, on May 14, 1925, grew up during the Great Depression and developed a lifelong love of sports, especially baseball and golf. Starting in 1943 and playing through 1950 (and briefly in 1952), she became one of the all-time great players of the All-American Girls […]

Viola Thompson’s contribution to World War II was a rather unusual one. She didn’t do war work in a factory, or enlist in the armed services. Rather, she became a pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), and helped to keep the national pastime going during the war years. She was modest about […]

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Black Sox Scandal Committee’s December 2023 newsletter. Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, center left, and American League president Ban Johnson, center right, seen here in 1911, were friends and business partners when they founded the AL together at the turn of the 20th century. Two decades […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies were meeting for the second consecutive year in the 1978 National League Championship Series. LA took the series in 1977, ousting the Phillies in four games. “Three is my lucky number,” said Philadelphia manager Danny Ozark. “I wear number 3 and this is our third time here. […]

No ballpark was more suited to the Deadball Era in which it was built than cavernous Braves Field. Modern-day estimates of the former ballpark’s outfield distances vary, but they were all huge. In the 12-plus seasons from August 8, 1915, the day Braves Field was opened, through the end of the 1927 campaign, when the […]