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There have been 34 major-league ballplayers born in England. Yeadon, West Yorkshire, in England was a “traditional Victorian textile village,” according to the Aireborough Historical Society. It was the birthplace on July 6, 1881, of Walter Carlisle, son of Ann and Matthew Carlisle. Matthew was a painter, per the 1881 England census. His mother brought […]

The tallest player in American League history from his 1939 debut until well after he retired, 6-feet-8-inch “Big Mike” Naymick came to the Cleveland Indians organization with a mountain of potential.1 Delivering his pitches with a high leg kick that disoriented many batters, Naymick was said to throw faster than celebrated teammate Bob Feller, but […]

The bottom of the first inning of the game between the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles on September 5, 1989, showed the athleticism of Brad Komminsk that had excited scouts and executives for over a decade. With two outs, Cal Ripken, Jr. took John Farrell’s first pitch to deep left-center field. Chasing the ball, Komminsk […]

The career of turn-of-the-20th-century pitcher Red Donahue presents a study in contrasts. Toiling for the woeful National League St. Louis Browns in his early years, the auburn-haired right-hander posted dismal numbers. Indeed, in 1897 Donahue set a still-standing major league record for single-season losses from the modern pitching distance of 60 feet, six inches: 35. […]

Babe Ruth, John Montgomery Ward, George Sisler, Smoky Joe Wood, Lefty O’Doul, Bobby Darwin. Bobby Darwin? At first glance he seems to be out of place among this list of major-league luminaries. However, closer examination reveals that he indeed does belong. Why? Because he is one of a handful of major-league pitchers who successfully transitioned […]

A person arriving at Elmwood High School near Bloomdale, Ohio, and looking at the pictures of students who had attained all-state status in various sports might see Chris Hoiles’s picture as a third team all-state football player in 1983 and assume he went on to play college and NFL football, but that person would be […]

Bill Renna was a journeyman outfielder who played in 370 games over six seasons for four American League teams. He batted over .300 for the Yankees, served as a backup for Boston’s Ted Williams, and in 1954 led the league in turning double plays as a right-fielder. His career, Rich Marazzi once wrote, was “a […]

Holler “Holy Cow!” in the Eastern United States and people might think of Phil Rizzuto, the New York Yankees’ shortstop-turned-broadcaster, while a cry of “Holy Cow!” in Chicago brings Harry Caray to mind. In the Upper Midwest, though, “Holy Cow!” remains synonymous with Halsey Hall, who, if not the first to use the expression on […]

Jake Jones made one of the loudest debuts in the history of the Boston Red Sox. After Joe Cronin swapped slumping first baseman Rudy York — who had knocked in 119 runs for the AL champs in 1946 — to the visiting Chicago White Sox for Murrell Jones on June 14, 1947, York’s first response […]

Although there are better known examples, Lyman Lamb typified a certain type of 1920s ballplayer: the batsman who piled up gaudy stats in the high minors but whose major-league career was brief and undistinguished. In one torrid three-year span playing for the Tulsa Oilers of the Class A Western League, he averaged .358, with an […]

One of the premier “bonus babies” of the 1950s, Frank Matt Baumann was born on July 1, 1933, in St. Louis, Missouri. He lived with his parents and younger sister, Rose Ann, on the north side of the city within walking distance of Sportsman’s Park, home field for both the Cardinals and the Browns. Frank’s […]

Harry Fenton (Larry) Schlafly began his professional playing career in 1901, which many people recognize as the first year of modern baseball. He was actively involved in the game every year thereafter until a month before his untimely death in 1919. He played in the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1902, the Washington […]

The tall, lanky left-handed pitcher started with youth baseball, excelled in the minor leagues, played for four major-league teams, then continued as a pitching coach at various levels to complete a 50-year career in baseball. Standing 6-feet-2 and weighing 200 pounds, James Philip “Jim” Shellenback, born November 18, 1943, in Riverside, California, grew up in […]

Bill Wilkinson’s arm talent was easy to spot, even when he was throwing snowballs. “In the winter time, before the spring (season) started, this kid came into the gym and said, ‘Coach J, you’ve got to get outside,” said legendary Cherry Creek High School baseball coach Marc Johnson. “They’ve got a snowball fight going and […]

Sled Allen may have been born in Missouri, but he found both his home and his calling in the West Texas town of Lubbock. He fielded a baseball team there in the 1920s and won what was then the country’s most prestigious semipro tournament in 1925. He was a top wrestling promoter and later became […]

Statistically, a 13th-round draft pick is highly unlikely to see the majors at all; even fewer go on to make two All-Star Game appearances or win five Gold Gloves and a World Series championship. Very few four-year college outfielders who debut in the majors at age 24 go on to have 19-year careers in which […]

On November 12, 1982, Joe Altobelli was named the seventh manager in Baltimore Orioles history. Piloting one of the 26 major-league teams was surely an enviable position to hold. Unfortunately, for Altobelli, he was supplanting a legend. Earl Weaver, Baltimore’s field manager from mid-1968 to 1982, led the Orioles to six division titles, four pennants […]

Chico Walker once told Boston sportswriter Peter Gammons, “Getting to the big leagues wasn’t the problem. But staying in the big leagues was.”1 Walker epitomized the utility man in baseball. From his major-league debut in 1980 through 1993, he played for four different teams, in both leagues, over 11 seasons.2 Yet it took until 1991, […]

With a passion for problem solving fueled by an unyielding streak of empathy for his constituents, Mario Cuomo garnered allegiance from Democrats and respect from Republicans — most notably for his 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. Whether on the stump or in Albany, the 52nd Governor of New York exemplified politicians being […]

With Babe Ruth’s 50th home run of the year in the record books, newspaper accounts of the game celebrated the accomplishment in a manner that suggested it might be a once-in-a-lifetime event. The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Such batting as Babe Ruth has done this season never before has been accomplished. Perhaps it never will be […]

Residents of Wampum, Pennsylvania, and neighboring towns cheered hometown hero Dick Allen at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field during his 1964 National League Rookie of the Year season with the Philadelphia Phillies, even honoring him in on-field ceremonies before three games against the host Pittsburgh Pirates. But Allen scuffled in Pittsburgh in ’64, batting .182 in nine […]

Baseball comebacks are even more remarkable and unique when compared to other sports. In timed sports, there is always a moment when the game is over, even if it “ain’t over.” In baseball, a team can be down five runs in the final inning, have no one on base, two outs, and two strikes on […]

Willie Stargell’s path to the top of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home-run charts began from the bench in 1963, his first full major-league season. Filling in for first baseman Donn Clendenon, Stargell hit his first big-league homer, a three-run shot off Chicago Cubs fireman Lindy McDaniel, in a five-run, game-tying eighth-inning rally on May 8 at […]

On September 30, 1967, a Saturday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins played the first of a two-game season-ending series against the Red Sox at Boston’s Fenway Park. The Twins led the Red Sox and the Tigers (who had to play two doubleheaders) by a single game. A Twins victory would eliminate the Red Sox, while the […]