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Yankee Stadium was the natural choice to hold the All-Star Game in 1939. The game originated in Chicago in 1933, as an activity adjacent to the city’s Century of Progress World’s Fair. Six years later, New York was home to another World’s Fair, touting “The World of Tomorrow.” Companies like Westinghouse and National Cash Register […]

James Lee “Jimmie” Newberry was a starting pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons from 1942 to 1950. Most newspapers and historical sources refer to “Jimmy” as the diminutive of Newberry’s first name. However, the best evidence, which includes two autographs, signed “Jimmie Newberry,” is that he preferred to use the variant “Jimmie.”1 Newberry was born […]

World War II veteran Dick Kryhoski was a lefty-hitting first baseman for seven years in the majors. The son of Polish immigrants played for five teams, including the final St. Louis Browns club and the first edition of the modern Baltimore Orioles. Richard David Kryhoski was born on March 24, 1925, in Leonia, New Jersey. […]

Signed to the Boston Red Sox by Frank “Bots” Nekola, the same scout who signed Carl Yastrzemski, outfielder Joe Lahoud faced some stiff competition trying to break into the majors. At the time, his path intersected with those of both Yaz and local Boston favorite Tony Conigliaro. Lahoud came from Danbury, Connecticut, born there on […]

In 1941, the book on 23-year-old Eddie Pellagrini was as a “good field, no hit” shortstop. “[He] may not hit as well as [others] but he’s certainly a fine prospect … ‘Pellagrini is a faster fielder than [most],’” said San Diego Padres player-manager Cedric Durst. It thus came as a surprise five years later when […]

For many people, Steve Rogers is the guy who gave up the game-winning home run to Rick Monday in the 1981 National League Championship Series. However, to think of him for just that one pitch does a disservice to a player who was a five-time All-Star, an ERA leader, and the ace of the excellent […]

From the moment he started pitching, Steve Kealey wanted to be a starter instead of a reliever. However, once he reached professional baseball, his ability to loosen up quickly made him too valuable not to use him out of the bullpen. Despite not getting his first preference, the 6-foot, 185-pound Kealey crafted a brief yet […]

President John F. Kennedy was said to have correctly answered a trivia question that had been floating around for years: Who is the only man to ever hit a home run off Sandy Koufax and catch a pass from Y.A. Tittle? The guess was always Alvin Dark. “It’s not quite accurate, however,” Dark always said. […]

One year removed from a Class D league, Chicago White Sox right-hander Les Tietje made his major-league debut in the “House that Ruth Built” on September 18, 1933. Unfazed by the taller-than-life figures of the Babe and Lou Gehrig, the 22-year-old outdueled Red Ruffing and defeated the New York Yankees, 4-3. Playing for perennial also-rans, […]

Mike Kahoe appeared on major league rosters mostly as a catcher for eleven seasons. In that time he played in an unremarkable 410 games and batted a mere .212. Yet his career is forever joined with some of baseball history’s most celebrated individuals, unique events, and folklore. Kahoe’s acquisition by the Chicago Nationals in 1901 […]

Half of the most famous version of the “Pretzel Battery,” catcher Heinie Peitz was a noted “coacher”—more of a bench jockey in modern parlance—whose mouth gained him nearly as much attention as his play. For nine years of his 16-season (1892–1906, 1913) career, he was a Cincinnati Reds mainstay. When he retired, Peitz ranked 12th […]

It would be hard to spend time studying the American League’s first decade without running into the brawny and brawling figure of left fielder Patsy Dougherty. A powerfully built (6’2″, 190 pounds, large for his day) second-generation Irish-American with a moon face and cleft chin, Dougherty was a major contributor to the first two AL […]

The 1934 Washington Senators, defending American League champions, were out of the playoff race by August after being decimated by injuries. Thus, team owner Clark Griffith was willing to take a chance on Reese Diggs, a hard-throwing 18-year-old who caught the eye of one of his scouts while pitching on the sandlots of Baltimore. Starved […]

Long before the term “multitasker” made its way into our language, Paul Des Jardien epitomized the word. While a student at the University of Chicago, his goal was to win twelve letters in varsity competition.i In the fall he was an All-American football player, student, and line coach for his alma mater’s football team. Come […]

On May 1, 1983, the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated their 100th anniversary in baseball. The festivities that day included 93-year-old John Enzmann, the oldest living member of the team. He was invited to toss out the ceremonial “first pitch.” Former Phil Bill Peterman was also on hand to take part in the festivities.1 Peterman was one […]

As World War II began to encroach on major-league baseball teams as well as their minor-league affiliates, doors opened to players who otherwise would have been considered to lack major-league talent.  Some who were rejected for military service and classified 4-F became increasingly prime candidates to play in the majors – selected because it was […]

Visiting Cincinnati hurler Elton Chamberlain was in Boston’s Congress Street Grounds pitcher’s box for the afternoon game of the May 30, 1894, Decoration Day doubleheader. “Icebox” had no-hit the champ Beaneaters the previous September in Porkopolis (in a game called due to darkness after seven innings) and he was about to face half the same […]

A teenaged soda vendor at the new Birmingham minor-league ballpark, a low minors “doubleheader” workhorse, a victor over Walter Johnson, and a tragic victim of tuberculosis at 31, Pop-Boy Smith is an enigmatic figure in the Southeast baseball scene from the 1910s and early 1920s. Clarence Ossie Smith was born on May 23, 1892 in […]

Why didn’t Jeremy Giambi slide? Hindsight is always crystal clear, much to the chagrin of involved parties. The Yankees mystique built upon a century of dominance over major-league baseball. The ill-advised enthusiastic wave by third-base coach Ron Washington, perhaps blind to actions outside his tunnel of vision. The cruel spectacle of a slow runner attempting […]

He was the first amateur player selected by his expansion franchise and became its first home-run champion, alas, when the parent team was in a different city. In his major-league debut, he dropped the first ball hit to him for an error and got his first hit, a triple, in his second at-bat. Nine days […]

Winner of 188 major-league games despite years of arm problems, John Lackey became only the second rookie to start and win a World Series-clinching game in 2002 with the Anaheim Angels. He won World Series rings with three different teams, the Angels, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs, over his 15-year career. John Derran Lackey […]

Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Spring 2017. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: The SABR Bookshelf, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. An e-book file will also suffice; please send the e-book in PDF, EPUB […]

Editor’s note: This article was first published in “Association for Psychological Science,” Vol. 25, No. 4, in April 2012 and is reprinted at SABR.org with permission of the authors.   Home plate was round, something like a dinner plate, when baseball was born in the 19th century, but it was difficult to call balls and […]

The St. Louis Cardinals won a World Series championship in 2006, their first season at the new Busch Stadium. (Kevin Ward/Flickr.com. Used by permission: CC BY-SA 2.0.)   Introduction The St. Louis Cardinals have achieved a level of success in Major League Baseball that has been outdone only by the New York Yankees. Through the […]