Search Results

Burt Hooton is one of a few quality pitchers who parlayed the use of a devastating signature pitch into a long and effective major league career. Hurlers who relied on a distinctive pitch include Christy Mathewson (“fadeaway”); Carl Hubbell (screwball); Roy Face (forkball); Mariano Rivera (cutter); and Hooton, who baffled big league hitters with a […]

Clyde Edward King spent more than sixty years in professional baseball as a player, scout, pitching coach, manager, and general manager with more than a dozen teams. Along the way, he played with Jackie Robinson, coached Bob Gibson, managed Willie Mays, and even fired Yogi Berra.  King was born on May 23, 1924, in Goldsboro, […]

By appearing in 31 games in 1884 during the lone season of the Union Association, Jerry Sweeney is one of several dozen professional ballplayers whose only major-league experience occurred in that upstart league. Sweeney had a checkered baseball career, as a result of his involvement in the accidental death of a teammate in 1878, and […]

In an effort to lessen the fledgling United States’ dependence on manufacturing in other countries, Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s secretary of the treasury, created the Society for the Establishment of Useful Machines, whose aim was to harness the power of a 77-foot waterfall, the Great Falls of the Passaic River. That act led to the […]

Like his contemporary in the National League, Mickey Doolan, George McBride was the prototypical “good-field, no-hit” shortstop during the Deadball Era. Widely viewed as the best defensive shortstop in his league, McBride struggled mightily at the bat. A relatively large shortstop, standing 5’11” and weighing 170 pounds, McBride was described in the press as an […]

Odell Hale had a few nicknames. First came “Sammy,” but early in his first year in baseball he became “Bad News” – and he was also sometimes called “Chief.” His death certificate indicates the nickname “Bing.” Hale himself listed his nationality as “Irish and Indian” on the questionnaire he completed for the Hall of Fame […]

“It was the worst trade I ever made,” said Washington Senators manager Bucky Harris about the straight swap of shortstops. He sent Buddy Myer to the Boston Red Sox for Topper Rigney on May 2, 1927. Rigney was 30 and had five years of big-league experience. Myer, 23, had one. But two seasons later, the […]

When Ned Garver won his 20th game on the last day of the 1951 season for the lowly St. Louis Browns in 1951, he became the first pitcher in major league history to win 20 games for a team which lost 100. One of the most durable pitchers of his era, the right-handed Garver led […]

Marty Keough came from a family with a deep sports tradition that so far encompasses four generations and both genders. His father was Cecil D. “Zeke” Keough, a star right-hander at the University of California at Berkeley. Marty said, “He beat USC, I think, two or three times in one year. That was his claim […]

On October 14, 1976, the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees were locked in the winner-take-all fifth game of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium, going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Royals had won Game Four the night before to force the deciding game. This evening, Royals third […]

Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis called the 1935 World Series “the greatest ever.”1 Goose Goslin was the man of the hour after smacking a clutch ninth-inning single to cap the victory. Teammates mobbed the Goose; the incessant backslapping accompanied a bloody nose, mussed hair, and a torn uniform. The mood in the Chicago Cubs’ clubhouse […]

Walter Paul Gautreau was born on July 26, 1901 in Cambridge, MA. His parents, Henri and Bibienne Gautreau, came to the United States from Sorel, Quebec, Canada after having lived earlier in New Brunswick. The Gautreau brood consisted of Walter, three other brothers and a sister. His first words as a child were spoken in French and he […]

A glance at databases in midsummer 2014 revealed that Harry Hallworth Workman had a professional career of only three months – he pitched in 11 games for the Boston Red Sox between June 27 and September 1, 1924, followed by four games in September with the Mobile Bears of the Class-A Southern Association. The Red […]

Terrence Jon Francona, colloquially Terry, has seen baseball from just about all of its vantage points. From that of a highly touted first-round pick. As the last man to make a 25-man roster. And then during a lengthy but mostly successful managerial career, including two championships in Boston. It has not come easy for Tito, […]

The son of a Chicago policeman, Golden Gloves boxer, and “bonus baby,” Jim O’Toole would become a confident, competitive and highly consistent member of the Reds starting rotation throughout the early 1960s. The lefty made significant contributions to his team’s success in two of the most dramatic seasons in Cincinnati’s long major-league history: 1961 – the […]

“You were a good man to have on a team. You kept the spirits up. You were the life of the party.” — Ted Page, to Jake Stephens 1   Jake Stephens may have been the greatest defensive shortstop of all time. He was on par with Modern Era defensive shortstops like Mark Belanger and […]

Michael Brooks Kieschnick was a rare combination relief pitcher (74 major-league games) and outfielder (50 games), who also played a couple of games at first base, as a designated hitter, and pinch-hit. He batted from the left side and threw right-handed. He was 6-foot-4 and listed at 225 pounds. Kieschnick was born in Robstown, Texas […]

“He looked like a Texan ought to look — like a Texas Ranger or a man who could have fought at the Alamo,” said Richie Ashburn.1 He was “Hondo,” a two-sport athlete in college who was pushed too far too fast by the bonus-baby rule. Stan Hollmig could have been a major-league star, but without that early […]

Someone once wrote that his rise to fame was meteoric, and like a meteor his flame burned out quickly. Certainly, his rise was rapid. At 16 he was playing in the highest classification of minor league baseball. Two years later he became the youngest player ever to appear in the World Series, a distinction he […]

After three seasons as a Cleveland Indians coach, former big-league catcher Wally Schang was looking for a challenge. It had been almost eight years since his last major-league game, and he was itching to get back into active duty.1 The 49-year-old Schang made an unorthodox move. He signed on to become the player-manager of the […]

When Jerry Koosman took the mound at Metropolitan Stadium for the final game of 1979, a sense of déjà vu must have been felt. Three years before, he made good on his chance to achieve a milestone every starting pitcher aims for when the schedule begins: 20 wins. He’d finish that 1976 season with 21, […]

The Philadelphia Phillies surged to 10 games over .500 with their 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium on July 17, 1984. With six wins in seven games, the Phillies were 2½ games behind the National League East-leading New York Mets. Philadelphia, which had won five division titles, two NL pennants, and one […]

Both the Washington Nationals (18-16, second in the NL East, 2½ games behind the New York Mets) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (15-17, fourth in the NL West, seven games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers) entered this game looking for a series win. The first game of the three-game series had been a blowout for […]

Perennial contenders during the New York Giants’ four-year National League reign of the early 1920s, the Pittsburgh Pirates began 1925 by getting outclassed by the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds on the road. Championship qualities finally surfaced in the Pirates’ home opener on April 22, when a crowd of 31,000 saw Johnny Morrison limit the […]