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An article appearing in the Galveston Daily News during 1912 reads, “It was the first of the seventh when the redoubtable Christy Mathewson stepped into the pitching box to perform for the last three innings. He was greeted by an ovation from grandstand and bleachers as he trotted upon the field and grinned one of […]

The picture is familiar. From a very young age, a father and son throw a ball back and forth in the backyard or the playground or the street. A bond is formed and with it, the dream emerges. “I was hoping just to get to the Show and stayed 14 years.” So it was that […]

In the minor leagues, Ramón Monzant won 61 games and lost only 25, spanning 784 innings, for a .709 record. No minor leaguer who hurled at least 1,000 innings ever came close to that rate.1 Alas, he was merely mediocre for the New York and San Francisco Giants of the National League, for whom he […]

When he stepped to the plate as the leadoff hitter for the Kansas City Athletics on the final day of the 1958 season, 18-year-old second baseman Lou Klimchock was looking for his first major-league hit, not to make modern major-league history. Playing in just his second major-league game, Klimchock achieved both. On the mound that […]

Fritz Brickell’s biggest claim to fame is probably that he was the Los Angeles Angels’ starting shortstop for the first seven games of their inaugural season in 1961. But he had a brief major-league career and died of cancer at the age of 30. Fritz Darrell Brickell was born on March 19, 1935, in Wichita, […]

Immediately following his graduation from Tufts College Dental School in June 1916, catcher Ralph Carroll joined the Philadelphia Athletics, where his tenure was brief (10 games) and distinguished only by the fact that the club dropped every game in which Carroll appeared. Or perhaps that was not much of a distinction, as the hapless A’s […]

One of the best-hitting catchers in minor-league history, Everett “Yam” Yaryan batted .357 and slugged 41 home runs in 1920 for Wichita, Kansas, in the Western League. Only Perry Werden and Ernie Calbert had previously hit more homers in one minor-league season, and neither was a catcher.1 Yaryan’s banner year was his springboard to the […]

With a transient career wedged between two World Wars, Bud Clancy earned a major-league berth in the wake of a gambling scandal. Shuttling regularly amongst various leagues, he persevered and patrolled first base for 20 professional baseball seasons. “His release reveals one of the unfortunate phases of baseball,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported following his final […]

Raised in “the tenements of Hartford,”1 Walter “Monk” Dubiel rose from hardscrabble roots to  seven-year career in the major leagues that began during World War II after he was declared 4-F because of an eye ailment. It ended eight years later after a series of injuries. His memorable nickname, “Monk,” had a colorful but perhaps […]

According to J.C. Kofoed of Baseball Magazine, Big Ed Reulbach was “one of the greatest pitchers that the National League ever produced, and one of the finest, clean-cut gentlemen who ever wore a big league uniform.” A statuesque 6’1″, 190 lb. right-hander, Reulbach employed the technique of “shadowing”——hiding the ball in his windup—as well as […]

Tom McGuire must have found it odd to be on the mound for the first-place Chicago White Sox on August 9, 1919, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. The spitballing McGuire had never made an appearance in Organized Baseball. His professional baseball career had been played entirely in independent, “outlaw” leagues like the United States […]

Called “the Edison of the sport,” by James C. Isaminger in a 1922 obituary, “Uncle Ben” Shibe was a major contributor to the development of the national pastime. It was his business savvy that helped turn a nascent game at his birth into a multi-million dollar enterprise by his death. As co-owner of the Philadelphia […]

John McFetridge has the longest gap between his first and second major league seasons of any player who debuted in the nineteenth century. Nearly thirteen full years elapsed between his initial pitching appearance with the Phillies in 1890 and his next sighting in Phils garb in an official National League game in 1903. Born on […]

Except for two games in the 1890 Players League, Fred Doe devoted his entire baseball career to the minor leagues in New England. On the diamond, Doe quickly progressed from player to manager during the period 1885 to 1888. In the 1890s, Doe became a non-playing manager and in the early 1900s he moved up […]

Over the history of baseball, there have been myriad players who have been, deservedly or undeservedly, tagged with the moniker of “goat.” These competitors have been involved in circumstances that changed outcomes at critical instances in momentous games. Two of the most famous such persons, Ralph Branca and Bill Buckner, have direct ties to the […]

Ron Fairly was born to be a major leaguer on July 12, 1938. His father Carl had a 10-year minor league career and reached the International League with Toronto and the American Association with Indianapolis. The year Ron was born was one of Carl’s best seasons as he hit .302 and slugged .406 for the […]

The Red Sox faithful’s devotion to Nomar Garciaparra, cultivated through multiple All-Star seasons and batting titles, had seemingly reached its breaking point after a July 1, 2004, loss to the Yankees. While Garciaparra sat out the game due to his Achilles tendon injuries, his perennial rival Derek Jeter reached base twice and dove headfirst into […]

During his lifetime, Col. Frank Leslie Smith (1867-1950) adhered to a simple credo: the ends justified the means. The motto served him well as he built formidable business connections and amassed political clout on local, regional and national stages. By that same measure, it established the framework for his ultimate downfall. But during his youth, […]

The headline in the Cleveland Press read, “Scout Doyle is dispatched to see mysterious southpaw schoolmaster pitching phenom perform.” Nowhere in the article is the “phenom” mentioned by name, nor do they divulge where scout Billy Doyle was headed. The article does state that a telegram was received stating “Will pitch Saturday…”1 The mystery was […]

Thirty men registered plate appearances for the 2004 Boston Red Sox, but one of the biggest contributors to the offensive juggernaut did not face a single pitch. Had it not been for the December 27, 2002, announcement of Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson as the team’s new hitting coach, Boston’s stunning rise to the zenith of […]

The small town of Colony, Oklahoma, began as an agricultural settlement for Native Americans trying to adapt to a new way of life. In 1886 about 120 Cheyenne and Arapahos left their tribal lands in an attempt to assimilate themselves into the American culture. They became farmers, growing such staples as wheat and cotton. Six […]

For close to 70 years, the rich baseball history of Rochester, New York, centered around a lopsided ballpark at 500 Norton Street. The park known over the years as Red Wing Stadium and Silver Stadium hosted decades of minor-league baseball and a year of Negro National League play. Like all minor-league parks, its occupants were […]

E ho’omau ’ia ka mo’olelo. “History will continue to be made.” Maehara Stadium, August 2024 (Courtesy of Jake Rinloan)   Since its opening in 1973, Maehara Stadium has been the premier baseball park on the island of Maui. Cherished by communities on Maui, neighboring Hawaiian islands, and beyond, it has hosted countless events – mostly […]

The SABR Quebec Chapter held its spring meeting on May 23, 2020. The pandemic forced us to do so virtually, but this first experience was nonetheless quite successful. Christian Trudeau, one of our chapter’s founding members in 2005, who had been prevented from attending our meetings in person in recent years after moving 1,000 km […]