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Erv Dusak, whose prodigious power in the minor leagues earned him the nickname “Four Sack,” came up in the St. Louis Cardinals organization in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Some considered him a better prospect than his minor league teammate, Stan Musial. Like many of his contemporaries, Dusak missed three seasons in the prime […]

Delos Daniel “Del” Drake was born on December 3, 1886, in Girard, Ohio, to William H. Drake, a dentist, and Mary E. (Schuck) Drake. A younger brother, William, died in infancy. Dr. Drake was credited for his son’s athletic prowess, and one article discovered by the author makes the claim, which the author has been […]

John Beckwith was a tremendous slugger who has received more attention for home runs hit outside of regular season Negro League play than for his superlative production during Negro League games. However, he has yet to receive induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This lack of recognition may reflect his frequent position and team […]

One of the most influential figures in the history of the sport, Charles Comiskey had a 55-year odyssey through professional baseball that ran the gamut: captain of one of the greatest teams of the nineteenth century; league-jumper during the 1890 players’ rebellion; one of the chief architects of the American League’s emergence in 1901 as […]

ANTHONY MARCUS SANDERS personifies perseverance. Quiet with an engaging personality, he was well liked and respected by his teammates during his 15-year career. Sanders experienced countless professional joys and disappointments and crushing personal tragedies. He endured 26 stops in the minors, majors, Mexico, and Japan. He was an Olympian. He was a minor-league coach and […]

Bill Shettsline was the most identifiable face of the Philadelphia Phillies during their first half-century. After joining the team in 1884 as a ticket salesman, he soon became team secretary, before being suddenly thrust into a managerial role in 1898. Reckoning with cheap ownership, unruly players, and a baseball war, Shettsline nonetheless achieved a .548 […]

“That crazy kid in Cleveland” is what Rod Carew called Kevin Rhomberg in the early ’80s.[1] Whenever the subject of baseball superstition comes up, this man inevitably stands as the extreme. It’s the main thing for which many people remember him, and that’s too bad. The one-sided portraits call out for balance. The reality is […]

Catcher Merv Shea played professional baseball from 1922 to 1944, starting in Sacramento at age 21 and finishing as the oldest man in the majors in 1944 with seven games for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a sturdy 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, a right-hander like almost all catchers, and the son of Irish immigrants. Born […]

Which New York Yankees player had the highest batting average in 1964? Mickey Mantle hit .303 and Elston Howard .313 – but nobody topped Elvio Jiménez’s .333 mark. “Look it up,” he said.1 Despite batting .309 over 13 seasons in the minors, however, Jiménez appeared in just one major-league game, going 2-for-6. Following a 17-year […]

Even if he had never gone on to own the New York Yankees, George Steinbrenner would have had a proud legacy in his hometown of Cleveland. By the early 1970s, he was one of the city’s captains of industry, having taken his family shipping firm to new heights and used it to leverage a purchase […]

On June 12, 1996, the Birmingham Barons returned to historic Rickwood Field after an eight-year absence for the first Rickwood Classic. Before the game with the Memphis Chicks, the team honored former Baron Walt Dropo and Birmingham baseball legend Lorenzo “Piper” Davis. As the capacity crowd of over 10,000 cheered Davis, he must have reflected […]

Coming up in the late 1960s, Richie Zisk was a power-hitting, run-producing outfielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. If he’d been in another organization, Zisk might have been fast-tracked to the big-league team. But the Pirates were stocked with talented outfielders. “Being in the Pirate organization cost me at least a year in the […]

Joe Cunningham was a left-handed first baseman and converted outfielder who played parts of 12 major-league seasons with the Cardinals (1954, 1956-61), Chicago White Sox (1962-64), and Washington Senators (1964-66). In his All-Star season of 1959, he hit .345 to finish second for the batting title. Known for his excellent batting eye, Cunningham’s lifetime on-base […]

Jody Reed was a smallish (5-feet-9, 170 pounds)1 and fiery middle infielder with a rocket for a throwing arm and a knack for hitting doubles. He was with the Red Sox from 1987 to 1992. He went on to shorter stints with the Dodgers, Brewers, Padres, and Tigers during an 11-year major-league career. Reed gave […]

After three years of college, Jake Flowers spent most of his life in Organized Baseball. He was a major-league infielder for seven full seasons and parts of three others; a minor-league player, manager, and executive; a coach with three major-league clubs; and a scout for three organizations. As a major-league player, Flowers was plagued by […]

There was much ballyhoo when, in 1962, Major League Baseball made its long-overdue move into the Deep South by awarding an expansion franchise to Houston, Texas. This was swiftly followed by a club moving to Atlanta and by two more expansion franchises in Florida. Yet in all the ballyhoo, it was largely forgotten that Major […]

As a founding franchise of the American League, at least in its major-league incarnation, the Boston club has had its share of colorful and fascinating owners. Though the club enjoyed considerable on-field success at the beginning of each century, it is perhaps most famous for its 86-year championship drought, a period dominated by its most […]

Editor’s note: This article was published in 2016. The popular national sport of baseball maintained and even tightened its hold on the island nation of Cuba in the aftermath of the 1959 socialist revolution. In fact the national game actually expanded in popularity and elevated in talent level during several decades immediately after Fidel Castro’s […]