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To tell the story of Robin Roberts’s 286th and final major-league victory is to tell a tale of a fading star passing the baton to a future star and of two old friends in the twilight of their careers patching together one more winning effort. The rising star was Ferguson Jenkins. The old friends were […]

On September 5, 1943, about 500 fans attending a minor-league game at Bradner Field in Olean, New York, rose to their feet in silent, somber tribute to a local hero. John Moller, formerly a star pitcher and outfielder with the Olean Oilers of the Class D Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York (PONY) League, had been killed in action […]

The Brooklyn Bridegrooms routed the Pittsburgh Alleghenys 20-1 in the darkness-shortened second game of a National League doubleheader on August 1, 1890. In the blowout, Brooklyn’s Thomas P. “Oyster” Burns became just the fourth player in major-league history to hit for a natural cycle, recording a single, double, triple, and home run in ascending order. […]

Chicago’s Comiskey Park, built in the heyday of the first wave of steel and concrete ballparks and opened in 1910, hosted its share of iconic baseball moments. A World Series championship in 1917 was followed by the infamous Black Sox Scandal two years later. It was the site of the first All-Star Game in 1933 […]

The California Angels came to Cleveland for a two-game series between the two division leaders on July 17, 1995. The Indians had a comfortable 14 1/2-game lead over both Milwaukee and Kansas City in the American League Central Division. It was their largest lead ever over another team. The Indians were coming off a four-game […]

It took a lot to pry the attention of the baseball world away from New York teams on September 30, 1973. The Yankees played their final game at the original Yankee Stadium, losing to Detroit. And the Mets split a doubleheader with the Cubs to cling to a one-game lead in the National League East. […]

The Boston Bees and the Brooklyn Dodgers raced the sun for 23 innings, over 5 hours and 15 minutes, on June 27, 1939, at the Beehive in Allston, and the sun won. Despite 179 plate appearances and 33 base hits,1 the two second-division teams ended tied 2-2 when plate umpire Babe Pinelli called the game […]

In 1964 Johnny Pesky, longtime Boston Red Sox star, was in his second season as Red Sox manager. According to his SABR biography, Pesky “brought some fire to the position, after years of yawns under the likes of Pinky Higgins.”1 Boston had not posted a winning record since 1958. Since 1961, when the American League expanded […]

“There’s more of a feeling on this club that we’re going to win than there was even in ’59,” said veteran Jim Landis. “That ’59 club had plenty of confidence, don’t get me wrong, but this club has better pitching.”1 Landis, the last member of the 1959 pennant-winning White Sox still with the team, was […]

Oh, those New York Mets! In the first three seasons since the National League returned to New York in 1962, the Mets finished in last place. Would the 1965 season be their time to abandon last place for higher ground? To answer the question, manager Casey Stengel could be direct without resorting to some form […]

Leaving your mark in a graceful manner can be quite difficult. “I’ll probably never do it again,” said the Chicago Cubs’ Mark Grace about hitting for the cycle against the San Diego Padres in the Windy City. “I don’t hit many triples.”1 Grace’s three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth almost capped the […]

The old, the young, and the immortal converged at County Stadium on May 1, 1975, as Henry Aaron broke another of Babe Ruth’s records and marveled at the emergence of another player –Robin Yount – who was younger than Aaron’s career was old.1 Aaron was in his first year with the Brewers after an offseason […]

On a day when a sparse crowd was hoping to see its home team sweep its first series of the season, Atlanta Braves fans left the game with a shocking surprise. With a 5-0 lead in the ninth inning, a Braves victory seemed a sure thing. Even after their reliable closer gave up two singles […]

When the fifth-place Montreal Expos limped into Los Angeles for a three-game set at Dodger Stadium on July 26-28, 1991, there was little indication that history would be made that weekend. Not only would two Expos throw dramatic pitching gems in the series, but some of baseball’s long-standing records would be reclassified as a result […]

Right-handed knuckleball pitcher Al Papai earned many more accolades serving four years in the United States Army during World War II than he did in four years of appearances in major-league baseball. He was one of the 11 children of Illinois coal miner Victor Papai and his wife, Mary, the former Marie Pongracz. Both were […]

“I’m sure God never meant me to be a ball player,” Taft Wright said. “If he had, I wouldn’t be built so close to the ground and always worrying about my weight and being muscle bound.”1 Sportswriters called him “Fat Wright” and “Round Man.”2 Wright was a born designated hitter — born decades too soon. […]

Craig Cacek (pronounced Cass-ek) played in seven games for the Houston Astros in 1977. From June 18 to July 10 he was in the major leagues for the only time.1 He had one hit, one RBI, and one walk in 21 plate appearances, a .050 batting average. The Astros’ trade of Cliff Johnson to the […]

Terry Steinbach grew up in an athletic family that focused on the fun of the games they played. Although he didn’t give a lot of thought to college scholarships or professional aspirations during his formative years, Steinbach took his baseball talents to a 14-year career in the major leagues that included three World Series and […]

First baseman Billy Jo Robidoux tore up the Texas League in 1985. At age 21, he was in his fourth year of pro baseball, playing for the Double-A El Paso Diablos in the Milwaukee Brewers system. He led the league in batting average (.342), base hits (176), runs batted in (132), and runs scored (111).1 […]

Gary Bell was a wisecracking righthander who came up as a phenom in the Cleveland system, was traded to the Red Sox in early 1967, eventually winding down his major league career with stints as a Seattle Pilot and a Chicago White Sox. His parents, Doris and Bill Bell, settled in San Antonio, Texas, in […]

Bob Hope entertained troops in war zones, hosted the Academy Awards 19 times, and had more wealth than Midas thanks to oil investments, real estate holdings, and television commercials for Texaco and Chrysler. His relationship with NBC, unparalleled in show business, started on radio in the 1930s and continued on television when it became a […]

In baseball history there have been certain street corners that through the years have become synonymous with the ballparks located at them. At the corner of Michigan and Trumbull was Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. 21st and Lehigh was Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Findlay and Western was Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. On the South Side of Chicago, 35th […]

SABR Bibliography Committee Research Guide No. 4:  Index to Baseball Stars, 1950-75 Editor’s note: This guide was first published by the SABR Bibliography Committee in 1986. To download the original in PDF form, click here. By Frank PhelpsDecember 1986 This popular annual series of collective biographies commenced with Baseball Stars of 1950, resumed after a […]