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Nolan Ryan debuted in the major leagues with the New York Mets as a teenager in September 1966, joining the team full-time in 1968. It was the start of a 27-year Hall of Fame career in which he set numerous records for pitching excellence. In 1990 Ryan was the ace of the Texas Rangers pitching […]

A good manager, like a good magician, always has a trick up his sleeve. But a true tactician has a trick up someone else’s sleeve. That’s how Cleveland skipper Birdie Tebbetts overcame the overpowering Jim Kaat and the first-place Twins on a night in June 1965 at Metropolitan Stadium, invoking an obscure rule about jersey […]

As if the 2020 season wasn’t strange enough, an unusual incident occurred at Fenway Park during a late-season Sunday afternoon game against the visiting New York Yankees. The announced attendance for the game was 0 – yes, zero – as it was for every game all season long at the Boston ballpark. The COVID-19 pandemic […]

The first week of a new season is supposed to be a time for optimism. But even the most diehard fans of the 1994 Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres knew to temper their expectations. The Marlins were in their second year of existence and were not expected to seriously compete in any race except […]

“On a muggy, overcast night in Chavez Ravine,” the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-3, a game highlighted by Willie Stargell’s home run in the seventh inning that was the first ever hit out of Dodger Stadium. “It appeared to be Apollo 12,” one observer noted as the baseball landed in the parking […]

“Any time they cut into your arm, you’re going to worry, but I think I’ve proved I’m all right,” said Nolan Ryan, the California Angels’ flamethrower, after fanning 18 Chicago White Sox.1 The White Sox’ Ralph Garr, a former batting champ with the Atlanta Braves, agreed, gushing that Ryan “threw better than anyone I’ve seen […]

“Sure, there are days you don’t feel like coming to the park,” said Chicago Cubs All-Star Ron Santo. “But you’re getting paid. You can’t turn in your uniform.”1 Known for his competitive spirit, Santo was frustrated with losing. Heading into the first game of a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies, manager Lou Klein’s squad […]

The New York Mets entered the 1985 season looking to build on their success (second-place finish in the NL East) under manager Davey Johnson the year before. Indeed, the Mets became embroiled in a battle for the division title for most of the season, and ultimately it came down to a two-team race between the […]

Jacobs Field in Cleveland was the site for Major League Baseball’s 68th All-Star Game on July 8, 1997. A sold-out crowd of 44,916 turned out for the midsummer classic as it returned to the shores of Lake Erie for the first time since 1981. The host Indians ended the first half of the season on […]

The Chicago White Sox’ historic 2005 season can be told in many ways, but few shared it as personally as one of the teams radio voices, Ed Farmer. Born in Evergreen Park, Illinois, and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Farmer – affectionately known as “Farmio” – grew up watching and rooting for the […]

There was baseball in Marlan Coughtry’s family. “My dad began throwing baseballs at me as soon as I could walk,” he said. “My uncle, Ray Coughtry, had played in the Cardinal chain; my dad wants me to rise even higher.”1 Perry Coughtry was Marlan’s father. A native Californian, Perry worked as a checker for a […]

Nino Espinosa was a right-handed pitcher with good control whose career ended prematurely because of a shoulder injury. After that, he became a scout in his native Dominican Republic until his tragic death from a heart attack at age 34. Arnulfo Acevedo Espinosa was born on August 15, 1953, in Villa Altagracia, about 30 miles […]

Suggest today to Costen Shockley that judging by the newspaper headlines of 50 years ago he must have been quite a high-school baseball player, and he replies with a prideful chuckle that conveys barely a trace of conceit, “Yeah, I was pretty good.” Indeed he must have been. After dominating on the baseball diamond for […]

If anyone knew the definition of pain, it was right-hander Al Nipper, who toiled for parts of seven seasons in the big leagues (1983-1988, 1990), most notably for the Boston Red Sox. His list of injuries and maladies seems hard to fathom: nerve problems in his neck and elbow, chronic elbow inflammation, a blood disorder […]

He was known by some as “Coaster Joe,” and most of his professional baseball career was in the Western states, but Joe Connolly did play in parts of four seasons (1921-24) for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, and Boston Red Sox. He was an outfielder – right-handed – who appeared in 80 big-league games. […]

The Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series victory in 1980 was the culmination of a long rebuilding process. From 1968 to 1974, the Phillies suffered through seven straight losing seasons and had six different managers. While things seemed grim, the Phillies had a plan. They drafted well and stocked their farm system with good players, many of […]

When Rafael Palmeiro retired, he joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray as the only players to accumulate more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. A Hall of Fame-caliber career it was.1 But, with all Palmeiro accomplished, he is best known for wagging his finger at Congress as he denied ever having used […]

Righty Elías Sosa was a useful reliever for eight different big-league teams. He appeared in 601 games at the top level from 1972 through 1983. He posted 83 saves, with a high of 18 in both 1973 and 1979. Though Sosa was never a big strikeout pitcher, “he’s got a good fastball and excellent slider,” […]

Phil McCullough remembered sitting in sleet and freezing rain in the Washington Senators’ bullpen in Griffith Stadium on April 22, 1942. “It was just a terrible day. We tore up chairs and benches and furniture to make a fire in the bullpen to keep warm. It was so cold.”1 The sturdy (six-foot-four, 204 pounds), curly-haired […]

Timothy Dean Birtsas, a pitcher whose only major-league hit was a home run, spent five years pitching for Oakland and Cincinnati. He was born on September 5, 1960, in Pontiac, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. He grew up in nearby Clarkston, where, outside of his baseball career, he has spent most of his life. He attended […]

The Chicago Cubs have had some outstanding second basemen in their long history. Four of them are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Johnny Evers, Rogers Hornsby, Billy Herman, and Ryne Sandberg. There were some who thought that Ken Hubbs might take his place next to them in Cooperstown. “Kenny would have been […]

If the Detroit Tigers had only won their final game of the 1967 season, Lee Stange would have started the most important game in nearly 20 years for the Boston Red Sox. After the Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins on the last day of the magical season, manager Dick Williams told Stange to take […]

Rinky-dink in a most charming way, Jarry Park — or Parc Jarry to Quebec’s French-speaking population — was home to the Montreal Expos from 1969 through 1976. The little ballpark seated just 28,456, and that was only after additions pumped it up from its amateur capacity of 3,000. Since the era of wooden stadiums ended, […]

Editor’s note: An excerpt of John Jakicic’s poem, “My Bums Holding My Dream,” was published in Volume 2 of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts (2020). The entire poem, truly epic in length, is here for all Baseball and the Arts Committee members to enjoy.   All my dreams as a kid are long […]