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Fingernail care was part of the Niekro family business. Forty-two-year-old Joe was in his 21st season as a major-league pitcher, and 48-year-old brother Phil was in his 24th. They both owed their longevity to the knuckleball, an erratic pitch that requires less velocity and is less taxing on the arm. They had their father to […]

Edgardo Alfonzo did what few achieve in New York – be great while going relatively unnoticed. Alfonzo didn’t receive much attention, nor did he seek it out. On a team with power-hitting catcher Mike Piazza and outspoken manager Bobby Valentine, even Alfonzo’s breakout season of 1999 – which culminated an eight-year climb to his personal […]

Jack Quinn was ageless in more ways than one. First, for decades he seemed impervious to the ravages of time. Second, nobody — probably including Quinn himself1 — knew precisely how old he was. Quinn’s major league career spanned 25 years. He won 26 games in 1914. He also won 18 games twice — first in […]

“What it was was not baseball at Derks Field Monday night,” a Salt Lake City, Utah, sportswriter summarized in May 1975, in a phrase that channeled Gertrude Stein1 while expressing more than a little annoyance.2 On the rainy night of May 19, the Hawaii Islanders and Salt Lake City Gulls of the Triple-A Pacific Coast […]

When the gates opened at County Stadium on June 30, 1957, Milwaukee’s beloved Braves had the rest of the National League in their rear-view mirror, although teams were definitely as close as they appeared, with four teams within 3½ games of the leader. On this Sunday, each team in the National League had a scheduled […]

Enthusiasm reigned among Washington’s baseball fans after the Senators beat the New York Americans to kick off the 1903 season at American League Park in the nation’s capital. It diminished with the second game, played a day later, which New York won 7-2 for the first victory in franchise history. Three of the visiting squad’s […]

In July 1952 Boston Red Sox rookie and Opening Day shortstop Jim Piersall was hospitalized with manic depression, more recently classified as bipolar disorder. Struggling to learn the nuances of switching positions from the outfield, coupled with the fear of failure, Piersall with his seeming playfulness on the field became progressively troublesome. He fought with […]

He pitched 18 seasons in the major leagues but for Grant Jackson, it all came down to one inning in the final game ever played in the 1970s. It was familiar territory for the left-hander. Eight years before, the Baltimore Orioles took a lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1971 World Series, which culminated with […]

Dan Shay was a hard-nosed infielder at the turn of the twentieth century, playing 231 major league games during his long professional career. His style of play can best be imagined by the nicknames he accrued: Scrappy and Hustlin’. His major league resume, though, was scant. He preferred the employment conditions, lifestyle and climate of […]

“To my mind Jahn is the brainiest batter in either of the major leagues today. I make no exceptions and do not hesitate to predict that within a few years Art Jahn will have the baseball world raving about him. He will be one of the greatest hitters the game ever knew in years to […]

More than a few contemporary baseball insiders viewed John Clarkson as the finest pitcher of the 19th century. He won 30 or more games in a season six times, including two of the top four all-time totals, 53 in 1885 and 49 in ’89. In the 10-year period between August 1884 and July 1894, he […]

Metropolis, Illinois, is the hometown of Superman, the comic-book character who leaps tall buildings in a single bound. Back in the day, Robert Dale “Hawk” Taylor was the genuine article when it came to baseball. Unlike mild-mannered Metropolis Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, who left his office, entered a phone booth and came out as […]

On August 28, 2009, John Hester made his major-league debut in a way kids can only dream of, hitting a home run in his first major-league at-bat. Hester became, according to MLB.com, the 102nd player to start his batting career that way.1 But despite the dreamlike quality of his debut, his first home run was a […]

George Rooks led the 1888 Tri-State League in home runs playing for Lima, Ohio. His hitting was no surprise because he came to the team with the nickname “Home Run.” Lanigan’s Baseball Cyclopedia credits him with three home runs on June 16, 1886, for Oshkosh. However the June 16 game was a 7-2 Oshkosh win […]

Just three years after graduate Jim McHale played outfield for the Boston Red Sox, St. Mary’s College of Oakland, California, had a total enrollment of 238 in 1911 – more or less 60 people in each graduating class. This small college has produced 63 major-league baseball players, most recently Mark Teahen, James Mouton, and Tom […]

Through the 2017 season, 603 men born in the state of Missouri have appeared in the major leagues. That total is exceeded only by the states of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, all states with substantially higher populations than Missouri. Of the 603, Fred Boardman was the first to appear in […]

Ronald Michael Diorio was born in St. Mary’s hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut, on July 15, 1946. His parents, Charles and Gilda (Follachio) Diorio, were first generation Americans, with roots in the Calabria and Abruzzi regions of Italy. Charles, a Waterbury native born in 1906, worked as a plumber. Gilda worked in the shop as well. […]

It looked, at first glance, like a mistake. The Associated Press’s obituary for Ron Plaza, which ran in newspapers across the US in April 2012, noted that the Oakland Athletics’ roving minor-league instructor was entering his 61st season in professional baseball, but listed his age as only 77.1 There was no error. The prodigious infielder […]

The Journeyman.  That is the title of the book Richard Anthony “Rick” Lancellotti has selected to describe his baseball career when it is written.  A more appropriate word could not be found in the English dictionary.  After all, how many other baseball players have had a 17-year career and played in 15 leagues, in seven […]

During the final decade of the 19th century, the right field post on the New York Giants was manned by Mike Tiernan. A quiet, amiable man, Tiernan was well liked by teammates, fans, and the baseball press. But he was not without aspects of a contrary streak. On a team where sporting a prominent moustache […]

Throughout his 14-year major league career, John Anderson became accustomed to change. As one of the era’s few switch-hitters, one might say he even had a knack for it. From 1894 to 1908, Anderson played for six different franchises in seven different cities. He played for winners, such as the pennant winning 1899 Brooklyn Superbas […]

Here is a recap of the SABR Quebec Chapter meeting on May 5, 2012 at the Irish Embassy Pub in Montreal: Present: Jack Anderson; Jack Beausoleil; Jacques Doucet; Alain Dumas; Robert Duval; Norm King; Daniel Papillon; Bill Young (presiding) Guests: Johnny Elias (Guest speaker); Marlene Elias; Charles “Chuck” Poxon – a friend of Johnny’s and […]

Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, home of the Orioles from 1954 to 1991 (DAVID STINSON)   Memorial Stadium was located at 900 East 33rd Street in Baltimore, a mile northeast of Oriole Parks (I)-(V).1 Memorial Stadium was the home of the American League Baltimore Orioles from 1954 to 1991, and the National Football League Baltimore Colts […]

  Baseball only decrees 90 feet between bases and 60 feet 6 inches from home plate to the mound. Elsewhere, look backward, angel.“Thanks to Alexander Cartwright,” said former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, “the outfield distance, fence height, and space between the seats and lines vary. Parks could do as they liked.”1 Some have been liked better. […]