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Although forgotten today, Frank McQuade was a figure well-known to New Yorkers of the Jazz Age. Among other things, McQuade was a highly visible Manhattan magistrate, an influential Tammany Hall operative, and widely regarded as “the father of Sunday baseball in New York.”1 He was also a peripheral target and/or government witness in various municipal […]

After catcher Charlie Armbruster broke into the major leagues, he hit .198 for Boston his first year and was invited back. He hit .144 his second year, and was invited back. He hit .100 his third year and was sold to Chicago, where he hit .000 and ended his major-league career. That sounds worse than […]

Bert Husting was pitching in the 1897 Wisconsin state amateur tournament in Fond du Lac when discovered by Connie Mack, the Milwaukee Brewers manager in the Class A Western League. The following year the 5’-10”, 185-pounder hurled the University of Wisconsin to the Western Conference title, and four years later, was a 14-game winner with the […]

“It is hard to keep me out of the game when I’m in shape to play. I play the game because I love it.” – Mike Roach, March 17, 1910, age 401 From amateur teams in Renovo, Pennsylvania, to the major leagues with the Washington Senators, Mike Roach’s life was a North American baseball odyssey. […]

“In my estimation, the greatest black pitcher ever to pitch for Detroit — that’s for the Stars or the Tigers.” — Negro Leagues historian Dick Clark1   Left-hander Andy Cooper, one of the Negro League greats with a Hall of Fame plaque to his credit, ticked nearly all the boxes in his illustrious baseball career. […]

Prior to his untimely death in July 1918, Dr. Joseph Creamer did much good in his life, being especially revered for his longtime free medical care of East Side Manhattan indigents. But Creamer’s virtues were interred with him. To the extent that he is remembered at all today, it is for a single, regrettable act […]

During the 1920s and 1930s the New York Giants captured seven National League championships. While they had great outfielders like Mel Ott and Ross Youngs as well as solid pitching, most prominently Carl Hubbell, it was their infield that anchored the team in its success. George Kelly, Fred Lindstrom, and Bill Terry each had a […]

Although military service delayed his entry into professional baseball until he was 25 years old, speedy shortstop Dave Altizer rose rapidly through the minors and ended up playing parts of six seasons in the major leagues. Nicknamed “Daredevil” for his sometimes erratic and reckless play, he still showed such promise that one of his managers, […]

At the turn of the 20th century, Dick Padden distinguished himself as one of the smartest men in baseball. Nicknamed “Brains,” the savvy second baseman found ways to take advantage of game situations. “Padden has the brains and also the talent,” declared sportswriter Jack Tanner in 1904.1 A “born leader” he was called.2 Richard Joseph […]

Infielder Bill Ripken attacked the game of baseball with reckless abandon and paid the price, sustaining an inordinate number of injuries during his career. He never changed his all-out, hustling style of play, earning the reputation of a player who left it all on the field. The Ripkens were a baseball family. Bill’s father, Cal Ripken […]

There are many ways to leave a mark on baseball history. Home–run records, ERA, RBIs, AVG – records that can be bested at any time. There are other ways too, some subtle and serendipitous, intentional or accidental, fleeting moments of bravado and incidents that changed the course of baseball history culminating with names emblazoned on […]

Louis Leroy was a Native American who almost became a charter player for the Boston Red Sox franchise. Leroy was born on February 18, 1879, in Omro, Wisconsin, as a Stockbridge-Munsee Indian, a group of Mohicans who relocated from New York’s Hudson River Valley and Delaware to Wisconsin at the beginning of the nineteenth century. […]

Joe Pignatano was almost out of baseball within a month of his debut. Instead, his mother intervened and he enjoyed 38 years in the game, 27 of those in the majors as a player and coach. He was the bullpen coach for the 1969 Miracle Mets, and the backup catcher to John Roseboro on the […]

Jake Dunn was a versatile middle infielder and outfielder who played in the Negro leagues for parts of 11 seasons, from 1930 to 1943. He was a right-handed-hitting contact hitter who stood 5-feet-11 and weighed a solid 190 pounds.1 He also served as a player-manager late in his career. Joseph Phillip Dunn Jr. was born […]

Like Bob Caruthers, Jack Stivetts, and Guy Hecker, right-hander Dave Foutz embodied a singular 19th-century baseball species: the staff ace so adept with the bat that he was often penciled into the lineup on his pitching off-days. In fact, after a thumb injury reduced his hurling effectiveness, Foutz spent the latter part of his career […]

Mark Langston, Mike Campbell, John Halama, Carlos Guillén, Freddy García, Brad Halsey, Dioner Navarro, Javier Vázquez, Alberto González, Steven Jackson, Ross Ohlendorf, Luis Vizcaíno. These dozen men were traded, in different transactions, for Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. While they share a bond, their major-league careers took different paths. Several would play in the World […]

Emmett Bowles’ story was once characterized as “the type that leaves the baseball fan choking back salty tears.”1 Indeed, the small-town Oklahoman’s first decade in the game was primarily spent toiling in obscurity as a semipro, accentuated by a failed cup of coffee in the major leagues. He even unsuccessfully resorted to written correspondence with […]

“We drive on to Minneapolis. We are all relaxed at the game, cheering the Twins to an easy win, chanting ‘Bombo! Bombo! Bombo!’ each time the Twins’ right fielder Bombo Rivera is announced. He is a good young player, but not great. It is his name that intoxicates the crowd.”   W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe […]

This article was published in the December 2019 issue of the SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee newsletter.   Buck Weaver was one of eight Chicago White Sox players who were banned for life following the 1919 World Series fixing scandal by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. (Library of Congress, Bain Collection)   After the […]

On Wednesday evening, October 21, 1992, Torontonians could have gone to see Tom Selleck in Mr. Baseball, attended the Toronto Ski Show or hung out with Keith Richards at the Squeeze Club, but over 52,000 opted to spend the cool, wet night inside SkyDome watching Game Four of the World Series between the Blue Jays […]

On May 10, 1939, the small city of Bradford, Pennsylvania, reentered professional baseball for the first time in 23 years when its Bees took the field in a brand-new league—the Class D1 Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League, or PONY League. As if that weren’t exciting enough, a big-league team came to town just a month and a […]

“It was just another one of his usual days. I got over being amazed at him 10 years ago.” – Ken Boyer, speaking of Stan Musial, September 27, 19621 “I’ll just have to try to stroke the ball to left field. O’Dell has good breaking stuff.” – Stan Musial, September 27, 19622   A late […]

The fall classic, the world’s championship of baseball, was not yet regarded as an integral part of the national pastime in 1905. While there was a championship series in 1903 between the American League-winning Boston Americans and the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates, whether this interleague postseason series would become a regular event was far […]

The ballfield was surrounded by stately oak trees, sweet-water wells, and handsome brick buildings, and lined by a wooden fence. The weather was mild when the inmates took to the playing field on the Fourth of July in 1862. Otto Boetticher was there. A 45-year-old military artist and lithographer originally from Prussia, he operated a […]