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While growing up in Chicago’s affluent North Shore suburb of Glencoe, Ross Baumgarten hardly looked like a kid who would live the American boy’s dream of playing major-league baseball one day. “I was small for my age,” recalled Baumgarten. “I was only 5 feet tall and weighed 90 pounds when I was a freshman in […]

Ed Ashenbach was known as the “King of the Minors.” Who else could claim discovery of Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, and Grover Alexander? From 1890 to 1911, Ashenbach toured the minors as an outfielder and manager. During this period, minor leagues were formed and disbanded at a dizzying pace. “Ash” navigated these waters, […]

Imagine an infielder who played his last game more than half a century ago, who appeared in 1,058 games and batted .262 lifetime. Probably only his family and his most diehard fans would know his name. But that’s not so in the case of William Richard “Billy” Cox. Anchoring the infield on three Brooklyn pennant […]

A onetime budding prospect in the Milwaukee Braves’ organization, Al Spangler drew favorable comparisons to Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn for his speed and pesky hitting throughout much of his early career. Seemingly in spite of the table-setting success of an Ashburn-like talent, Spangler often found himself on teams in search of a power-hitting slugger, […]

Pitcher Joe Berry was variously described as little, skinny, slight, bandy-legged, and pint-sized. Berry was officially listed as 5-feet-10 and 145 pounds, but Jim Coleman of The Sporting News wrote that “he was only 135 pounds and looks as harmless as a dead moth.”1 So small was Joe that in 1942 during an exhibition game […]

Clad in the uniform of his hometown team, Paul Molitor stood on third base after he collected the 3,000th hit of his major-league career. The first player ever to reach the milestone with a triple, Molitor enjoyed a number of memorable moments in a Minnesota Twins uniform through the final three seasons of his 21-year […]

Bob Cobb (1899-1970) embodied the American Dream. Rising from humble beginnings, he revolutionized both the restaurant industry and baseball entertainment in Los Angeles, California. His journey from a Montana boarding house to ownership of both the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant and the Pacific Coast League’s Hollywood Stars exemplified how vision, determination, and an unwavering commitment […]

Rarely is the first game of a major-league career the pinnacle of that career. But when New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy handed Russ Van Atta the ball on April 25, 1933 against the Washington Nationals, it was. Van Atta masterfully blanked Washington, 16-0, retiring 14 of the last 16 batters as the Yankees unleashed […]

In his book The Boys of Summer, author Roger Kahn relates how even after leaving daily 1950s baseball coverage to write for magazines, his “journalistic identity, such as it was, lived with my [New York Herald] Tribune stories” on the then-Brooklyn Dodgers. Robert Frost consoled him, telling Kahn that “nearly everyone has to lead two […]

Dave Thies (pronounced teace) was a tall righthander who pitched in nine games for the 1963 Kansas City A’s. His career could have been summarized in a headline, “Thies Talent Teases A’s Top Brass.” Arm miseries diminished Thies’ pitching career, but they never dampened his enthusiasm for a life he said has been “blessed.” David […]

On September 27, 1940, the Detroit Tigers were in Cleveland to start a three-game series against the second-place Indians. The Tigers had a two-game lead in the pennant race, so one win in the series would bring a league title back to Detroit. But Cleveland was starting off the set by sending the top pitcher […]

Chances are if one were to poll SABR members about the greatest left-hander in the history of the Dodgers franchise, the most frequent response would be, “Sandy Koufax.” But they would be incorrect. Without a doubt, the honor of greatest southpaw in organizational history belongs to Vincent E. Scully. Since the emergence of baseball broadcasts, […]

Eleanor Callow was more than just the greatest power hitter in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) history. On top of being the all-time leader in home runs and triples, Callow was perhaps the league’s best all-around position player. A speedy outfielder with a strong throwing arm, Callow ranks in the Top 10 in career […]

Geoff Blum’s baseball life has featured many highlights, but he will always be best remembered for one dramatic at-bat. In Game Three of the 2005 World Series between Blum’s Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros, he belted a home run in the top of the 14th inning to break a 5-5 tie and propel […]

When one examines the Miracle Braves’ performance it is obvious that the bulk of the pitching effort rested with just three men: Dick Rudolph, Bill James, and George Tyler. Starting 107 of the 158 games the team played, they won 68 of the Braves’ 94 victories. Yet, when Boston clinched the pennant against the Chicago […]

Chris Carpenter spent 15 seasons in major-league baseball, first with the Toronto Blue Jays and then with the St. Louis Cardinals .His won-lost record was 144-94 with an earned-run average of 3.76, and in 2005, his 21-5 season and 2.83 ERA won him the National League’s Cy Young Award. But statistics alone don’t tell the […]

For years after his major-league debut in 1898, Bert Conn was known throughout the Philadelphia area as the “schoolboy twirler” despite having hurt his arm and moved from a pitcher in the major leagues to an everyday player in the minors. But Conn’s rapid rise from Philadelphia high-school pitcher to Philadelphia Phillies starter at the […]

A roly-poly right-hander with a corkscrew motion, Víctor Cruz pitched parts of five seasons for the Blue Jays, Indians, Pirates and Rangers between 1978 and 1983. In his native Dominican Republic, Cruz was known as “El Policía” (The Policeman) for his ability to impose order on opposing hitters. The side-arming reliever saved 37 games in […]

Young Lee Delhi attended Santa Monica (California) High School and pitched for its baseball team 1908-10. As a pitcher for Santa Monica, he was known as Turk, Red and Demon Delhi. By 1909 Delhi had began to draw attention from the Pacific Coast League. Happy Hogan, the manager of Vernon, wanted to sign the young […]

Do we call him Junior or Gene? Was Junior his given name or a nickname? Could it be both? No matter. As a fresh-faced youngster Junior Thompson helped the Cincinnati Reds win two consecutive National League pennants. As a mature veteran Gene Thompson impacted the game of baseball for half a century. Junior Eugene Thompson […]

Dorian “Doe” Boyland was a good prospect who never got a proper chance to show what he could do in the major leagues. The first baseman received three trials with the Pittsburgh Pirates — in 1978, 1979, and 1981. He got into a total of 21 games, but started none of them and played in […]

The Oakland Coliseum Complex, circa 1983. The Coliseum served as home of the Oakland Athletics from 1968 to 2024. (Courtesy Barry Colla.)   The initial reviews were overwhelmingly positive. “Fabulous … ranking with the finest in the country” “A class operation” “Just great” “About the finest in the land” “Money well spent” They were referring […]

Maple Leaf Stadium, circa 1929. (City of Toronto Archives)   Toronto is a world-class city with a proud baseball history, but its ballparks have not always met a high standard. Exhibition Stadium, the American League Blue Jays’ home from 1977 to 1989, was a converted football stadium whose seating arrangements were not entirely suited to […]

From early July 1889 until the removal of the franchise to the West Coast following the 1957 season, the New York Giants played baseball – often exciting and sometimes championship-caliber – at the northern Manhattan ballpark known as the Polo Grounds. Inexorably over the decades, Giants players, managers, club owners, front office personnel, sportswriters, and […]