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In 1931, Charles “Dutch” Schesler was midway through a professional pitching career that spanned 24 years (1920-1943).1 Though he won 147 games in the minor leagues, his major-league career – 17 games with the 1931 Philadelphia Phillies – was more mirage than oasis. He carried a résumé of a 7.28 ERA and no decisions through […]

For a while, Boston National League fans who saw Brooklyn play at Braves Field had a decent chance of seeing a lot of extra baseball. On May 1, 1920, the teams played 26 innings to a 1-1 tie – still the longest game in major-league history as of spring 2022. Two days later they played […]

A crowd of 1,2501 was on hand to watch the Philadelphia Phillies demolish the Louisville Colonels, 29-4, on August 17, 1894, breaking the National League records for runs, hits, and total bases in a game. Sam Thompson, playing as part of the “only major league outfield of future Hall of Famers who had all three […]

The fourth-place Boston Beaneaters hosted the Chicago Colts at the South End Grounds for the finale of a four-game series on June 11, 1891. The Colts appeared to have no trouble in winning the first two games of the series, taking the opener 5-3 and the second game, the following day, by 9-7. In the […]

On Saturday, August 18, 1956, the Cincinnati Redlegs and Milwaukee Braves combined to hit 10 home runs, tying a major-league record (at the time) as the Redlegs came away with a 13-4 victory at Crosley Field in front of a crowd of 30,244, fans, including 8,772 ladies night guests. It was an early-arriving crowd; the […]

It was a Wednesday afternoon in May. The Chicago White Sox were in Boston. The season was young. Chicago (14-13) was in fourth place. The Red Sox were 11-13, in seventh place, but only five games behind the league-leading Yankees. The season was full of possibilities for both teams. The Red Sox had lost the […]

Johnny Neun, the Detroit Tigers’ 26-year-old backup first baseman, was having breakfast with teammates on May 31, 1927. An article in the morning newspaper reported the unassisted triple play turned by Chicago Cubs shortstop Jimmy Cooney the day before, prompting Neun to remark, “I wonder how long it will be before anybody makes another one.”1 […]

The Cincinnati Reds were one of the surprise teams in baseball as they prepared to take on the Boston Bees in the Queen City on June 11. After 11 consecutive losing seasons, including five last-place finishes, the Reds (23-20) were in third place, 5½ games behind the New York Giants. One reason for the good […]

Lew Burdette had been close twice before. He had hurled two one-hitters — in 1954 and 1957 — but the third time proved to be charmed as he no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 the night of August 18, 1960, in front of 16,338 fans. The day of the game had been a difficult one for […]

Though the crowd for the joyous May 7, 1918, Braves Field record 16-0 blowout was rather sparse in comparison, just two days earlier the Wigwam was filled to capacity for what in previous years would have been an illegal Sunday ballgame. Connie Mack‘s former star shortstop Jack Barry and his Charlestown Navy Yard All Stars […]

The Chicago White Sox celebrate on the pitcher’s mound at Minute Maid Park in Houston after winning Game Four of the 2005 World Series. (Courtesy of Ken Smoller)   People kept talking about the history. Eighty-eight years since the White Sox last won the World Series in 1917. Eighty-six since the Black Sox Scandal “cursed” […]

In spring training before the 1941 season, the St. Louis Cardinals listed Stan Musial on the roster as a pitcher.1 His numbers from the previous year would suggest this was sensible. Although he also played the outfield on days he was not on the mound and had finished among the top 10 hitters in the […]

Outside MCU Park in Coney Island, there stands a statue of two baseball players. Both are famed Brooklyn Dodgers. Both are Hall of Famers whose legends transcend batting averages and fielding percentages. One is a white Kentuckian. The other is an African-American from California. They are Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. The statue depicts […]

1986 – a season that tugs at the heartstrings of every Boston Red Sox fan who watched and listened to the American League Championship Series and the World Series. The World Series was a classic seven-game affair. If the Red Sox had kept a two-run lead going with two outs in the bottom of the […]

“Amazing,” said Ray Crone when asked by the author to describe fan support in Milwaukee in the 1950s.[1] A tall, lanky right-handed pitching prodigy signed by the Braves in 1949, Crone debuted in 1954 and pitched a ten-inning complete game in his first start in the major leagues. However, after four inconsistent seasons and a […]

Outfielder Chaney White had a 17-year career in the Negro major leagues from 1920 through 1936. During that time, he was a member of numerous championship teams that included squads in various Negro Leagues, the Cuban Winter League, the Florida Hotel League, and the California Winter League. In 1934, at age 40, he was still […]

Imagine that Ben Affleck was pressed into emergency duty during a Red Sox game in the heat of a pennant race … and then gunned down two base runners who figured they could take liberties on him. That is essentially a summary of the major league career of Harry Corson Clarke. Clarke was born into […]

In the long history of professional baseball, almost 100 major-league players were nicknamed “Doc.” About half of them were medical professionals: physicians, dentists, an optometrist, a pharmacist, and even a veterinarian. Among the physicians was John Lavan, a graduate of the University of Michigan medical school who also earned a doctorate in public health. Lavan […]

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 October 1, 1906, Cecil Ferguson delivered a solid pitching performance for the New York Giants, shutting down the St. Louis Cardinals in the back end of a doubleheader, 2-0. The nightcap was a scheduled five-inning affair, and as noted in the New York Times, “the St. Louis team was completely at the mercy of […]

Spin rate and rotation are buzz words of 21st century pitching, but they were just as important in the 19th century. Left-hander Toad Ramsey, who began his career in 1885, was renowned for the motion on his drop ball. “Toad Ramsey, beyond all doubt, had a patented drop ball rotating faster than any other, and this […]

During Harry Grabiner’s four-decade-long tenure as a front-office official with the Chicago White Sox, he saw the team experience its highest highs and lowest lows. Beginning his career as a scorecard salesman in 1905 and serving for many years as the team’s secretary and vice president, Grabiner was involved with the White Sox’ first two […]

Simon Rosenthal was one of only 16 Red Sox players who was actually born in the city of Boston and — joining Jack Slattery — one of only two to both live and die in Boston. He garnered more at-bats for the Red Sox than any other Boston native, 357 of them during the years […]

Honus Wagner is regarded by many as the greatest shortstop of all time. It is hard to imagine that his team, in a season where Wagner hit .341 in 148 games, would have to bring in raw recruits to play shortstop. The 1899 Louisville Colonels, managed by Fred Clarke, found themselves in that dilemma. At […]