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Vic Correll made his major-league debut for the Boston Red Sox in the last game of the 1972 season. It was October 4 in Detroit. The season was a very unusual one; the Red Sox finished just a half-game out of first place. Detroit won the pennant. On October 1, the Red Sox held a […]

Howie Fox was a right-handed pitcher who spent most of his career with the Reds during the club’s franchise-worst stretch of 11 consecutive losing seasons. By the time Cincinnati finished over .500 again, Fox had been traded, released and tragically murdered. Howard Francis Fox was born on March 1, 1921, in Coburg, Oregon — population […]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many young men turned to baseball to escape the drudgery and dangerous occupations that awaited those without a family fortune. The mines and mills were dangerous and deadly and the prospects of making it out unscathed were low. Taking to the diamond was a way to avoid […]

Red Nonnenkamp had to wait 1,702 days after his first major-league game to get his first base hit. After his September 6, 1933, debut with Pittsburgh in which he pinch-hit unsuccessfully, Leo came through on May 6, 1938 with his first big league safety. Nonnenkamp, in his 12th appearance for the Boston Red Sox, singled […]

Behind the scenes maneuvering resulted in Bud Lally being added to the National League’s staff of umpires for the second half of the 1896 season. In an era of rough and tumble baseball, Lally’s experience as a professional boxer was thought to be an asset. But his lack of knowledge and experience soon became apparent, […]

The fifth-winningest pitcher of all time, Warren Spahn went 363-245 over parts of 21 years from 1942 to 1965. Only by remaining in the game two seasons too long did he fail to finish with an ERA under 3.00 (3.09) and a winning percentage over .600 (.597), and his totals are all the more impressive […]

For the first half of the 1970 season, Cincinnati rookie pitcher Wayne Simpson had the National League by the tail. He won 13 of his first 14 decisions in the majors, making the All-Star team. “He was tough,” remembered Al Oliver, then an opponent with the Pittsburgh Pirates. “Outstanding. I’d have to rate him right […]

The New York Yankees dynasty began with Jacob Ruppert Jr. When Ruppert purchased the franchise in January 1915 with his partner, the improbably named Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston, it was one of the American League’s most hapless teams. The previous owners, a gambler and a shady ex-police chief with Tammany Hall connections, had run a shoestring […]

When The Sporting News profiled baseball’s greatest second basemen in 1929, four photos appeared at the top of the page: Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Frankie Frisch, and Hughie Critz.1 As Sesame Street teaches us, one of these things is not like the others. Hughie Critz hit over .300 only once, never reached double figures in […]

Pitcher Charlie Bell was a lifelong Cincinnatian, but his tenure in hometown baseball livery was confined to a single game — his final major-league appearance in July 1891. But that game was hardly Bell’s last appearance in a Cincinnati uniform. Beginning around 1898 and for close to 30 years thereafter, Bell proudly wore the blue […]

It took quite an odyssey for right-hander Rex Cecil to get into his first major-league game. It was August 11, 1944, and he was in San Diego. It was a Friday. Cecil had been playing professional baseball since 1937, when he was 20 and pitching for the Vancouver Maple Leafs. He’d never played for a […]

In 13 years as a professional baseball player, outfielder Dallas Williams appeared in 20 big-league games for the 1981 Orioles (two games) and 1983 Reds (18 games). The former first-round draft pick starred for three American Association championship teams in Triple-A before commencing a long coaching career, including four seasons in the majors with the […]

Miller Huggins was the Hall of Fame manager who led the New York Yankees to their first six American League pennants and three world championships, in the 1920s. He forged unique relationships with both Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and their star outfielder, Babe Ruth. One newspaperman wrote, “Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert saw in Huggins a […]

Perry Werden: One time I hit the ball so hard that it broke in two. Half of the ball struck a “Hit Me for a Free Pair of Shoes” sign on the left-field fence; the other half was retrieved by the left fielder and thrown in to the catcher. As I steamed home, the catcher […]

Indians fans in Cleveland awoke the morning of May 23, 1957, to the musings of columnist James E. Doyle of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Doyle often wrote a small poem at the beginning of his column, and this spring day was no exception. Soxcess with Cal “That stuff served up by Cal McLish,” The Red […]

The Washington Senators finished dead last in the 12-team National League in 1893, and a few changes were made for 1894. Washington parted with manager Jim O’Rourke and hired a new skipper, Gus Schmelz. “Prominent third baseman”1 Bill Joyce had been acquired from the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in February 1893 but refused to play for the […]

Philadelphia native John “Cub” Stricker began his baseball career amid the amateur ranks as a teenager in 1878. Five years later he was the starting second baseman of his hometown Athletics. And on October 1, 1883, the 5-foot-3, 138-pound Stricker paraded around a euphoric Philadelphia with his teammates; the Athletics were champions of the American […]

On April 24, 2004, the Boston Red Sox came to the plate 26 times with runners in scoring position and were hitless each time. Nonetheless, they beat the New York Yankees, 3-2 in 12 innings, on the strength of three sacrifice flies and staunch relief pitching. Most games are noted for what did happen during […]

“His beautiful swing never varies,” raved Chicago Cubs beat reporter Edgar Munzel about Billy Williams. “[It’s] a marvel of repetitive action. And it doesn’t matter who the pitcher [is].1 In the midst of a torrid streak in 1972, the most productive season of Williams’s Hall of Fame career, the Whistler, Alabama, native’s extra-inning walk-off home […]

Sean Doolittle, the Washington Nationals closer, was sitting in the bullpen when, by the top of the fourth inning, the Nationals were losing 9-0 to the Miami Marlins. Some thoughts that could have been going through his (and the other relievers) mind: “I feel sorry for Helly — he’s sick and he’s out there getting […]

As dawn turned to noon on this Labor Day, Boston fans reveled in the success of both major-league entries. The Red Sox led the Yankees by half a game, with the Cleveland Indians lurking 3½ games back.The Braves clung to a 2½-game lead over St. Louis and Brooklyn, but only a single game in the […]

It was a bright spot for Giants fans, though a victory would have been nice. In the first game of a doubleheader on June 30, 1978, Willie McCovey satisfied the anticipation of baseball fans when he hit his 500th home run. The Giants lost to the Braves 10-9 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but the smash […]

Even though Honus Wagner could stake his claim to the title of greatest hitter in baseball history in 1908, all indications suggested he would trade the national pastime for raising chickens and taking drives in his automobile. As the two-time defending batting champion, the 34-year-old Wagner had a chance to become the first player ever […]

Here are the SABR Defensive Index™ rankings through games of June 12, 2016. For the fourth consecutive season, the SDI will be used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™, presented by SABR. The SABR Defensive Index accounts for approximately 25 percent of the Rawlings Gold […]