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Right-handed pitcher Chet Nichols Sr. showed tremendous promise early in his baseball career. The undisputed star of his high school’s champion baseball team, Nichols went on to shine in semiprofessional and minor-league ball. As a major-leaguer, however, he struggled. Hampered by injuries, the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder appeared in only 44 games over six seasons, 1926-1928 and […]

Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1933, right-handed pitcher Wally Signer quit baseball after five mostly injury-plagued seasons in the minors instead of accepting a demotion in 1938. Over the course of the next five years, the New York City native emerged as one of the best hurlers in the city’s highly competitive semipro leagues. […]

Born to a prominent family doctor in central Michigan, this one-game major league pitcher later became more noted as an umpire, thanks to a run-in with a star ballplayer. One of the few men to play and umpire in the major leagues, Charles Ferguson traveled the across the country playing baseball, and after retiring from […]

From 1902 through 1911, Walter Schlichter owned the Philadelphia Giants, the finest African American team of the era. Schlichter was white, the Philadelphia Item’s sporting editor, and had previously managed boxers, not ballplayers. Yet with Sol White he formed a persevering, successful partnership. Competition, alignment with more powerful forces, an ill-advised secondary baseball venture, and finally a break […]

“Pete Hill was the first great outfielder in black baseball history,” suggests baseball historian Lawrence Hogan.1 The left-handed Hill was a five-tool star with several famed independent African-American teams: the Philadelphia Giants (1904 to 1907), Leland Giants (1908 to 1910), and Chicago American Giants (1911 to 1918). He then slugged his way to Ruthian heights […]

Over the course of three decades in the early 20th century, Robert Joseph Connery was a major-league scout and minor-league player, manager, and owner. He was the closest friend of Hall of Fame manager Miller Huggins, and was Huggins’s scout with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees. Best known as the […]

Ulysses Simpson Grant “Stoney” McGlynn pitched one full season in the major leagues at age 35 and lost 25 games for the cellar-dwelling St. Louis Cardinals. But he set National League records for work – innings pitched, batters faced, and complete games – while winning 14 games and completing 33 starts. For more than 30 […]

Even before he turned 18, Bill Lamar’s name was mentioned in discussions of major-league baseball in the Washington Post. He was local to the area, born and raised in Rockville, Maryland, on March 21, 1897, and he was an accomplished high school athlete. He was under agreement to the Nationals’ Clark Griffith, who took him […]

Despite frequent citations over the years, it is not common knowledge that the Braves got their nickname and first Indian-head logo under James E. Gaffney. Then again, nearly a century and two franchise moves have gone by since the owner of yesteryear (December 1911 to January 1916) rechristened his team. The change celebrated his ties […]

Among the classic baseball records, Ty Cobb’s 4,191 hits and Babe Ruth’s 714 home runs have fallen, but Cy Young’s 511 victories remain ingrained in the pantheon. And yet, many modern-day fans have shed their fascination with pitchers’ wins, understanding that the sport is a team-wide effort, rather than an individual competition. However, when a […]

From the trade of Max “Camera Eye” Bishop before the 1934 season to the arrival of Benny McCoy in 1940, second base was in a state of flux for the Philadelphia Athletics. An infielder from Wisconsin, Stan Sperry, was once said to be a possible answer to manager Connie Mack’s “prayer for a second baseman.” […]

Although he answered to a variety of nicknames – Rub-Dub-Hub, Hurling Hub, the Tennessee Cyclone, the Untamed Son of Sumner County, the Gallatin Squash – his family, friends, and baseball fans simply called him Hub. Herbert Rodney Perdue was one of the most personable and exciting pitching prospects to emerge from the hills of Middle […]

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, […]

With a passion for problem solving fueled by an unyielding streak of empathy for his constituents, Mario Cuomo garnered allegiance from Democrats and respect from Republicans — most notably for his 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. Whether on the stump or in Albany, the 52nd Governor of New York exemplified politicians being […]

Billy Gardner played 10 seasons in the big leagues from 1954 to 1963. A feisty leadoff hitter and scrappy infielder, Gardner threw and batted right-handed, standing an even 6 feet tall and weighing 170 pounds. Gardner had stints on the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox in […]

The Philadelphia Phillies (35-32) began the day continuing to find themselves in unfamiliar territory – first place.1 On the other hand, the defending National League champion New York Mets (26-39) began the day in last place, eight games behind of the Phillies, and had the major leagues’ worst record.2 Wayne Garrett led off the game […]

The day before Game Six of the 1931 World Series, more than 500 baseball fans crowded into the Union Station Midway to wait for the St. Louis Cardinals’ special train to arrive.1 The gathering was celebratory in manner as their team returned home sporting a three-games-to-two advantage over the favored Philadelphia Athletics. An arrival message […]

In a 21-year career that was honored by his 2024 election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, Adrian Beltré spent one season – 2010 – with the Boston Red Sox. At age 31, it was one of Beltré’s best years, and it reignited the Dominican-born third baseman’s path […]

Pittsburgh’s Chief Wilson set the major league single-season triple records by stroking his 36th three-bagger during the Pirates’ final game of the season, an away contest in Cincinnati. On the same day but in St. Louis, Cleveland’s Shoeless Joe Jackson raced around the diamond for his 26th triple of the season, establishing the American League […]

The Boston Red Sox played only 126 games in 1918, a season abbreviated by World War I. The last games of the regular season were played on September 2. The World Series began three days later, and the Red Sox triumphed over the Chicago Cubs in six games, winning their fifth championship in the first […]

Baseball games are frequently protested by managers and teams on the wrong side of controversial calls, but it’s rare that a protest is upheld and a game’s result is impacted. One such successful protest occurred during the 1924 season, following an umpire’s erroneous ruling after a series of substitutions. The scoreboard read “Boston Red Sox […]

After right-hander Dave Stewart suffered a tough loss to the Chicago White Sox by giving up a tiebreaking 10th-inning home run on June 24 in Oakland, the durable Athletics’ veteran defiantly said that the White Sox still weren’t good enough to carry his jockstrap. White Sox first baseman Ron Kittle begged to differ. “It’s in […]

The third game of the 1999 World Series was a critical moment for the visiting Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees alike. The Yankees had burned Atlanta in the first two games in Atlanta, 4-1 and 7-2, so were now leading the World Series two games to none. A win in this game would […]

Unlike most other sports, baseball has no clock, so a team never has to “beat the clock” as well as an opponent. There are very few times when actual minutes are measured instead of outs in baseball. When a relief pitcher is not yet ready to come into a game, a manager will come out […]