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Before the Friday night game began at Seattle’s Safeco Field, the pitching matchup didn’t augur an even battle. The starters were two right-handers, Ryan Franklin for the Seattle Mariners and Curt Schilling for the Boston Red Sox. The 31-year-old Franklin, in his fifth major-league season, was 3-14 with a 5.31 earned-run average for the Mariners, […]

The Syracuse Stars and Toledo Maumees both spent exactly one season in the major leagues – 1890. Manager Charlie Morton steered the Maumees1 – named after the river flowing into Toledo – to a 68-64 record, fourth-best in the American Association, while the Stars, guided by George Frazier, finished the season in seventh place with […]

Hank Aaron was tired and a bit on edge as he made his way to Crosley Field for the Atlanta Braves’ Sunday afternoon twin bill with the Cincinnati Reds to conclude a four-game series. He had fielded phone calls until 3 A.M. and had an upset stomach, too. “I didn’t eat much,” said Aaron. “I’m […]

The California Angels were in first place in the American League West Division, four games ahead of the Minnesota Twins, as play began on August 10, 1979. For the past four seasons, the Angels had been steadily climbing the division standings, finishing second in 1978, five games behind the Kansas City Royals’ third straight AL […]

“Yesterday the hazardous feat of playing a match of base ball upon skates was accomplished by the Atlantic and Charter Oak Base Ball Clubs. What next?”— Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 5, 1861   “Play was lively and exciting,” reported the New York Times, “not as much difficulty being experienced from the use of skates by […]

The long, record-setting, and sometimes turbulent career of umpire Joe West began about as quietly as could be imagined, in front of fewer than 1,000 paying customers on a rainy Tuesday evening in Atlanta on September 14, 1976. At age 23, West umpired his first big-league game in the first half of a doubleheader between […]

Considered a “Methuselah” because he played for the Brooklyn Superbas for an uninterrupted period of more than a decade, John Hummel was known as the “prince of utility players,” appearing in 548 games at second base, 293 in the outfield, 160 at first base, and 74 at shortstop. Hummel batted .254 and stole 119 bases […]

Curly Onis’s major-league career batting line read: “1 game. 1 at-bat. 1 hit.” A perfect batting average. A total of 22 major-league players have stroked a hit in their sole plate appearance, and Onis, a catcher, is one of that elite group. Further, according to Baseball-Reference.com, 127 catchers had a single hit in their careers […]

As he walked to elementary school in La Jolla, California, Bruce Robinson tested his throwing arm with rocks. “I had to hit every sign from a certain distance or I couldn’t go to school,” he said. “I was on a mission from the time I was about 10 years old to become a major league […]

This wiry catcher didn’t have much power, but his agility, strong arm, and knowledge kept him employed behind the plate for more than two decades. Turning pro as a youth of 15 in 1973, Alex played in 939 major-league games with five teams from 1978 to 1990. He ran well enough to serve as a […]

Born in Barre, Vermont, of an immigrant father who worked in the granite industry. Died in Barre, Vermont, 70 years later. Hearing those bare facts, you might think Walt Lanfranconi’s story is that of the quintessential Vermonter, living his life out in obscurity in the town where he was born and raised. Walt Lanfranconi answers […]

The numbers look as gloomy as an April rainout. Sunny Jim Pastorius compiled a career won-loss mark of just 31-55 in four seasons with the Brooklyn Superbas. That equated to a modest .360 winning percentage. He endured 20 losses in 1908. During one awful streak, Pastorius lost a team-record 15 straight games. The left-hander posted […]

Red Barrett made a solid contribution to the 1948 Braves pitching staff, as both a spot starter and reliever. He appeared in 34 games with a 7-8 record and an impressive ERA of 3.65 (although he did not qualify for the ERA title), besting both ace hurler Warren Spahn’s earned run average of 3.73 and […]

A two-month stretch during the summer of 1955 elevated Billy Klaus from a cup-of-coffee nobody to a Boston civic hero before he settled into a journeyman role. He played four seasons with the Red Sox and seven more with four other teams before retiring as a major-league player in 1963. At 5-feet-9 and 165 pounds, […]

Rob Picciolo sat in the Milwaukee Brewers dugout in the early summer of 1982, watching Robin Yount and Jim Gantner execute another double play. The smooth coordination of the two fielders told Picciolo what he already knew: Barring an injury, he wouldn’t be needed in the Brewers’ middle infield any time soon. Picciolo (pronounced \PEACH-uh-lo\) […]

Third baseman Ty LaForest had one of the best home debuts in Boston Red Sox history. Just 21 months later, he was dead. LaForest was a local kid, called up to the big leagues after a superlative season in Double-A (then the top minor-league classification). Playing his first game on the road in Washington on […]

John Perkins Luby was a right-handed pitcher and left-handed batter of the 19th century whose meteoric rise in 1890 was followed by a slow, steady decline until his death in 1899. [1] The second of three sons, Luby was born in Charleston, South Carolina, to James and Johanna Luby in either the last half of […]

He began his baseball life as the mascot of his college team, but the diminutive Ed Burns grew into a World Series catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. On October 31, 18871, in San Francisco, Edward Aloysius Burns and his wife Louisa (née Schaufele) welcomed their only child. Edward James Burns. into the world. The elder Edward […]

Stunningly little is known about Norman Baker even though he was without question one of the most interesting characters associated with the sport of baseball in his day. From his photographs he appears to have been lean and lanky, but his height and weight are still unknown, as are the ways in which he batted […]

Always hustling and full of pep, Russell “Lena” Blackburne was a superb defensive infielder from 1908 to 1926. Though a solid hitter in the minors, he struggled to hit major-league pitching. After his playing career ended, he served for three decades as a coach, manager, and scout. He is perhaps best known for a unique […]

One of only 21 Montanans to make it to the major leagues, Herbert Eugene Plews was born in Helena on Flag Day, June 14, 1928, the only child of Herbert and Marie Plews. Father and son had different middle names. Had things worked out otherwise, he might well have been born in Australia. His grandfather […]

The Grandstand Baseball Annual 1996 reprinted an article titled “Baseball Research Before SABR,” by Frank Phelps, which had originally appeared in the 1990 SABR membership directory. GBA’s editorial comment stated that Phelps’s article serves as the “definitive research road map,” and that “all the big names are there who contributed to baseball’s early foundation.” When […]

Bill Merritt was a backup catcher during the 1890s, appearing in 401 games in eight seasons with five major-league teams. Needed for his glove and throwing arm, Merritt could also at times find his way with the bat, even leading the league in hitting at various times during the seasons in which he played, despite […]

If you never heard of Harry Lochhead, that is very understandable. The shortstop’s big-league career was brief and his statistics mostly unimpressive, though he led the hapless 1899 Cleveland Spiders with 148 games played and played briefly as the keystone partner of Nap Lajoie in 1901. Harry would have had some dazzling tales for his […]