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In various ways, the life of right-handed pitcher George Pechiney typified the existence of the late-nineteenth-century journeyman player. Pechiney’s abilities were modest, and his major-league career was a relatively brief one, abbreviated by abuse of alcohol. Once his playing days were over, Pechiney returned to the arduous everyday working life from which he had sprung, […]

The Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns faced each other in the second game of a doubleheader on August 18, 1937, in a battle of second-division teams. The Browns built a 6-1 lead against Willis Hudlin thanks to a three-run homer by Harlond Clift. The Tribe rallied in the sixth and had the bases loaded […]

To discuss Paul Derringer is to discuss two men-a pitcher with exceptional control of his pitches and general work on the mound and a man with little or no control of himself anywhere else. Derringer (called “Oom Paul” for his 6-foot-3.1/2-inch height and admitted 205 pounds) was a belligerent man who often used his fists […]

“Vizcaíno did an unheralded role that in some ways can be not recognizable, but valuable nevertheless.” – Don Cooper, Vizcaíno’s pitching coach, on his role on the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox.1   Luis Vizcaíno pitched 11 seasons as a reliever in the major leagues with eight teams, including the 2005 World Series […]

Before Curt Schilling and the bloody sock in 2004, one player who personified toughness in a Boston Red Sox uniform was Butch Hobson. Hobson’s legacy is that of a power-hitting third baseman who brought a football mentality to the diamond in the way he played through pain and gave every ounce of effort on the […]

The history of baseball is a lie from beginning to end, from its creation myth to its rosy models of commerce, community, and fair play. The conventional tale of the game’s birth is substantially incorrect — not just the Doubleday fable, pointless to attack, but even the scarcely less legendary development of the Knickerbocker game, […]

It takes a special kind of talent for a pitcher to lose 20 games in a season. The pitcher has to pitch both poorly enough to lose, but well enough that he keeps getting chances to pitch. If losing 20 games takes talent, how much more talent does it take to lose 48 games in […]

Former Army drillmaster Clyde Barfoot, a tall, husky, brown-haired and blue-eyed pitcher, relied on a “twisting fadeaway” called a “screw ball,” much like Christy Mathewson before and Carl Hubbell after him.1 His three seasons in the majors were sandwiched around his most successful professional campaign, winning 26 games in the Pacific Coast League in 1925 […]

“The tallest thing on spikes in this neck of the woods.”1 Clarence “Shovel” Hodge, who earned his nickname by working as a railroad fireman, stood 6-feet-4 – without spikes. In his major-league debut for the Chicago White Sox on September 6, 1920, the righty pitcher allowed no hits against Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers […]

This native of Providence, Rhode Island, attended Brown University in his hometown. He was one of the first men in the majors from the university. Clarke graduated from Williams College in 1889, however, and became the first big-leaguer at all from that school. The utilityman – his main position was catcher – played in 149 […]

Although right-handed, side-armed pitcher Clayland Maffitt “Clay” Touchstone Jr. has a sparse major-league resume — no decisions in 12 games spread over parts of three seasons, including a 16-year gap between appearances at one point — he nonetheless had a long, often successful career in the minor leagues, winning 272 games, making multiple all-star teams, […]

Few individuals saw more Astros history than Alan Ashby. An Astro for 20 of their first 50 seasons, he spent eleven on the Astrodome carpet, coordinating one of the more challenging pitching staffs of his time. After one year as their bullpen coach Ashby moved to the broadcast booth for another eight, culminating with Houston’s […]

In the estimation of nineteenth-century baseball historian David Nemec, Pittsburgh pitcher “Billy Gumbert may have been more talented than his younger brother Ad,”1 a 123-game major-league winner. But Billy’s disinclination to journey far from a budding career in local business restricted his ballplaying opportunities. He pitched only home games at Recreation Park after a morning […]

He was a handsome, stylish Italian-American from the streets of Brooklyn who strutted into prominence at the same moment John Travolta’s Tony Manero did the same on the silver screen. But there was more to Lee Mazzilli than a pair of tight-fitting pants. He was a graceful athlete with a good eye who could hit […]

George “Mule” Suttles emerged from Alabama coal mines to become one of the greatest power hitters in Negro League history. He drew comparisons to Babe Ruth for his tape-measure home runs, and he hit for average, too; his career batting average is estimated to be .317 by Seamheads.com. The genial first baseman and outfielder was […]

Known for his white-blond hair, Silver King emerged as a star in his rookie season, winning 32 games and helping the St. Louis Browns to the 1887 American Association pennant. He recorded at least 30 victories in his first four big-league seasons, including a league-best 45 in 1888, at a time when the pitching distance […]

Jimmy Jones ended his major-league career with one sweep of his arm. The last-place New York Giants were struggling on August 6, 1902, having lost three straight to Pittsburgh and facing Jack Chesbro, who was on the way to a 28-win season. The Giants were in a foul mood and complained about umpire Bob Emslie […]

Cory Lidle pitched for seven teams in the major leagues, primarily as a starter, during nine seasons from 1997 to 2006. His life was cut short on October 11, 2006, when the Cirrus SR20 airplane he was piloting struck a building while attempting to make a turn over the East River in New York City.1 […]

“There was no better teammate. … He’ll do anything to win.” – James “Cool Papa” Bell1   When legendary pitcher Satchel Paige became the first to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971 based on his Negro League accomplishments, he told Afro-American reporter Sam Lacy that he thought there were others […]

“If you were to ask me who is the smartest hurler in our league, there could be but one answer, and that is ‘Cockrell.’” – W. Rollo Wilson1   Phil Cockrell’s arrival in the North is one person’s story of the Great Migration, the movement of millions of African Americans from the South as they […]

Sinclair Oil’s dinosaur logo is as powerful a brand identifier as Exxon’s tiger or Mobil’s Pegasus. When Harry Sinclair died at the age of 80 in 1956, his obituaries in the Los Angeles Times1 and the New York Times2 highlighted his oil exploits—but did not mention his baseball interests.  In the early 1900s, Sinclair was […]

Harry McIntire played professional baseball from 1900 through 1913. After spending five years in the minor leagues, he ascended to the major leagues with Brooklyn in 1905. Over the next five seasons McIntire toiled in futility with Brooklyn. In 1910, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. Though pitching in a diminished role, he had […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords” (2020), edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin.   Baseball spring training had a long run in Hot Springs, Arkansas, from 1886, when the Chicago White Stockings came to town, to 1955, when the Detroit Stars prepared there for their season. Within […]

On September 26, the Washington Nationals travelled to Miami to finish the 2011 season with a three-game series against the Florida Marlins. These were the final games to be played in Sun Life Stadium, described by Dan Le Batard as a “kind of a sad dump for baseball now, truth to be told, too empty […]