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“Of the other new catcher, McCaffrey,” wrote F.W. Arnold in Sporting Life, “not much can be said. He is claimed by his friends to have all the requirements for a successful catcher, a good arm, a good eye and a stout pair of legs that are speedy. We don’t know about this, but will have […]

James McCormick amassed 265 victories from 1878 to 1887 in the National League and the Union Association. He possessed an excellent fastball and was one of the earliest pitchers to master the curveball. His repertoire also included a “drop” ball. Many fans believe he is an overlooked candidate for the Hall of Fame. Baseball-Reference, for instance, has […]

His baseball career spanned the minor leagues, the National and American Leagues, and even the renegade Federal League, all in an age often referred to as the Deadball Era. Ward Miller, a left-handed-hitting, right-handed-throwing outfielder from Illinois, was never the best player on his team, but he was sufficiently skilled to cobble together an eight-year […]

His adoring fans called him “Little Nic.” At 5-feet-4 and 145 pounds, Hugh Nicol was small in stature but large in accomplishments. His showmanship and acrobatic antics on the baseball field reminded observers of circus performers. He was a 19th-century forerunner of Ozzie Smith. His greatest claim to fame was his speed on the basepaths. […]

There is a dream of baseball that most Americans know. A small-town boy from a working-class family making it to the major leagues and pitching. Few realize their dream. David Sanders did. He progressed from being an all-state player for his high school in rural Kansas to contending for pitching records at the collegiate level […]

A 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-hander with a prominent chaw of tobacco in his right cheek, Al Severinsen pitched parts of three major league seasons. In 1969 he relieved in a dozen games for the Orioles and earned one of Baltimore’s franchise-record 109 victories. Severinsen finished his career with the San Diego Padres, making a total of […]

After completing the rough draft of his Hall of Fame acceptance speech during the summer of 1993, Reggie Jackson asked legendary New York Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard to critique it. “Now, I want you to be honest with me,” the verbose slugger known as Mr. October told the man he had dubbed “The […]

Curt Gowdy was the Cowboy behind the mike. Ned Martin quoted Ted Williams and Eudora Welty. Ken Coleman meant the Jimmy Fund. Bob Starr had a gentle lummox William Bendix kind of charm. In evaluating the Red Sox during the mid-to late 20th century, all helped baseball bewitch. Ken Harrelson was the Red Sox’ Southern-fried […]

Whispering Bill Barrett was a Cambridge, Massachusetts, man through and through: born in Cambridge (May 28, 1900), died in Cambridge (January 26, 1951), and buried in Cambridge (Cambridge Cemetery, 7113 Chapel section).  He’s also one of four Cantabrigians who played major league ball for the Boston Red Sox; the other three are Fred Mitchell, Carl […]

Joe Borden, an amateur who broke into professional baseball at the age of 21, had a short but notable two-year major-league pitching career, playing in 39 games and posting a record of 13-16 with an earned-run average of 2.56. Although his record appears unassuming, he is best known for pitching professional baseball’s first no-hitter, in 1875, […]

After his rookie season in 1918, Chicago Cubs shortstop Charlie Hollocher was hailed in some circles as the next Honus Wagner, one of the first five inductees in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also mentioned in the same breath as another all-time great. “For a time it seemed as though Rogers Hornsby, […]

Dusty Cooke’s father fought in the Confederate Army at Chancellorsville, which may partially explain why Cooke himself joined with the Phillies’ Ben Chapman in some of the most vicious racist taunting of Jackie Robinson in April 1947. Cooke was first-base coach for the Phillies at the time. He had also been a good ballplayer, though […]

Jake Jones made one of the loudest debuts in the history of the Boston Red Sox. After Joe Cronin swapped slumping first baseman Rudy York — who had knocked in 119 runs for the AL champs in 1946 — to the visiting Chicago White Sox for Murrell Jones on June 14, 1947, York’s first response […]

Editor’s note: During our Stay Home With SABR initiative, enjoy these light-hearted Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau by Joanne Hulbert of SABR’s Boston Chapter to stay engaged with baseball until the games return. Check out what’s new and keep up with all the news in the Boston Chapter on Facebook at BostonSABR or on Instagram […]

The Toronto Blue Jays have played at the Rogers Centre, previously known as SkyDome, since 1989. (Creative Commons 2.0 image by Oliver Mallich)   Quest for a Franchise Canadian sports conjure up images of ice hockey, curling and three-down football. However, baseball has a long and somewhat overlooked place in the Canadian sports scene. Prior […]

This article was originally published in “The First Negro League Champion: The 1920 Chicago American Giants” (SABR, 2022).   Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants played home games at Schorling Park in Chicago (NoirTech Research, Inc.)   The arc of the history of the Chicago American Giants follows closely with the arc of Black and Negro […]

Chicago Tribune  sportswriter  I.E. Sanborn confidently predicted that barring injuries to key players, the White Sox would capture the 1917 AL pennant.1 One of the team’s strengths, he opined, was its “great” and “well-balanced” pitching staff, led by Red Faber; however, Sanborn conceded that it lacked a star like Walter Johnson or Eddie Walsh. The […]

The Pittsburgh Alleghenys had a terrible first three months of the 1887 baseball campaign. After an Opening Day victory (that was also the team’s inaugural National League contest) over Cap Anson’s 1886 pennant-winning Chicago club and the defeat of Detroit two days later (in a game that included the franchise’s first-ever cycle, by Fred Carroll), […]

Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025, left-handed reliever Billy Wagner had a career 2.31 earned-run average in 853 games over 16 major-league seasons. He was a seven-time All-Star with 422 saves, eighth-most in big-league history through the 2024 season. He pitched for five different teams, working the longest with the Houston […]

Dave “Beauty” Bancroft made his name primarily on defense during his Hall of Fame career as a shortstop. One of his biggest days as a hitter came on June 28, 1920, when he went 6-for-6 in the New York Giants’ 18-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Bancroft’s six-hit game […]

When the Negro National League opened play in 1920, its membership included the Chicago Giants, piloted by Black baseball veteran Joe Green and federated in Rube Foster’s organization after many years as an independent club. The Giants won only five league games in their debut season but were two outs from starting 1921 with back-to-back […]

It was hot and humid in Washington when the Detroit Tigers took the field against the Senators for a doubleheader on Sunday, August 27, 1961. They were hoping to make ground on the New York Yankees as they prepared to play a doubleheader. (The second game was a makeup of a rainout on June 21.) […]

New York Giants catcher Jack Meyers injured his finger during batting practice before a critical Labor Day doubleheader against the Boston Braves in 1914, forcing manager John McGraw to scratch him from the starting lineup.1 The Giants, in a first-place tie with the surging Braves, turned to veteran backup John “Larry” McLean to catch both […]

Charles Radbourn “was an artist, perhaps the greatest the game has ever developed, in that he never wasted a ball. Every time he pitched he had some purpose in view, and his control was his stronghold.” – Alfred H. Spink, 19101   With a population of 104,000 in 1884,2 Providence, Rhode Island, was a quintessential […]