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William Harold “Bill” Terry was a superior first baseman in the 1920s and 1930s and one of baseball’s premier managers in the 1930s. Born in Atlanta on October 30, 1898, he had an unsettled childhood. His parents suffered through an unhappy marriage, finally separating when he was in his mid-teens. Terry was essentially on his […]

Three days before the start of the 1990 season, Omar Vizquel, the Seattle Mariners’ slick-fielding shortstop, sprained his left knee during a collision in a Cactus League exhibition. The injury sidelined him until July. That same day, April 6, the Mariners signed utility infielder Mike Brumley to fill the void. Before the signing, Brumley had […]

Pitcher Mike Prendergast toiled over 600 innings in back-to-back seasons with Peoria in the Illinois-Iowa-Indiana League. He followed that up with a 180-game major-league career. His work ethic earned him the nickname “Iron Mike,” but he would likely be long forgotten had he not been included in the Chicago Cubs-Philadelphia Phillies trade that sent Pete […]

Like a host of others, the name of John T. Powers was likely as familiar to baseball fans of a century ago as it is unknown to followers of the game today. Throughout the Deadball Era, Powers promoted baseball as a sportswriter, publicist, and organizer of amateur, semipro, and professional nines. His primary contribution to […]

In 1955 the Kansas City Athletics coaching staff “observed [rookie right-hander Art] Ditmar during spring training and prophesied that he was destined for distinction on the mound.”1 This bright assessment was echoed three years later by New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel, who said, “I believe … Ditmar could grow into one of the big […]

Infielder Billy DeMars broke into professional baseball at age 17, had his career interrupted by service in the Navy during World War II, then came back and played parts of three seasons in the majors (80 games with the Athletics and Browns), and extended his minor-league career by turning to managing through 1968. He assigned […]

“Gus Weyhing is one of the swiftest pitchers in the business. He is, comparatively speaking, a small man and his appearance gives no indication of the muscular power necessary to manipulate the ball at the speed with which he delivers it.”1 The 145-pound Weyhing was a true rabble rouser, often as mischievous off the field […]

Labeled “a right-handed Eddie Lopat … [George Susce] was regarded as a junkman, just like the great [New York] Yankee lefthander.”1 The son, brother and uncle of professional baseball players who made their mark collectively over seven decades, Susce dreamed of reaching the big leagues ever since his days as a child selling scorecards and […]

An Indianapolis native and prosperous city hotelier with no previous connection to baseball, J. Edward Krause served as club president and principal public spokesman for the Indianapolis Hoosiers, the premier franchise of the Federal League for the first two of the circuit’s three-season existence. On the field, the Hoosiers were sterling, capturing the flag in […]

Paul Bunyan has nothing on Rich Rowland. Bunyan was a mythical giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. He had a pet blue ox named Babe, but never played in the major leagues.1 Rowland – who was “strong like an ox”2 – worked as a lumberjack and heavy equipment operator in the […]

Throughout the 20th century and to the present, numerous luminary figures have gained everlasting fame as members of the storied New York Yankee franchise. Starting with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the 1920s, icons like Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford became household names during their illustrious careers. Every decade produced […]

In the course of the nine seasons and 449 major-league games in which Edward Spencer appeared, he was hit by a pitch 17 times. More than half those hit-by-pitch moments came in one year, in just 70 games, when he was hit a league-leading nine times. Spencer was a catcher, and he stood 5-foot-10, while […]

With an obscure baseball pedigree, right-hander Elmer Horton was misperceived as a young pitching prospect when auditioned by the Pittsburgh Pirates late in the 1896 season. Unbeknownst to his employers, Horton had just celebrated his 30th birthday. Whatever his age, it quickly became obvious to Pittsburgh brass that the newcomer lacked the stuff needed for […]

In many ways, the baseball career of Lloyd Davenport was quite similar to those of many of his fellow Negro League players. Rising from athletic obscurity in New Orleans, he eventually played for and managed an array of Negro National and American League squads, spent seasons in Mexico, and occasionally wintered in Cuba and Venezuela. […]

Five major league teams, four NLCS home runs, three 20-home-run seasons, two All-Star Game appearances, one Flap-Down = No. 00, Jeffrey Leonard. In the scope of baseball history, Jeffrey Leonard’s career was a brief candle, a poorly understood player whose home-run strut fretted the baseball universe in a brief but spectacular hour upon a national […]

On June 23, 1931, sportswriter Walter W. Smith encountered George Watkins, the St. Louis Cardinals right fielder, in the lobby of Philadelphia’s Franklin Hotel, where the team was staying for a series against the Phillies. Both men were relatively new to their jobs; Smith had begun covering the team for the St. Louis Star the […]

“One feller I want to meet if he’s still alive and can be found is that fellow Henriksen,” remarked 72-year-old Hugh Bedient to Jamestown Post-Journal sportswriter Frank Hyde. It was March of 1962, and in four weeks’ time Hugh was expected in Boston along with the other surviving members of the 1912 World Champions for […]

“The first thing you have to have is a catcher. Because if you don’t have a catcher, you’re going to have a lot of passed balls and you’re going to be chasing the ball back to the screen all day.” — Casey Stengel, 19621 “I’ve never played any other position, except the first year when […]

Among a lifetime of lively anecdotes, perhaps none better evokes the colorful and adventurous life of Ed Burns than that told by another renowned sportswriter from the profession’s glory days, Red Smith. Writing four days after Burns’s untimely death, on January 27, 1955, at the age of 64, Smith suggested that his colleague “probably was […]

[With research assistance from John Leidy] Ray Fisher has been justly honored for his 38 seasons as head baseball coach at the University of Michigan. He was elected to Michigan’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1959, the American Association of College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1966, and the University of Michigan Hall of […]

In spring 1912, the assets that accompanied 20-year-old middle infielder Bill Stumpf onto the roster of the New York Highlanders included defensive versatility, a strong and accurate throwing arm, and the promise exhibited the previous year during his professional debut campaign with a mid-tier minor league club. One spring later, a powerless bat, an erratic […]

Ernie Nevers’ football career as a fullback and coach is well documented. While a full biography has yet to be written, much ink has been spilled in the telling of his gridiron glory. His baseball career has not been so well scoured in the near century since he pitched professionally. It is only natural that […]

Darryl Kile was no stranger to quashing claims that his best days were behind him. After a 12-21 record in his first two major-league seasons, he made the All-Star team and pitched a no-hitter in 1993. After three straight years of earned-run averages above 4.00, he rebounded in ’97, landing a 19-7 record and a […]

On July 17, 1904, future Hall of Famer Clark Griffith pitched the homestanding New York Highlanders to a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers in a contest that was atypical for the era in several respects. First, the game, a makeup of an earlier rainout between the clubs, was played on a Sunday. Avoidance of […]