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Every little boy wants to follow in his big brother’s footsteps, especially when it comes to sports. One of Gary Rajsich’s three older brothers, lefty pitcher Dave Rajsich, made it to the big leagues for parts of three seasons (1978-80). In the end, Gary outdid Dave, playing one full season in the majors and parts […]

During a road trip late in the 1904 season, Brooklyn Superbas manager Ned Hanlon found his staff without an arm available to start a series finale in Chicago. His solution was the emergency recruitment of Joe Koukalik,1 a young right-hander prominent in the semipro Chicago City League. Although visibly nervous and constantly surrounded by Cub […]

America has always had great duos. In entertainment it was Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, George Burns and Gracie Allen. In baseball it was the great Chicago White Sox tag team of Jerry Staley and Turk Lown. Together they formed the best one-two punch out of the bullpen in 1959 for manager Al Lopez. […]

During the 1980s, Harold Reynolds stood out as one of the best second basemen in the American League. A three-time Gold Glove Award winner, Reynolds showed tremendous range and a strong throwing arm at the keystone position for the Seattle Mariners. He was also an adequate hitter and a threat to steal bases. Reynolds led […]

Shawon Donnell Dunston was one of the most recognized shortstops in the game for a period in the mid-1980s. Known for his remarkable throwing arm, he played alongside Ryne Sandberg as a double-play combination on some of the best Cubs teams at that time. Injuries limited his playing time and Dunston eventually became a journeyman […]

Alonzo Perry had a successful Negro League career primarily as a pitcher but also as a first baseman and outfielder, and even pitched in the last Negro League World Series. Although he had two brief stints in the minor leagues, he became a baseball star in Latin America while playing in the Dominican Republic and […]

In the early evening of February 28, 1894, former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Pete McNabb and his paramour, actress wannabe Louise Kellogg, retired to the room that they shared in a Pittsburgh hotel. Moments later, three gunshots rang out from inside. Then, a fourth. Those responding to the scene found McNabb lying on the floor, dead […]

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 […]

In the late 1960s and early ’70s, César Tovar was a fixture at the top of the Minnesota Twins lineup. The speedy, enthusiastic little Venezuelan (5-feet-9 and 150 pounds) came up as a second baseman, but he could handle just about any spot – he is perhaps best remembered today as one of the four […]

Fred Warren Waters was born to Wyatt and Mattie Waters on February 2, 1927, in Benton, Mississippi, an unincorporated community in Yazoo County. One of 12 children, young Fred shared duties with his nine brothers (Wyatt, Wilton, Melvin, Jack, Louis, David, Herbert, Leslie, Luby) and two sisters (Fredene, Betty Ann), around the family farm located […]

Lázaro Salazar was a great two-way player and manager in Cuban professional baseball and the American Negro Leagues, as well as in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, from 1930 until 1957. In addition to winning two MVP awards in the Cuban Winter League, he won four batting championships in three countries, won more than […]

“[Jack] Harper’s career in baseball has been rather sensational,” noted a sportswriter in 1908.1 At the major league level, the pitcher began with the worst of all teams, the 1899 20-134 Cleveland Spiders, and finished with one of the greatest, the 1906 116-36 Chicago Cubs. In between lay betrayal, court rulings, moments of near greatness, […]

He made his big-league debut on a day when Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed thousands of civil rights marchers on the Boston Common, and flourished as a pitcher during the Summer of Love. As he struggled with injuries, Americans grappled with the strain of assassinations, racial riots, and the escalating Vietnam War. Jim Lonborg’s […]

Michael Anthony Easler played 14 major-league seasons between 1973 and 1987. A left-handed hitter and right-handed thrower, Easler was nicknamed “The Hit Man” and “Line Drive” for his prowess at the plate. He was also sometimes referred to as Easy in reference to his last name, his graceful hitting stroke, and his quiet demeanor.1 The […]

A flamboyant playboy and partygoer who dressed impeccably and always had a quip and a handshake for everyone he met, Mike Donlin “may have been the most colorful character in the National League during his playing career. … Prone to late nights after afternoon games, he was a night crawler in the truest sense. … […]

Although military service delayed his entry into professional baseball until he was 25 years old, speedy shortstop Dave Altizer rose rapidly through the minors and ended up playing parts of six seasons in the major leagues. Nicknamed “Daredevil” for his sometimes erratic and reckless play, he still showed such promise that one of his managers, […]

Joe Torre stood facing the outfield wall like a child in a time-out. Behind him, a short, blocky man fired a baseball against the concrete wall. Torre, standing six feet away, tried to field the rebound. Cardinals coach George Kissell was teaching the catcher to play third base, teaching the quick reactions the position demands. […]

When and where someone happened upon a young infielder named Jim West is imprecise. It may very well have been in 1929, when he played for the Birmingham Negro Industrial League.1 Although lacking details of West’s early life and baseball career, his fine play at first base – perhaps noted by Bill Gatewood – prompted […]

The long and the short of it is that Zack Taylor was the manager who sent 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to the plate to pinch-hit for the St. Louis Browns against the Detroit Tigers in 1951.  But Taylor was not simply a straight man in an owner’s stunt, for he spent 58 years in professional baseball […]

Although generally regarded as a state where football is king, Alabama also enjoys a rich baseball legacy, having produced 13 Hall of Famers. Included among these Alabama-born immortals are some of the game’s most prolific home run hitters: Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams, et al. The subject of this profile is Charlie […]

“Tacky” Tom Parrott enjoyed a long and colorful career in professional baseball, showing both great athletic talent and a gift for showmanship. Forgotten today, for a brief time he earned a reputation as one of the game’s best players. He was the second native Oregonian to play in the major leagues, debuting eleven months after […]

New York Giants manager John McGraw, left, and team owner Charles Stoneham in the early 1920s. (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY)   INTRODUCTION The New York-San Francisco Giants baseball club is among the most storied franchises in the annals of professional sport. To fans, mention of the club’s name promptly evokes images of Willie […]

As a homegrown All-Star with the Houston Astros, the beloved Le Grand Orange in the earliest days of the Montreal Expos,1 and a 100-RBI man with the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers, Rusty Staub became a fan favorite in multiple cities across an accomplished 23-season major-league career.2 Staub’s big-league journey – which began as […]

From its beginning, as a plank in Ivan Allen’s campaign platform for mayor, to its end, hosting the Olympic baseball competition and a World Series in its final year of existence, Atlanta Stadium was a major part of the push to make Atlanta a world-class city.1 The stadium succeeded in attracting teams from major-league baseball, […]