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As many baseball fans know, Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman is the only player to die from an injury sustained during a major-league baseball game. But 27 years after Chapman was struck and killed by a pitch, a Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder came frighteningly close to becoming the second. Long before 1947, Pete Reiser had a […]
On game days at Wrigley Field, the first thing many players—particularly pitchers—do is check the flags flying above the iconic center-field scoreboard. When the wind blows in off Lake Michigan, as it often does early in the season, the ballpark is a pitcher’s paradise. But as the weather warms, the prevailing winds are mostly from […]
Throughout his career, Curt Schilling was known as a big-game starting pitcher who performed well in high-pressure situations. Appearing in four World Series with three teams—winning three titles—he compiled a postseason record of 11-21 with a 2.23 ERA, including a mark of 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in five games when his team faced elimination. […]
From 1979 through 1984, Scott McGregor’s six-year winning percentage of .650 was the majors’ best.1 Characterized by his strong Christian faith and constant changing of speeds with his pitches, the lefty had great success over parts of 13 seasons (1976-1988) with the Baltimore Orioles. McGregor was an All-Star, a 20-game winner, and pitched clinching games […]
If you were lucky enough to bring Ron Darling to a party, how would you introduce him? Especially if the party was outside the New York City area, it’s possible you would have to do just that. While he has numerous accomplishments on and off the baseball field, he hasn’t grabbed the headlines (for all […]
The only image of John Brown we could find is this cartoon from the July 10, 1942 St. Louis Argus. John Wesley Brown came by his nicknames of “Lean Man” and “Slim Man” quite honestly. He stood 6-feet-1-inch tall and tipped the scales at less than 160 pounds. He was a right-handed pitcher who, […]
Forever known in Toronto Blue Jays lore as the team’s first Cy Young Award winner, Pat Hentgen by his accomplishments on the mound has been anointed as one of the best pitchers in Blue Jays history. Standing at 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds, Hentgen was a high-command fastball/curveball pitcher who had a stretch of being one […]
On September 22, 1959, with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth inning at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, Chicago White Sox manager Al Lopez signaled to the bullpen for his top reliever, Jerry Staley. (Although his first name was Gerald and he was commonly referred to as “Gerry” both during and after his career, […]
Arthur Rhodes forged a 20-year major-league career by establishing himself as a reliable left-handed reliever for nine franchises. He is the career leader (as of 2020) in holds since it became an official statistic in 1999, with a total of 231. Rhodes overcame family tragedy to become one of the oldest first-time All-Stars at the […]
As of 2021, Baseball-Reference reports that there have been over 232,000 professional baseball games played since the establishment of the National League in 1876. Therefore, it is a significant accomplishment to be the sole holder of any single-game record. Shawn Green is one of the few players with that distinction. Playing for the Los Angeles […]
Longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray once wrote that Ralph Garr was as hard to get out as an impacted tooth.1 Getting “The Road Runner” out was an especially difficult task in his signature year, 1974, in which he won the National League batting title, hitting .353. This came after finishing second to Joe […]
The first major-league ballplayer to play on championship teams in both the United States and Japan was John Logan, Jr., known to the baseball world as Johnny. For 14 straight years (1948-1961) he was Milwaukee’s shortstop, the first five with the American Association Brewers, the last nine with the National League Braves. A four-time All-Star, […]
More than once, Aaron Rowand’s style of play has been described as hard-nosed. The world saw why on May 11, 2006. Rowand was in his first season with the Philadelphia Phillies after five years with the Chicago White Sox, and his team was hosting the New York Mets, who had loaded the bases with two […]
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 […]
Elmer Steele was a baseball team owner even before he took his first job as a player outside the region from which he came. In the long run, both Elmer Steele and his father William seem to have pursued allied occupations associated with delivering the mail, save for Elmer’s foray into professional baseball over an […]
On Thursday afternoon, March 31, 1938, the Pittsburgh Pirates played an exhibition game against the Pacific Coast League’s Portland Beavers at Amerige Park in Fullerton, California. Bob Ross, a 9-year-old student at Ford School, just a few blocks from the baseball field, was given permission by his mother, Louisa Ross, to attend the game. “From […]
Beginning in 1888 and for the next five summers, right-hander Huyler Westervelt was a pitching standout on various amateur baseball teams in the greater New York City area. As a result, he attracted a number of offers from major league clubs but did not accept one until he signed with the New York Giants in […]
As of the end of the 2014 season, 18,400 players are recognized by Baseball-Reference as having played in the major leagues. Of this group 595, or a little over 3 percent, share an interesting distinction: They played their first major-league game for a team that won the World Series that year. Eleven of this group […]
Jeff Kunkel appeared in 357 games over eight major-league seasons, persevering through the weight of lofty expectations, a plethora of injuries, and personal loss. He holds or held a number of interesting baseball distinctions: No resident of New Jersey has ever been selected higher in the amateur draft; no other person is known to have […]
A rookie at the age of 34, he beat the Chicago White Stockings 10 consecutive times in the heart of their dynasty, struck out 483 batters in a single-season, and earned the reputation as one of the first power pitchers in the history of baseball. Hugh Ignatius “One-Arm” Daily did all that with the greatest […]
Win Noyes was one of several ballplayers for whom service in World War I interrupted a promising big-league career. His brief stint with the 1919 White Sox was merely a footnote in a long, if not especially distinguished, baseball career. Various baseball references say Winfield Charles Noyes was born on June 16, 1889, in Pleasanton, […]
A strong-armed power hitter who “swung so hard he raised dust clouds,” Frank Fernandez spent parts of six seasons in the major leagues (1967-72) as a backup catcher and occasional outfielder.1 As a Staten Island, New York, high schooler, the multisport athlete competed on New York’s biggest stages. He signed with the Yankees at the […]
Edgar Renteria of the Florida Marlins celebrates his walk-off single to win Game Seven of the 1997 World Series. In just their fifth season of existence, the Marlins became the then-fastest franchise to win a championship in baseball history. (COURTESY OF THE MIAMI MARLINS) The National League expansion of 1993 was a long time […]
“You Called That a What . . . ?” The Newsletter of the Official Scoring Committee Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) October 2020, Volume 6, Number 1 Past newsletters Editor: Stew Thornley From the Co-Chairs Conundrums of the Month (or Quarter or Whatever) Profile: Mel Franks It Finally Happened: A Four-Base Over-the-Fence […]