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John Farrell began his professional baseball career as a right-handed pitcher with an 0-5 record for the 1984 Class-A Waterloo Indians in the Midwest League. He’d been drafted three times by that point, but it was certainly an inauspicious start to a career that saw him manage the 2013 Boston Red Sox to a world […]

Though contemporary newspaper reports typically referred to Hall of Fame outfielder Hazen Cuyler by his given name, the right-hander is more easily recognized by one of the most unique, yet most often mispronounced nicknames in baseball history: Kiki.  “It came from shortening my name,” Cuyler explained about acquiring the moniker (which rhymes with “eye-eye”) as […]

If not for a spectacular catch by Hank Bauer in the ninth inning of the sixth and final game of the 1951 World Series, Sal Yvars might be remembered quite differently today. Yvars’ only appearance in a Series at first looked like the stuff of legend. He struck a ball deep into the outfield of […]

Willie Larry Randolph, the son of South Carolina sharecroppers and the great-grandson of slaves, parlayed his nimble hands, patience at the plate, and excellent hitting into an 18-year career as a second baseman in the major leagues. In Baseball-Reference.com’s EloRater, an ongoing project to quantify the statistics of batters and pitchers, Randolph ranked 158th of […]

With his short arms and legs, long torso, and ample midsection, right-hander Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons may not have looked like a major-league pitcher during his 19-year career with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers from 1925 to1943. But with one of baseball’s most effective knuckleballs and a deceptive, whirling delivery, he won 217 games. […]

Willie Mays ripped Dick Egan’s “best spitter”1 out of blustery Candlestick Park on August 29, 1967. That solo home run in the seventh inning gave the San Francisco Giants a 7-1 advantage over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. (The Giants went on to win 11-1.) Baseball’s legendary “Say Hey Kid” knew all about Egan’s habit […]

Left-hander Ted Bowsfield spent seven seasons in the big leagues, initially signing with the Red Sox but later becoming arguably the best pitcher in the first year of Los Angeles Angels baseball. He later became director of stadium operations and team travel for the Angels, then head of the Kingdome in Seattle. Bowsfield was born […]

“His reputation is that of a driving, spirited leader who at all times has evidenced an interest in the boy’s future, rather than furthering any ambitions he might have had for himself.” With those words in The Sporting News, columnist John Steadman introduced George Staller as the latter joined the Baltimore Orioles’ coaching staff in […]

Luther Clifford grew up in an atypical town for the Depression-era United States, a suburban melting pot largely free from racial tensions. What’s more, he could draw inspiration from noteworthy ancestors dating back to the early days of the Civil War. His baseball career may not have been as remarkable, but there’s little reason to […]

When the Detroit Tigers took the field at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 1990, for the final game of the regular season, it didn’t feel like a momentous event. Only 13,380 fans were present on a Wednesday night to watch the home team finish the season in last place. The Tigers, who also had a […]

Few if any baseball men have worked harder for longer than Mel Didier. He pitched just two years in Class D, but he spent more than 60 years in professional baseball as a scout and executive. As former Los Angeles Dodgers GM Fred Claire said, “I don’t know of anyone who has been in more […]

Baseball and baseball players need people like Grover Resinger — those who dedicate their lives to the sport so that others may achieve the success they never had. “People say I do nothing but talk baseball,” said baseball lifer Resinger. “Is there anything else?”[fn]Tom Loomis, “Grover Resinger – Another Bit of Tigers Class,” Toledo (Ohio) […]

As a baseball coach at Army, Eric Tipton amassed a record of 234-201-5 during the years 1958 through 1977. Tipton, known in the big leagues as Duke or Blue Devil, debuted on June 9, 1939, for the Philadelphia Athletics, as an outfielder. He played in 501 games for Philadelphia and the Cincinnati Reds from 1939 […]

In a span of two weeks in April 2006, Chris Shelton’s life changed forever. The relatively unknown Detroit Tiger became one of the biggest names in the game. He went 14-for-20 in his first five games and 24-for-51 in his first 13, including nine home runs. Although Shelton was back in the minors by August, […]

The 1983 film National Lampoon’s Vacation introduced moviegoers around the world to Walley World, a fictitious Southern California amusement park billed as “America’s favorite family fun place.” The film depicts Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, leading his family on a cross-country journey from the suburbs of Chicago to Walley World. Following an everything-that-can-go wrong-does-go-wrong […]

Joseph Rudolph Nossek spent 43 years in professional baseball as a player, manager, and coach. Seven of those years were as a player with a high point being his season with the 1965 American League champion Minnesota Twins. Nossek was born in Cleveland on November 8, 1940. He loved baseball and enjoyed listening to Jimmy […]

When you ask people to name Blue Jays starting pitchers of the 1980s and ’90s, they might answer with Jack Morris, Dave Stieb, Roger Clemens, and David Cone. Big arms accompanied by prominent personalities, pitchers who threw hard and had secondary wipeout pitches. Pitchers who were expressive on the mound, often showed emotion and, in […]

Suspended baseball games, especially if completed months after they began, can lead to box scores full of substitutions, often resulting from trades and other transactions. Sometimes, they create anomalies in the record books,1 such as players being credited with feats backdated to occur before their debut games. This Washington Nationals-Houston Astros game, begun on May […]

The 1998 season was baseball’s first with a full slate of regular-season games played in March.1 The New York Mets opened against their National League East Division rival Philadelphia Phillies on March 31. New York had improved in 1997, manager Bobby Valentine’s first full season at the helm, finishing above .500 for the first time […]

A Mother’s Day crowd of 24,243 at Denver’s Coors Field saw San Francisco Giants rookie center fielder Fred Lewis become just the seventh major-league player to hit his first career home run as part of a cycle.1 The 26-year-old Lewis also cracked his first career triple and second career double. He had been with the […]

At a press conference on Monday, July 8 — the day before the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee — National League manager Bob Brenly was asked about his decision to replace the injured Tom Glavine with another starting pitcher, Vicente Padilla. “This is my first go-round with these All-Star Games,” Brenly said, “but I have […]

Carlos Bernier’s game-changing speed fueled the native Puerto Rican’s rise through the minor leagues after Jackie Robinson integrated major-league baseball in 1947. Reaching the majors in 1953 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bernier’s debut as a pinch-hitter in a 4-2 loss to the New York Giants at Forbes Field on April 22 made him – in […]

On June 15, 2016, the Cleveland Indians were tied for first place in the American League’s Central Division with the Kansas City Royals. By July 2, Cleveland had a franchise-record 14-game winning streak and a seven-game lead over the Royals.1 The streak had begun at home, with sweeps of the Chicago White Sox and Tampa […]

Edited by Bill Staples Jr. and Eric Robinson, Committee Co-Chairs  IN THIS ISSUE Asian Baseball during the COVID-19 Pandemic Baseball in Japan during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Tribute: Katsuya Nomura (1935-2020) Sports Illustrated Features Issei Baseball Celebrating the Legacy of Negro Leaguers in Japan Talking Ichiro with Tim Kurkjian On the horizon (future activities) Related […]