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Oakland Coliseum in 2023. (Courtesy of Jacob Pomrenke)   After Kansas City Athletics owner Arnold Johnson died in 1960, his heirs sold the team to Charlie Finley.1 Finley was unable to make the A’s competitive on the field and decided to move them out of Kansas City. After failed attempts to relocate to Louisville, Dallas, […]

As the construction timeline for the new Yankee Stadium emerged, speculation that New York would host the 2008 All-Star Game ran rampant. Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Commissioner Bud Selig confirmed the rumors on January 31, 2007, at a press conference announcing that the 2008 midsummer classic would take place during the Stadium’s final season. Selig […]

Home fans at Forbes Field booed Roberto Clemente on the first Sunday of the 1969 season, the 15th of his legendary career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, following inflammatory local press coverage of a spring-training injury, three comeback-stalling double plays in two games, and an error in right field. Clemente acknowledged the crowd graciously, tipping his […]

David Ortiz had been designated to hit, and that he did. With an eighth-inning single in the Boston Red Sox’ 11-8 win over the Seattle Mariners on July 9, 2013, Ortiz had 1,688 base hits as a designated hitter, tying the all-time mark held by Harold Baines. As the Red Sox, who led American League […]

Mike Piazza’s first look at Shea Stadium as a New York Met may have come from a thousand feet up as his flight from Florida made its approach to LaGuardia Airport. Ever since the ballpark’s opening in 1964, pilots had used it as a landmark when visibility was clear enough,1 and if Piazza had a […]

Two teams with tired bullpens arrived in Kansas City on a cool, wet spring evening for the opener of a three-game weekend series. The day before, five Toronto relievers pitched 7⅓ innings in a home loss to Tampa Bay while four Royals contributed 8⅔ relief innings in a 14-inning win at Minnesota. Understandably, each club […]

The Boston Red Sox had just closed out the home-field portion of the 2004 season at Fenway Park with back-to-back wins over the New York Yankees. They finished the schedule with a seven-game road trip, beginning on Monday, September 27, with the opener of a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana […]

Ticketholders to the Washington Nationals-Los Angeles Dodgers game on September 9, 2023, could be forgiven for not sticking around for the first pitch. A significant storm1 blew through Washington, DC, that afternoon, and the Saturday game, scheduled for 4:05 P.M., finally started at 8:15 P.M.2 The grounds crew’s efforts to ready the field were acknowledged […]

The Boston Red Sox celebrated the 100th birthday of Fenway Park on April 20, 2012. Fenway had already become the oldest park in major-league baseball, and coming off a decade of offseason renovations was envisioned to last for at least another 30 or 40 years past 2012. Fenway has hosted more than 8,000 big-league baseball […]

Jimmy Jones ended his major-league career with one sweep of his arm. The last-place New York Giants were struggling on August 6, 1902, having lost three straight to Pittsburgh and facing Jack Chesbro, who was on the way to a 28-win season. The Giants were in a foul mood and complained about umpire Bob Emslie […]

“Manny being Manny” – the simple phrase seemed to instinctively capture the essence of his baseball persona. Manny Ramírez was one of the greatest right-handed hitters of the past 50 years. As of 2025, he ranked 12th all-time in career slugging percentage (.5854), 15th all-time with 555 major-league home runs (plus another 29 postseason home […]

On September 19, 1988, the Pittsburgh Pirates paid tribute to the Homestead Grays by hoisting a black-and-white commemorative flag over Three Rivers Stadium. The occasion commemorated an event from 40 years earlier, when the Negro National League’s Grays defeated the Birmingham Black Barons, champions of the Negro American League, four games to one in the […]

James Thomas “Jim” Northrup, who was born and raised in a small town in Michigan, starred in several sports, including baseball and football, at Alma College, also in Michigan. Later, he made it to the major leagues and enjoyed a fine career as an outfielder with the Detroit Tigers. Highlighting his fourth full season with […]

Right-handed pitcher David Weathers played professionally in small towns and large cities across the United States and Canada but his origins and present life are firmly rooted in southern Tennessee. He was an integral relief pitcher on the 1996 World Series champion New York Yankees and after playing for nine teams in 19 major-league seasons, […]

Stan Javier’s baseball heritage included his former major-league father and a Hall of Fame teammate of his father’s. One might think that situation would propel a youngster from the Dominican Republic to relentlessly pursue a major-league career for himself. Instead, baseball was viewed by Javier as just another sport he played while growing up, and […]

The cover photo on the Sunday magazine insert of the June 29, 1958, edition of the Columbus (Ohio) Citizen was of a young boy wearing a Little League baseball uniform gazing admiringly at an older, bespectacled gentleman who was squatting, a baseball bat in hand. As the accompanying article explained, the man in the photo […]

“We are a baseball family, I guess,” said Charlie Ganzel of his clan in a 1904 interview.1 One of a bevy of family members who achieved success in baseball, Charlie was arguably the most prominent of the Ganzel brothers. Although he was a key contributor to five pennant-winning National League teams during the late nineteenth […]

A switch-hitter with speed and the patience to draw walks, Pete Stanicek appeared to be an ideal leadoff hitter when he debuted with the Baltimore Orioles. A succession of injuries limited the second baseman/outfielder to parts of two big league seasons (1987-1988), however, and he played his final professional game at 27. Peter Louis Stanicek […]

Baseball has its share of less famous brothers – Albert “Butts” Wagner, Henry Mathewson, and Frank Manush, to name a few. Paths to the big leagues are few and far between even for the most gifted players. Frank Lobert was the far less talented brother of Hans Lobert, a Deadball Era standout. Frank grew up […]

When walking through the exhibits at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, it is difficult not to absorb slices of the game’s history and lore, and to learn about the role the sport has played in both American and world history. It also quickly becomes clear that the stories of the […]

When the topic of discussion turns to great two-sport athletes who played major-league baseball during the last quarter of the 20th century, names like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Brian Jordan, and Danny Ainge often come to mind. However, despite enjoying success in both baseball and golf, Rick Rhoden is often overlooked as two-sport standout. Rhoden […]

Catcher Al Stokes “was one of the hardest workers a Rockford team ever had.” So wrote the Rockford (Illinois) Republic of his debut in the major leagues.1 It was a nice expression of appreciation and a nice way to be remembered for a couple of years of service for the local team. Stokes had caught […]

Bill Craver was known as one of the best catchers of his time and an innovator at that position. He was also known as a gambler and a troublemaker — one of baseball’s early wily characters. His run-ins with fans, opponents, teammates, and umpires were noteworthy, yet the biggest impact made by this early star […]

Otis Nixon’s baseball career was a rollercoaster that looked destined to derail before a low-profile trade to Atlanta in 1991 changed his course. He had three magical seasons with the Braves as an instrumental piece of deep playoff runs. He continued to contribute for multiple teams throughout his 30s. While hindered by troubles off the […]