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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 […]

In 1964 Johnny Pesky, longtime Boston Red Sox star, was in his second season as Red Sox manager. According to his SABR biography, Pesky “brought some fire to the position, after years of yawns under the likes of Pinky Higgins.”1 Boston had not posted a winning record since 1958. Since 1961, when the American League expanded […]

After foundering with fastballs and curveballs for the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates in the first half of the 1960s, Wilbur Wood transformed himself into a quality knuckleballing reliever for the Chicago White Sox from 1967 to 1970. He then improbably metamorphosed into one of the top pitchers in baseball as an innings-eating workhorse […]

The Florida Marlins were in their fourth season in 1996. Their record had improved each year since they joined the National League as an expansion franchise in 1993, and they hoped a series of free-agent signings in the 1995-96 offseason would make them, according to general manager Dave Dombrowski, a playoff contender.1 Veteran starters Kevin […]

On the path to the 2004 World Series championship, the rain-shortened June 25 Red Sox win over the Philadelphia Phillies was notable in many respects. The 11-run margin of victory was the largest of any Red Sox game in 2004, matched by three other such games.1 Manny Ramírez had five runs batted in, the first […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Doug DeCinces spent the first part of his major-league career shaking off comparisons to a Baltimore Orioles legend. Then, before he could make his mark in Baltimore, he was traded to make room for another Oriole icon. DeCinces essentially bridged a path between two Hall of Fame infielders, Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr.   […]

The talent-starved Washington Senators of the early 1950s recognized Tony Roig’s potential early in his professional career. But after giving the infielder several opportunities in the majors, the Senators eventually gave up on him because of weak hitting at the top level. Roig adjusted his approach at the plate, and the result was increased offensive […]

Hailed as the next Robin Yount, Julio Franco debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 1983. Franco came to the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a five-player deal for Von Hayes. Expected to be the Phillies’ shortstop of the future, Franco had found himself without a regular chance to play when the Phillies […]

Big Dave Orr was truly one of the giants of baseball in his day, not only in stature but with the impressive statistics he accumulated in his short career. Dave was tragically struck down by a paralyzing stroke in the prime of his career and likely lost his place beside contemporary first basemen like Charlie […]

Jerry Kutzler played professional baseball for 11 years and pitched briefly with the Chicago White Sox in 1990. Jerry Scott Kutzler was born on March 25, 1965, in Waukegan, Illinois, north of Chicago, the youngest of five boys and the eighth of ten children. His father, Jack, a painter, worked at the Great Lakes Naval […]

“For an all-too-brief time, the pitcher who didn’t look or throw like anybody else could pitch better than everybody else.”1 From 2008 to 2011, San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum won two successive Cy Young awards, led the National League in strikeouts for three consecutive seasons, and was selected to the All-Star team four times. […]

George “Bo” Strickland was the starting shortstop on the 1954 Cleveland Indians team that won the American League pennant and compiled one of baseball’s finest records ever, 111-43. He went hitless (0-for-9) in that season’s World Series, the only one he ever played in, as the Indians were swept by the New York Giants. Strickland […]

Curt Flood, Gene Conley, and Danny Ainge had nothing on Baltimore native Peck Lerian, who challenged the reserve clause and earned fame on both the basketball court and the baseball diamond. Showing great promise as the leading member of the Philadelphia Phillies’ young receiving corps at the close of the 1920s, he also stood out […]

Tom Hayes is a footnote in baseball history. To the extent that he is remembered at all, it is for selling 19-year-old Willie Mays to the New York Giants and setting him on his path to immortality. However, in his time, this shrewd, gruff man was a towering figure, a pioneer whose impact in the […]

Steve McCatty, a big right-hander who pitched for the Oakland A’s from 1977-1985, was known for his fun-loving nature. Sports Illustrated said he was “the leading prankster on . . . a team of practical jokers.”1 Philadelphia infielder John Vukovich called him “a bona fide nut.”2 And A’s beat writer Glenn Schwarz described him as […]

When the Houston Astros signed Andújar Cedeño out of the Dominican Republic in 1986, their manager, Hal Lanier, said what many were thinking: “He’s got a lot to live up to.”1 After all, Dominicans Joaquín Andújar and César Cedeño (no relation) had each been big-league standouts. Although Andújar Cedeño never became an All-Star like his […]

Third baseman Charlie Hayes was a solid journeyman. He played for seven teams over 14 years in the majors from 1988 through 2001. He had a good glove, a strong arm, and some pop in his bat. His best offensive numbers came in 1993 with an expansion club, the Colorado Rockies. Yet the moment for […]