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Joseph Rodger Roa pitched in 120 major-league games over six seasons between 1995 and 2004.  The 6-foot-1 right-hander played 16 seasons of professional baseball between 1989 and 2005. Nicknamed “The Roa Constrictor,” he moved frequently from one franchise to another. Roa was traded on five occasions during his career and played for 12 organizations. He […]

“In spring, a young woman’s fancy turns to baseball.”1 For Ann Cindric and the other talented women who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), springtime meant oiling the glove and returning to the field to play the game they loved. Cindric was a right-handed pitcher who was active in the AAGPBL from […]

With a major-league career that comprised only 39 games, Herbert Harrison Hunter still managed to play in baseball’s four biggest markets: New York, Chicago, Boston, and St. Louis. After 1920, in which he played in four games for the Boston Red Sox, Hunter became a baseball tour impresario of sorts, leading a group of major […]

When the Baltimore Orioles announced their 2015 Hall of Fame class, it seemed fitting that Gary Roenicke and John Lowenstein would be inducted together. The two previously shared left field duties for the Orioles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, not an ideal situation for Roenicke – a former first-round pick still in the […]

Few, if any, baseball players have ever had as many peaks and valleys in their careers or in their lives as José Rijo. Raised in poverty in the Dominican Republic, he signed a contract with the New York Yankees at age 15. After three years in the minor leagues, he made it to the majors […]

It has become almost legend, though in reality there are a few different versions of the story: In March of 1966, three New York Mets farmhands, all going by the name of Jerry, set out from Atlanta on their way to minor league training camp in Homestead, Florida. Jerry Johnson sat between the driver, Jerry […]

It is an oft-told story that legendary manager John McGraw, who led the New York Giants for 30 eventful years, had photographs of only two former players on his office wall: Christy Mathewson and Ross Youngs, today an almost forgotten Hall of Fame outfielder.1 Youngs personified the type of all-out hustle and will-to-win ballplayer that […]

“He’s a superhero without a cape. That’s the way we see him.” — Alex Cora1 Several of the biggest base hits in Boston baseball history came off the bat of “Big Papi,” David Ortiz. He sports three world championship rings and then wrapped up his career with one of the best final seasons any player […]

Wally Backman was perhaps the first major-league manager fired before his team played a game. His fiery personality may have cost him another chance at managing in the majors. Three times he spent short stints in jail. He declared bankruptcy. From this sordid interval in life, he emerged to become a successful minor-league manager. Walter […]

He accomplished what no other pitcher had done — came straight off the prep diamonds and hurled a major-league shutout. Fresh out of Chester (Pennsylvania) High, 18-year-old Lew Krausse strode to the mound on June 16, 1961, before the largest single-game crowd of the season up to that point in Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium to […]

Although he displayed a strong batting eye and some extra-base power during his minor-league career, Bobby Brooks had a relatively brief major-league career over parts of four seasons. Nicknamed “The Little Hammer,” Brooks may have been hurt by his short stature (he stood 5-feet-8 and was listed at 165 pounds), which may have led some […]

The leadoff men of the 1960s were known mainly for slapping singles and stealing bases. Into this game stepped Don Buford, a versatile switch-hitter with speed and a little power, and also the ability to draw walks and get on base. He had some success for a few years with the White Sox, but it […]

Lou Brissie still has the wristwatch he was wearing when a 170mm German artillery shell exploded near him, breaking the watch and both his feet and also shattering Lou’s left tibia and shinbone in 30 places. Shrapnel also pierced his right shoulder, both hands, and both thighs. And, one might assume, crushed Corporal Brissie’s hopes […]

The subject of this biography was a great female ballplayer. She did not play in the All-American League; in fact, she played softball rather than baseball. Nevertheless, she was one of the most significant figures in the ball playing scene of the 1940s and ’50s. The movie A League of Their Own popularized the All-American […]

Mike Sharperson was a super-utility man, a valuable role-player who could play any infield position or come off the bench to pinch-hit. While supersubs rarely get the credit they deserve, his skills were such that he made the National League All-Star team. Sharperson spent parts of eight seasons in the major leagues, winning a World […]

“Toronto will forever hold a special place in my heart. The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude.” — Roy Halladay’s closing statement in his farewell letter to the Toronto fans in December 2009 “My father took me to meet him and we set up lessons. He never took any money. It […]

Roberto Clemente’s greatness transcended the diamond. On it, he was electrifying with his penchant for bad-ball hitting, his strong throwing arm from right field, and the way he played with a reckless but controlled abandon. Off it, he was a role model to the people of his homeland and elsewhere. Helping others represented the way […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates looked forward to a late-May double-header with the Chicago Cubs as an opportunity to not only improve their 20-22 record and reach .500, but to also bring fans back to PNC Park. The 25-20 Cubs – who had lost their last two games and won only three of their previous eight – […]

Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau started the 2006 campaign – his second full season in the majors – with a .248 career batting average. After going 1-for-12 in the season-opening series in Toronto, Morneau decided to ditch his 35-inch, 33-ounce cudgel for one of teammate Joe Mauer’s 34-inch, 31-ounce bats.1 The decision paid immediate […]

The Washington Nationals had seen their season go south after a 50-31 start propelled them to first place in the NL East, where they remained as late as July 25. About to send John Halama, a reclamation project, to face 23-year-old Dontrelle Willis on a Wednesday night, the Nats were five games over .500 at […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers were having a weird week. Two nights earlier they had forfeited a game to the St. Louis Cardinals when their fans threw souvenir baseballs onto the field to protest the umpire’s strike calls.1 It had been 16 years since a major-league game had been forfeited (the infamous Disco Demolition Night game). […]

The New York Mets announced in advance that this would be a bullpen game. The scheduled pitcher, Jason Vargas, went on the DL with a calf injury two days earlier. Chris Flexen was called up from the minors, but he arrived from Las Vegas at 7 that morning after some travel snafus. The teams’ mutual […]

Detroit Tigers rookie Lou Whitaker could not have picked a better time to hit his first career home run. The 21-year-old second baseman came to the plate with two out in the bottom of the ninth, a runner on first base, and the Tigers trailing the Seattle Mariners by a run on July 28, 1978. […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Wrigley Field: The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison” (2019), edited by Gregory H. Wolf. “[T]oo many parks aren’t situated where they should be – and that is, preferably, not just in a city but in a neighborhood.” — Travis Sawchik1 Sawchik is not alone in praising Wrigleyville. Kevin Kaduk […]