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Even with Dave Goltz, the Twins’ best pitcher, on the mound, on Wednesday, July 26, 1978, the Twins lost the first of a two-game midweek series with the Toronto Blue Jays, baseball’s most hapless team. The Twins were now 12½ games out of first place in the American League Western Division, and getting back in […]

Father Time remains undefeated, but for one day in June 1966 at Houston’s Astrodome, 35-year-old Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs turned back the clock to a decade earlier, when he was in the top 10 in triples in the National League.1 The Houston Astros (30-25) had won the opening game of the three-game series […]

Although they had not yet clinched the 1919 American League pennant, the Chicago White Sox were already looking ahead to the World Series as they took a midnight train1 to Boston to face the Red Sox. Back at home, White Sox team secretary Harry Grabiner announced that advance tickets would go on sale to fans […]

On September 28, 1983, the Philadelphia Phillies were on the verge of clinching their fifth National League East Division title in eight seasons. That afternoon they were scheduled to play the rubber match of a three-game series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. A victory against their division rivals would secure the title, and […]

The Oakland Athletics reached the postseason in 2000 and 2001, but their October prospects for 2002 were in jeopardy after they lost 2-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays at home on August 12. The ’02 A’s had demonstrated potential for greatness – including a stretch of 16 wins in 17 games in June – but […]

Just four days after banging six hits against the Washington Senators,1 St. Louis Browns first baseman George Sisler produced a 5-for-5 game against the Detroit Tigers, hitting for the cycle for the second time in his Hall of Fame career.2 In front of “a good-sized half holiday crowd”3 at Detroit’s Navin Field, the Browns and […]

A dapper Bob Brown surveys his domain from the wooden steps of Athletic Park. The 5′ 9″ Brown was a dandy of sorts, wearing vests until the 1950s, long after they had gone out of style. (David Eskenazi Collection)   Bob Brown figured more money was to be made in baseball as an owner than […]

Frank Hoxie “Kid” Willson was born on November 3, 1895, in Bloomington, Nebraska, to Frank Warren and Isabella A. (Hoxie) Willson. He grew up working on his family’s truck farm along with his two younger sisters, Ida Mae and Veda A., and his younger brother, Edward. The elder Frank also worked as a hotel clerk, […]

“What is one to say about June — the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade?” — Gertrude Jekyll1   On the afternoon of June 23, 1984, at Wrigley Field, the hometown Chicago […]

A flaky southpaw from California with a deep repertoire of pitches, Frank Bertaina spent parts of seven major league seasons (1964-1970) with the Orioles, Senators and Cardinals. Primarily a starter, he was in Baltimore’s bullpen for the 1966 World Series but did not see action. Frank Louis Bertaina was born on April 14, 1944, in […]

Given future Hall of Famer Ray Schalk’s mastery of the catcher’s position with the Chicago White Sox for nearly two decades, Byrd Lynn had little chance to land the starting job during his short major-league career. His prospects likely became even slimmer once the 1919 Black Sox Scandal episode went public. Although no evidence has […]

“Farmer” Bell entered pro baseball later in life. He was 29 when he first toed the rubber with the Amsterdam-Johnstown-Gloversville Hyphens of the New York State League in 1904. Before that he had made a name for himself as an amateur player in South Central New York. Making an immediate impact with the team, he […]

A scrappy outfielder, Nemo Leibold had a 13-year major-league career and played on four World Series teams, winning a championship with the Chicago White Sox in 1917 and another with the Washington Senators in 1924. Later a distinguished manager in the minor leagues from 1928 to 1948, Leibold is best known for passing through the […]

“I’ll be part of that team for the rest of their life. Even though I wasn’t a big part of the team, I’m still connected with it.” – Jamie Brown, on his time with the 2004 Red Sox1 Jamie Brown pitched four games in the major leagues, all with the 2004 World Series champion Boston […]

On October 10, 1924, Virgil “Zeke” Barnes stood on the mound in Griffith Stadium, poised within tantalizing reach of a rare and coveted prize, just four outs shy of a Game 7 World Series win. Palpably close, but it was not to be. His moment of reckoning came with an improbable, aberrant bounce of the […]

It would have been fun to see Gene Brabender wrestle with Frank Howard: “a polar bear versus a grizzly,” suggested his old teammate, Jim Bouton. At 6 feet, 5 1/2 inches and 225 to 240 pounds, “Bender” gave away roughly two inches and 30-40 pounds to “Hondo.” Yet the big man from Black Earth, Wisconsin, […]

Twenty-five-year-old rookie Bert Brenner took the hill in the first game of a September 21, 1912, scheduled doubleheader (game 2 was rained out) in New York. The Cleveland Naps had purchased his contract from Racine and wanted to see what the youngster could do. Using mostly his fastball and working the corners, especially the inside […]

In life James Donaldson Brown’s journey took him from humble beginnings in Laurel, Maryland, to a nondescript death in an Oregon logging town. In between his birth and death he completed an odyssey that entailed stops in at least 28 minor-league cities, one foreign country and two major-league cities. He crisscrossed the county playing in […]

A quintessential sportsman and promoter, Michael J. Finn was a newspaper writer, trainer of champion foot racers, dog racing promoter, boxing manager, and circus man before he ever got into professional baseball in 1897. Then, over the next 25 years, he served as a minor league manager, owner and scout, sending dozens of players to […]

Left-hander Howie Pollet was a pitching prodigy, but arm injuries stunted his career. Howard Joseph Pollet was born in New Orleans on June 26, 1921 to Elodie (Wilson) and Joseph King Pollet, a policeman. The family name is French, but they pronounced it “pol-LET” rather than “Poh-LAY.” Growing up in New Orleans, Howard’s next-door neighbor […]

Four men named Dave Roberts have played major league baseball. David Leonard Roberts, who appeared in 91 games in the 1960s for the Houston Colt .45s and Pittsburgh Pirates, is probably the least known, at least in the United States.1 But across the Pacific in Japan, that Dave Roberts is by far the best known […]

Few people can say that their job made it possible to travel around the entire world. Parnell Woods traversed North and Central America while playing baseball, being selected to eight East-West All-Star Games along the way. After his baseball career, he was able to travel throughout Europe and Asia as the traveling secretary for the […]

Ownership in the Negro Leagues was a tough and sometimes precarious job and finances often were the determining factor in whether or not an owner could hang on to a team. In addition to the difficulty of financial stability, female owners had to battle the sexist attitudes of the other owners and society as a […]

Even if he had never gone on to own the New York Yankees, George Steinbrenner would have had a proud legacy in his hometown of Cleveland. By the early 1970s, he was one of the city’s captains of industry, having taken his family shipping firm to new heights and used it to leverage a purchase […]