Search Results

Smoke. That’s what they called him. He was respected and admired, but first he was humiliated and discarded. Down to his last chance, Dave Stewart had a stunning rebirth in his hometown and became a four-time 20-game winner, a two-time ALCS MVP, a World Series MVP, and a three-time World Series champion. But before all […]

A backup catcher who amassed only 984 plate appearances in 12 seasons, Wallace Larry Haney nevertheless was a member of some historic teams, including the 1974 Oakland Athletics. Upon retiring as an active player, the right-handed hitting Haney spent an additional 34 years in professional baseball as a coach and scout, and his dedication to […]

“I think I was put on this earth to be a coach.”1 “Have you ever had an itch you can’t scratch? Athletes have one for life, a ‘jock’s itch’ that a ton of Tinactin won’t cure.”2 So writes Tom House, former left-handed pitcher who, after he retired from baseball, went on to pursue graduate studies. […]

The Saskatoon Quakers welcomed a new catcher in 1913, 20-year-old Roxy Walters. He was never a large man; his listed playing height when he reached the majors was 5-feet-8 and he weighed 160 pounds, a stature at which he might have proved a target for a baserunner who confronted him blocking the plate. But he […]

A two-month stretch during the summer of 1955 elevated Billy Klaus from a cup-of-coffee nobody to a Boston civic hero before he settled into a journeyman role. He played four seasons with the Red Sox and seven more with four other teams before retiring as a major-league player in 1963. At 5-feet-9 and 165 pounds, […]

“What if?” It is a perennial question and in baseball, the “what if?” usually pertains to injury. What would have a team accomplished had not half of its players been on the DL at one point or another during a season? What if a pitcher’s promising career had not been torpedoed by a line drive […]

“My father-in-law said I wasn’t worth that much,” said Garland, “and he was right. No pitcher is worth that based on one season. But if they offer it to you, naturally you’re going to take it.”1 Wayne Garland wore “it” like an albatross around his neck. “It” is how baseball fans in general — and […]

A case could be made for the Hairston family to be labeled the “First Family of Baseball.” Former major leaguer Sam Hairston Sr. and his ballplaying descendants’ careers spanned nearly 70 years, including the Negro Leagues of the 1940s, the early days of the integration of major-league baseball, and the modern-day game. The family includes […]

“My catcher was George Perkins, who handled a pitcher like nobody’s business,” wrote Satchel Paige.1 Bill Perkins, also known as William, George, and even Cy on occasion, was a catcher in the Negro Leagues for two decades and was the legendary Paige’s favorite target behind the plate. When Paige was first notified of his induction […]

Don Buddin played shortstop for the Red Sox in 1956 and then, after a year of Army service, from 1958 through 1961. After leading the league in shortstop errors in both 1958 and 1959, he became the butt of near-constant abuse from sportswriters and fans alike. Because of the numerous miscues, Boston Globe writer Bob […]

In January 1956, a few months after Ellis Kinder had been sold by the Boston Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals after eight years in the Hub, his friends threw him an Appreciation Night at Boston’s Sheraton Plaza Hotel. In attendance were the governor, the mayor, several former teammates, and 600 assorted guests. Birdie […]

At the end of the 2019 baseball season, 25 former major-league baseball players who had seen military service in World War II survived. One of them was Massachusetts native George Edward Yankowski, who served in the United States Army and saw combat with General George S. Patton’s Third Army. At age 96, this ex-catcher said […]

In 1945, The Sporting News reckoned Eddie Mayo as “an excellent example of the Salvation Army adage, ‘A man may be down, but he is never out.’”1 Acquired by the Detroit Tigers a year earlier after he had failed in several attempts to stick in the big leagues, the 34-year-old infielder helped pace the club […]

The small town of Colony, Oklahoma, began as an agricultural settlement for Native Americans trying to adapt to a new way of life. In 1886 about 120 Cheyenne and Arapahos left their tribal lands in an attempt to assimilate themselves into the American culture. They became farmers, growing such staples as wheat and cotton. Six […]

Harry Coyle taught us how to watch baseball on television. As the director of 36 World Series telecasts, beginning with the first one in 1947, he invented many of the images that shape our view of the game. One of his innovations, the center field shot showing the pitcher, batter, catcher, and umpire, became the […]

The third player selected in the June 1966 amateur draft, Wayne Twitchell pitched for five big-league clubs, mainly with Philadelphia. At 6-feet-6, he possessed velocity, but he lacked control and couldn’t develop an out pitch to become a dominant hurler. Then, when he finally put together an All-Star season, a knee injury clouded the remainder […]

Fergie Jenkins was eager to join his new team after finding out that he had been traded from the Phillies to the Cubs. Jenkins and his wife, Kathy, drove through the night to get from Philadelphia to Chicago. The couple set out at 9 o’clock on the evening of April 21, 1966, and pulled into […]

In September 1972, the Oakland A’s were attempting to nail down their second straight American League West title. On September 19, the second-place Chicago White Sox arrived in town for a two-game set. The A’s led the White Sox by five games, with 13 to play, so the White Sox would have to sweep the […]

walk-off 1. adj. Said of a game-ending event, such as a “walk-off single” that drives in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth or a “walk-off pitch” that results in a game winning home run. 2. n. The long walk off the mound taken by the pitcher who gives up a game-winning run, […]

The 1993 Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t win the World Series, the National League pennant, or the NL West Division. Truth is, they were a .500 ballclub. But after a season-ending 12-1 blitzkrieg of the rival San Francisco Giants leveled their record at 81-81, the Dodgers couldn’t help but celebrate as though they had achieved something […]

By the time Corky Miller had been three weeks in the major leagues, observers had him pretty well pegged: solid catcher, excellent handler of pitchers, “and a great guy to have in the clubhouse.”1 Also, because of his limitations as a hitter, a guy “more likely to play out his career in Chattanooga and Indianapolis” […]

There are many things that can be said about this game. “The fans didn’t get their money’s worth” is not one of them. Any stalwart fan among the 21,742 in attendance at Olympic Stadium who stayed for the entire game saw one for the record books. The Montreal Expos (69-57) were hoping to gain on […]

“The East-West Game became the spirit and life of Negro League baseball, serving to entertain, educate, and ultimately provide a forum to integrate our national pastime many years later.” — Larry Lester1   The idea for a Negro League all-star game is attributed to sportswriters Roy Sparrow of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph and Bill Nunn of […]

Here are the SABR Defensive Index™ rankings through games of June 12, 2016. For the fourth consecutive season, the SDI will be used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™, presented by SABR. The SABR Defensive Index accounts for approximately 25 percent of the Rawlings Gold […]