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Joseph Patton Evans was born on May 15, 1895, in Meridian, Mississippi, the fourth of nine children born to Albert and Ida Evans. Albert supported his family by working as an engineer on a locomotive.1 Eventually a 5’9”, 146-pound man, Joe Evans was given the name “Little Joe” by his classmates much earlier. In truth, […]

In his lifetime Herman Bell was a highly regarded defensive catcher for the Birmingham Black Barons, but one who could not catch a break. His career in the Negro Leagues was marred by untimely injuries and complicated by unexpected happenstances and the harsh reality of being an African-American baseball player in the Jim Crow South. […]

Jack DiLauro, a left-handed pitcher from Akron, Ohio who appeared in 23 games for the New York Mets in 1969, played a small but valuable role in the Mets’ march to the National League pennant that season. Jack Edward DiLauro was born on March 3, 1943 in Akron. He starred in football, basketball, and baseball […]

The life of Ken Caminiti parallels the path of a classic Greek tragedy. He was an athlete blessed with extraordinary physical abilities who diligently worked to develop those gifts and dedicated himself to achieving excellence. A tough, tireless leader on the field, he climbed to the highest levels of the baseball world. Then, at the […]

From 1872 to 1884, Tim Murnane was a first baseman and outfielder who compiled a .261 lifetime batting average in 383 major-league baseball games. An average ballplayer during the formative years of professional baseball, better known for his fielding and baserunning than his hitting, Murnane made a more lasting contribution to the sport of baseball […]

“The mentality of a basestealer is, when you get to first base, you see, you look around and say, ‘Now they’re in my ballpark.’ Know why? Cause I can get a lead and take two steps. Pitcher ducks. Catcher’s coming out. Shortstop’s coming across. Second baseman’s coming across. Center fielder’s coming up. Cause I took […]

The cover of the March 20, 1978, annual baseball preview issue of Sports Illustrated featured a picture of Kansas City Royals rookie Clint Hurdle looking ready for action, with the caption “This Year’s Phenom” in bold yellow letters right next to his smiling face. Keeping with the “phenom” theme, the article described the 20-year-old Hurdle […]

One wouldn’t expect a ballplayer standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 175 pounds to be fleet of foot, but Harry Niles was known as a speedster on the basepaths and a fielder who covered a lot of territory. He also had a couple of famous roommates during his time in baseball – Branch Rickey and Joe McCarthy. […]

Curt Gowdy was the Cowboy behind the mike. Ned Martin quoted Ted Williams and Eudora Welty. Ken Coleman meant the Jimmy Fund. Bob Starr had a gentle lummox William Bendix kind of charm. In evaluating the Red Sox during the mid-to late 20th century, all helped baseball bewitch. Ken Harrelson was the Red Sox’ Southern-fried […]

Perhaps Joe Simpson was destined to play and describe a game of pitch and catch and hit. For one thing, the holiday baby was born December 31, 1951, at a time when baseball was the only game in town. Imagining the pastime, hearing it on radio, or watching on television, no one needed slow motion, […]

Son of a great baseball man, scout and executive Mel Didier, Bob Didier has been in the game for more than five decades, almost as long as his father. He was a professional catcher from 1967 through 1976, including one full season and parts of five others in the majors. He has since served as […]

It’s easy to find high praise about Frank White from members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, ranging from managers and executives for whom he worked (John Schuerholz and Whitey Herzog) to longtime players on opposing teams such as Reggie Jackson.1 Still, there may be no more significant comment about White than from Hall of […]

Like many of us, Rich Nye followed a winding path before finding his true professional calling. What sets Nye apart from you and me, though, is that his journey included pitching duels with Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson; road trips with Hall-of-Fame teammates Ernie Banks and Ferguson Jenkins; and head-to-head showdowns with the likes of […]

Washington skipper Clark Griffith had reason to be confident. The former star pitcher, seven-time 20-game winner, and successful player-manager for three different franchises had transformed the Senators from laughing stock to baseball’s biggest surprise in his first season in the nation’s capital. A charter member of the AL, the Senators had never posted a winning […]

Three teams had been battling all year for the 1977 American League East crown and as of Sunday afternoon, September 18, the Yankees held a 2½ game lead over the Orioles, who themselves were two games ahead of the third-place Red Sox with only 13 games remaining. While the Yankees were playing the Tigers in […]

The Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals rivalry has provided many memorable moments since the nineteenth century, but the circumstances could not have been more mundane when the two teams met at Wrigley Field in June 1959. They were in fifth and sixth place respectively amid championship droughts.1 This Tuesday afternoon game had just 9,885 in attendance. […]

It was another beautiful, sunny afternoon in San Diego as the Padres took on the New York Mets. With Mike Hampton missing his scheduled start because of a broken rib, the Mets had to turn to long reliever Pat Mahomes to make an emergency start. The results were not good. Mahomes gave up 10 runs […]

The 1986 Boston Red Sox went 95-66 during the regular season, their most wins in nearly a decade (99 in 1978), and won the American League East flag by 5½ games over the New York Yankees. It was their first postseason appearance in 11 years, since they lost the 1975 World Series to the Cincinnati […]

 When Pie Traynor reached the major leagues1 as a 21-year-old rookie with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1920, his manager was George Gibson, a rookie skipper and a local fan favorite throughout his Deadball Era tenure as the team’s catcher. Although Gibson delivered a positive overall 201-171 record in two-plus seasons at the Bucs’ helm, by […]

The 1945 Negro League World Series was taking place in a postwar America. Japan had surrendered, World War II was over, and the famous “kiss” of a sailor and nurse in a celebratory Times Square sparkled on the cover of Life magazine. Yet old issues remained. “Jim Crow must go!” African American soldiers demanded, in […]

Harmon “Killer” Killebrew lived up to his name on this Fourth of July weekend. Going into a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics, the Minnesota Twins (43-34) were one game behind the A’s (42-31). Prior to the Friday series opener, Killebrew’s batting average was .273 with 19 home runs and 72 runs batted in. After […]

Dick Williams was regarded as one of baseball’s premier managers and turnaround artists. He was only the second skipper to win pennants for three different teams — Boston, Oakland, and San Diego.1 As a rookie manager in 1967, Williams led the Red Sox from ninth place the year before to the World Series. Both personally […]

The Houston Astrodome was the first fully enclosed, air-conditioned major-league ballpark. It was formally unveiled in an exhibition game that pitted the Houston Astros against the American League champion New York Yankees on April 9, 1965. Unlike previous sports venues, the Astrodome was built to be a massive all-purpose, climate-controlled facility that would serve as […]