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The losing team accuses the winning pitcher of doctoring the ball. The winning pitcher shakes his head and avows his innocence. It’s a tale as old as time – or, at least, it goes back to the earliest days when scuffing a pitched baseball became illegal. On May 12, 1915, Detroit Tigers manager Hughie Jennings […]

Even before playing an inning of major-league baseball, Babe Ruth was something of a legend.1 Partly this came from his on-field accomplishments. At age 19, just before the 1914 season, he joined the International League Baltimore Orioles, signed by owner-manager Jack Dunn after Dunn saw him throw a no-hitter in a 1913 semipro game in […]

“From the depths of 17 consecutive second-division finishes,” the Chicago Cubs overpowered the Pittsburgh Pirates in their season opener at Forbes Field.1 In the extra-inning slugfest, Cubs right-hander Larry Jackson, who earned the win with Chicago’s four-run 10th, was kept afloat by his “brash, under-rated” offense.2 While the Pirates’ bats displayed their own power, the […]

Cecil Fielder may have appeared to come from nowhere in 1990, but it had been a long road to major-league success. Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in June 1982,1 Fielder was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the 1983 season.2 At age 21, Fielder made his major-league debut on July 20, 1985, and […]

Hughie Jennings, the Detroit Tigers’ first-year manager in 1907, had won five pennants as an infielder with the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas. He was not one to be easily impressed. Jennings was asked for his thoughts the day after his upstart Tigers had rallied from a 7-1 deficit to earn a thrilling 17-inning tie […]

It was “Bloomington Night” at Metropolitan Stadium on August 17, 1976, when the Twins paid tribute to their home community as part of their game against the Baltimore Orioles. The reigning Miss Bloomington – Stephanie Nilson,1 a 19-year-old college student and aspiring opera singer – was invited to sing the national anthem a cappella before […]

As the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Braves began a three-game series on July 12, 1962, they found themselves smack dab in the middle of the National League standings. Both teams had a lot of ground to make up in the second half of the season, which might explain the meager turnout of 13,426 […]

In a game characterized by lots of hits (27) and lots of errors (7), an unknown St. Louis rookie made history. The Washington Senators hosted the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a four-game series at Griffith Stadium. The attendance was reported to be a mere 2,500 fans.1 Veteran Walter Johnson took to […]

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 […]

Bobby Pfeil’s role on the 1969 Mets may have been small, but it was significant, and it’s one that he has cherished for the last four decades. Robert Raymond Pfeil (pronounced “file”) was born on November 13, 1942 in Passaic, New Jersey, but he only lived there for two years. At age 2, Pfeil’s mom […]

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, […]

There were a couple of big families in Doc Farrell’s life. He was the eighth of 10 children, and had seven of his own. He enjoyed nine years in the big leagues, and seems to have had an affinity for two-team cities, playing for both New York teams, both Boston teams, and one each of […]

“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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Jackie Collum was a 5-foot-7 ambidextrous pitcher. Despite his lack of size, the Iowa farm boy played in nine major league seasons (1951-1958; 1962) with six teams. He appeared in 171 games, compiling a 32-28 won-lost record with a 4.15 ERA. He could also hit – his lifetime batting average was .246. Though Collum pitched […]

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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

In the locker room celebration after the New York Mets won the 1969 National League pennant, he was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying, “I’ll walk down the street in New York now and people will say, ‘There’s Art Shamsky of the Mets.’ People used to laugh. They won’t anymore.’”1 Indeed, after his performance […]