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When young Jim Owens first came up with the Philadelphia Phillies in the mid-1950s, the predictions were that he would be Philadelphia’s “next Robin Roberts.”1 He had dominated hitters in the minor leagues, was voted the best pitcher in the International League for 1954, and possessed what Phillies general manager Roy Hamey called, “the best […]

Perhaps it is Brad Lidge’s fate to be best remembered for two sliders. The first, in 2005, hung over the plate and resulted in an Albert Pujols blast that decided an NLCS game. The second, in 2008, tailed away from Eric Hinske and clinched a world championship. Yet Lidge’s big-game résumé stretches well beyond these […]

“In the morning he won a bride . . . and then proceeded to win the ball game, with a couple of home runs, much to the delight of the bride who sat in the stands and cheered his efforts.”1 On the morning of June 19, 1914, Vella Chloa Glasman, an accomplished 22-year-old singer living […]

Ed Roebuck has a safe-deposit box with two World Series championship rings in it. One ring represents the Brooklyn Dodgers’ only title, won in 1955. The other was earned as a scout for the 2004 Boston Red Sox, the first Red Sox team to win it all in 86 years … a bounty that would […]

Paul Carter was a late bloomer as a professional pitcher with a career ERA+ of 85, a statistic that appears to denote him as a below-average pitcher. Nevertheless, across the 54 games he pitched for teams of Negro major-league quality, he had a record of 22 wins and 15 losses that resulted in an impressive […]

Who was Andy Rudolph? Not much more than an especially rabid fan, really. Or so everyone thought until this fixture at early twentieth-century Detroit baseball games suddenly wasn’t there any longer. Then people realized local games would never be quite the same without him. Little is known about Andrew Rudolph’s early life. His obituaries indicated […]

Our younger readers might not realize there was a time when the baseball owners intentionally scheduled doubleheaders and fans could see two games for the price of one. More amazing to 21st century fans is that in those doubleheaders both starting pitchers might toss complete games. On rare occasions a pitcher might even start and […]

As a young amateur pitcher, the sky seemed the limit for right-hander Jason Middlebrook. He was Mr. Baseball in the state of Michigan as a senior in high school; he threw a no-hitter against UCLA as a freshman at Stanford; he was so successful for Team USA in many international tournaments that he was in […]

Quietly dependable though seldom spectacular for most of his five full major-league seasons as an infielder, Steve Yerkes grasped immortality when he played a central role in one of baseball’s legendary episodes. In the bottom of the 10th inning of the deciding game of the epic 1912 World Series, Yerkes raced home with the winning […]

On Thursday, June 29, 1905, New York Giants rookie outfielder Archie Graham made his major league debut, playing the last two innings of a one-sided 11-1 victory over the Brooklyn Superbas. The twenty-five-year-old was the next to bat when the last out was recorded in the top of the ninth inning. After playing right field […]

Rubén Gómez was the second pitcher from Puerto Rico to reach the majors — and the first to start and win a World Series Game. He led the New York Giants to a 6-2 win in Game Three at Cleveland on October 1, 1954. A limber 6 feet even and 170-175 pounds, Gómez was amazingly […]

“The Washington public went enthusiastically, almost insanely, baseball mad” on the day of Hack Eibel’s debut. So wrote the Washington Post.  This happened when “Clark Griffith’s ambitious climbers batted the ‘13’ hoodoo all to pieces.”[1]  It was the 13th of the month of June and the Nationals had 13 hits, adding another win to a 13-game winning […]

Any ballplayer named Durham is bound to attract the nickname “Bull” – even if he was a fairly average 170-pounder, standing 5-feet-11. Edward Fant Durham was a right-handed pitcher, who batted from the left side. He pitched for the two Sox teams – for the Boston Red Sox from 1929 through 1932 and for the […]

Right-handed pitcher Jason Johnson overcame a diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus as a youth to forge an 11-year major-league career during which he became the first ballplayer to wear an insulin pump on the field of play. Jason Michael Johnson was born on October 27, 1973, in Santa Barbara, California, to John and Deanna Johnson. […]

Whenever American League President Joe Cronin was asked to rank big-league third basemen, he always gave the same answer: “Well, you start with Bluege.”1 Of course shortstop Cronin was referring to his old partner on the right side of the Washington Senators teams of the 1920s and ’30s, Ossie Bluege. At the 1970 World Series, […]

Being enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown puts a player in an elite class among their peers. Achieving the required 75 percent of votes in their first year of eligibility is something only 60 players have done. Frank Thomas was one of those 60; he also did things in his career […]

Twenty-four people attended the December 18, 2012, monthly roundtable of the Bob Broeg St. Louis SABR Chapter, held at the usual location, the Original Crusoe’s in St. Louis. Bob Giovanni reported on the recently published book, Bushville Wins! The Wild Saga of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, by John Klima. Bob said the book offered a […]

The end of World War I was less than three years in the past and still fresh in the minds of the patriotic Detroiters who came in force on this Memorial Day to honor and celebrate their fallen heroes. In spite of its being a hot day, a near-capacity crowd of 20,0001 Tigers faithful treated […]

The Cleveland Indians hosted the Cincinnati Reds on the afternoon of July 10, 1999, before a packed house of 43,127 fans at Jacobs Field for the second of three mid-July games in the annual Battle of Ohio. The Indians were the best team in baseball at 55-30. Even though they had won only half of […]

In January 1949, the St. Louis Cardinals sold right-hander Murry Dickson, a mainstay since their glory years earlier in the 1940s, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for $125,000. Dickson defeated his former club five times in eight decisions that season, with one victory especially harmful to St. Louis’s championship aspirations. His complete-game 7-2 win at Pittsburgh’s […]

With only two days left on the Cleveland Indians’ 1916 schedule, Jack Graney already had a season to remember. The 30-year-old St. Thomas, Ontario, native,1 a member of Cleveland’s American League franchise since his 1908 major-league debut, had piled up career-high totals in runs, doubles, triples, and home runs, rated among the best defensive left […]

On May 20, 1993, Boston found itself in the national spotlight. Cheers, NBC’s popular Thursday night TV show set in Boston and featuring a fictional retired Red Sox reliever and his friends, was about to air for the final time, ending an 11-year run. To mark the occasion, the show’s stars traveled to Boston for […]

“I was gunning for it, all right,” said Ralph Kiner, the Pittsburgh Pirates star left fielder. “I was sure gunning for that fourth home run in the ninth inning yesterday against the Dodgers … You don’t get these chances too often.”1 Although another home run would have nudged Kiner deeper into rare historic company, the […]

During the sophomore season of the Houston Colt .45s in 1963, there were a few bright spots for the Colt Stadium community suffering humidity, mosquitoes, and a ninth-place baseball team. Left fielder Al Spangler hit .281; right-hander Don Nottebart threw a no-hitter; rookie outfielder Rusty Staub showed flashes of promise; and Johnny Temple offered solace, […]