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When does a pitcher throw a complete-game shutout without giving up even one base hit, leaving the game with a win, but somehow that’s not a no-hitter? It sort of defies logic. You pitched. You were the only pitcher for your team. You won the game. It’s in the record books as a complete-game win. […]

The 1981 American League Championship Series was primed for epic status before it began. Billy Martin, fired twice as manager by the New York Yankees, now led his up-and-coming Oakland Athletics against the Yankees in the postseason. Martin made no secret of his animus, telling reporters, “I’m going to beat [Yankees owner George] Steinbrenner’s ass […]

When a rookie pitcher for the Detroit Tigers named Mark Fidrych made his major-league debut in an April 1976 road contest against the Oakland Athletics, it attracted little attention. In front of a tiny crowd (3,080) at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Fidrych entered a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning and promptly […]

What spices up a late-season pennant chase quite like a no-hitter? Try two of them on the same night, involving the league’s top two teams. Fans of the Class A Eastern League1 witnessed those fireworks on Saturday, September 1, 1956, when the first-place Schenectady Blue Jays entered the day 2½ games ahead of the second-place […]

It was the Deadball Era, where home runs were few and far between until the coming of George Herman “Babe” Ruth. Arthur Earl Wilson hit just seven home runs in 12 major-league seasons, mostly with the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs. When Wilson joined the Federal League’s Chicago Chi-Feds in 1914, he became a […]

Vida Blue set the baseball world ablaze during the first half of the 1971 season. The 21-year-old Oakland Athletics left-hander from Louisiana was playing in his third big-league season. Blue debuted in 1969 but pitched less than 50 innings in the 1969 and 1970 campaigns. After a 1971 Opening Day loss to the Washington Senators, […]

In many ways, it was a typical Coors Field contest. On September 20, 2000, the San Diego Padres jumped out to a 14-3 lead after 4½ innings in the Colorado Rockies’ hitter-friendly ballpark.1 In classic Coors Field fashion, the 11-run lead nearly disappeared, and the Padres were forced to use their closer in the bottom […]

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Giants, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon, July 21, 1943, at Sportsman’s Park III in St. Louis. Martin J. Haley of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat noted the attendance: “The day’s activities were attended by 5,755 paid customers, 668 military men, 165 blood […]

The saying “Lightning never strikes twice in the same place” may not be true, but few of the record 67,550 spectators at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum would have expected it to strike for a third time when the 1959 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers opened their 1960 season at home against the Chicago Cubs.1 […]

Though Galen Cisco pitched in nearly 200 games over his seven-year major-league career, his athletic accomplishments were much more substantial and longer-lasting than that: He played in a Rose Bowl game as a young man, and was still helping major-league pitchers four decades later. Galen Bernard Cisco was born on March 7, 1936, to Beryl […]

In the summer of 1955, Robert Leroy Powell became the first player from Flint, Michigan, to make the major leagues. Bob signed a $36,000 bonus contract with the Chicago White Sox following the spring quarter at Michigan State University, where he starred as a hard-hitting outfielder for the Spartans’ baseball nine. As it happened, Powell […]

Simon Rosenthal was one of only 16 Red Sox players who was actually born in the city of Boston and — joining Jack Slattery — one of only two to both live and die in Boston. He garnered more at-bats for the Red Sox than any other Boston native, 357 of them during the years […]

He was a lanky, crew-cut 21-year-old newcomer called up from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons for a brief four-game trial with the 1960 Philadelphia Phillies. For the ensuing 50-plus years Bobby Wine played important full-time major-league roles. He was a classic shortstop with a great glove who struggled at the plate. After his playing career ended, […]

A big, hulking 6-foot-3, 215-pound outfielder named Baby Doll?  There has to be a story behind that nickname.  More than one, as it happens, though they overlap. The story out of Jacobson’s own mouth is probably the right one. In his obituary, The Sporting News quoted him: “Everybody called me Bill until that day in […]

Serious major-league fans know that Jack Chesbro was the last 40-game winner, posting 41 victories in 1904. Others are aware that Carl Hubbell won 24 consecutive games from July 1936 into 1937. These are major-league records, but at the lower levels of baseball, Rip Hagerman posted 46 wins in his first year of professional ball […]

Histories of Stanford University have referred to Zebulon “Zeb” Terry as “one of the greatest baseball players in Stanford history.”1 More than a century has passed since Terry graduated, but his name continues to come up when the early days of Stanford athletics are retold and the foundation of the university’s stellar athletics teams is […]

In the spring of 1973 Dick Ruthven achieved a rare baseball feat. He became just the fifth pitcher since the abolition of the final bonus rule in 1962 to leap straight from college baseball into the major leagues. Stardom was predicted. He drew comparisons to Tom Seaver. Ruthven became an All-Star and earned a World […]

Remembered for his blazing fastball, Monty Kennedy had an abbreviated minor-league baseball career that was quickly interrupted by military service. Perhaps because of this lack of development time, Kennedy struggled constantly with his control during his time with the Giants and the club eventually ran out of patience with him. However, Kennedy displayed flashes of […]

He played in only forty-one games in his Major League career, but took home two World Series rings. During his ten years playing professional baseball, he earned such nicknames as Iron Man, Buster, and Butch. No matter what they called Charley Wensloff, one thing was certain: He knew how to pitch. His fastball, curve, and […]

For a Red Sox team suddenly lacking Babe Ruth in 1920, having Tim Hendryx for that year helped soften the blow. He didn’t hit many home runs; in fact, he didn’t hit any. But he did drive in 73 runs, and he hit .328 with a .400 on-base percentage. It was, by far, his best […]

Clarence “Lefty” Russell was the most sought-after pitcher in the minor leagues during the summer of 1910. The Baltimore Oriole southpaw was the sensation of the Eastern League, baffling hitters with his crackling fastball, roundhouse curve, and elusive spitball. Russell’s domination of opposing batters quickly drew the attention of quite a few major league teams, […]

For 11 years Tim Flannery was an infielder for the San Diego Padres. During his childhood, he sang and played guitar with other family members. He took his guitar with him on the road while playing for the Padres and after retiring from his playing days, decided to take his musical career seriously. While coaching […]

SABR Bibliography Committee Research Guide No. 10: Baseball in History Journals (1980-88) Editor’s note: This guide was first published by the SABR Bibliography Committee in 1989. To download the original in PDF form, click here. By Jim SumnerApril 1989 This guide consists of all the articles I could find on baseball history published in history […]

Editor’s note: During our Stay Home With SABR initiative, enjoy these light-hearted Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau by Joanne Hulbert of SABR’s Boston Chapter to stay engaged with baseball until the games return. Check out what’s new and keep up with all the news in the Boston Chapter on Facebook at BostonSABR or on Instagram […]