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A versatile player who played all four infield positions and left field, Carlos Guillén is among a long line of excellent shortstops from Venezuela that includes Chico Carrasquel, Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén, and Omar Vizquel. At 6-feet-1-inch and 215 pounds, Guillén did not look like a prototypical shortstop. When he […]

In 1970, Tommy Harper became a member of what was once among the most exclusive “clubs” in baseball. That year, his first with the Milwaukee Brewers, he hit 31 homers and stole 38 bases, thereby joining the “30-30 Club.” At the time, the only other members of the club were Hank Aaron, Bobby Bonds, Willie […]

Maybe it was Leon Wagner’s bad luck to have been born too soon. A major-league outfielder for 12 years, Wagner was a two-time All-Star who averaged 29 home runs and 87 RBIs from 1961 through 1966. Still, because of fielding deficiencies that were either imagined (his opinion) or real (his managers’ views), he always seemed to […]

Solid left fielder Joe Rudi was a core member of the Oakland A’s 1972-74 dynasty. He was the runner-up for the American League Most Valuable Player twice during this period, and he also won three straight Gold Gloves (1974 through 1976). Rudi’s numbers with the bat don’t look dazzling today, but he did lead the […]

Jim Gosger was a hustling, hard-working ballplayer for 13 professional seasons, years that took him all over the baseball map, and to the majors for parts of 10 seasons with five different teams. He played a good center field but never really established himself as a good enough hitter to stay in a lineup long. […]

Although Ina Eloise Young was not the first female baseball writer, she was quite possibly the first female sports editor at a daily newspaper.1 She was also one of the earliest beat writers, covering both semipro and minor-league baseball for seven years. Ina began writing about a wide range of local sports for her hometown […]

Left-handed pitcher and sometime outfielder Patsy Flaherty pitched in nine major-league seasons spanning the years 1899 to 1911, compiling a record of 67 wins and 84 losses.i He was the most famous of the early practitioners of the no-wind-up, “quick pitch” delivery in which he returned the ball to the catcher as soon as he […]

In a major-league playing career that lasted only seven seasons, Bill Lange made an indelible impression on those who saw him in action. A star outfielder on the also-ran Chicago Colts of the 1890s, Lange could do it all: run, throw, field, hit for average, and hit for power by the standards of his time. […]

“From the Cape Fear League to the majors in three months is ‘some rise.’”1 High society. Murphy Currie was born into it in eastern North Carolina, in a vast country compound named “Glendale,” outside Fayetteville. He followed stardom on the diamond at in-state Davidson College with three no-hitters over 12 days in Carolina amateur ball […]

There are many types of baseball lifers. Some play, then manage, like Joe Torre. Some play, then move to the front office, like Billy Beane. Some never play but still make a career of the sport, like Roland Hemond or Vin Scully. But perhaps most baseball lifers play, achieving some success but little fame, and […]

Right-handed pitcher Henry Ward “Hank” Johnson started his professional baseball career close to home with back-to-back seasons for the Bradenton Growers in the Class-C Florida State League in 1923 and 1924. , Johnson was 2-0 his first season and 10-8 in 1924. Johnson was born in Bradenton on May 21, 1906, the fifth child among […]

John Young carried an impressive 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame during his baseball playing days. Even more impressive than his physical stature on the field, however, was the stature he later gained as a baseball ambassador for the underprivileged. In founding the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program, Young left an indelible mark on the game that […]

A significant event in Nashville’s Black community took place on Tuesday, February 19, 1907: a meeting held at the residence of J.W. White to organize the Standard Giants Base Ball club as reported in the February 22, 1907, edition of the Nashville Globe: “Manager White called the house to order, and Mr. C.B. Reaves was […]

The tallest player in American League history from his 1939 debut until well after he retired, 6-feet-8-inch “Big Mike” Naymick came to the Cleveland Indians organization with a mountain of potential.1 Delivering his pitches with a high leg kick that disoriented many batters, Naymick was said to throw faster than celebrated teammate Bob Feller, but […]

Howard Camp was a teenage starter in the inaugural game of the Georgia-Alabama League for the Talladega (Alabama) Indians, later becoming a manager and umpire in multiple Southern leagues, and, finally, a Detroit Tigers scout. He was one of a quartet of New York Yankees to make their debut on the same September 1917 afternoon. […]

Jim Lindsey made a name for himself pitching for semipro teams in his native Louisiana. Signed first by the Cleveland Indians, he eventually landed with the Cardinals, and pitched for six seasons as a starter and reliever before being released midway through the 1934 season. James Kendrick Lindsey was born in Greensburg, Louisiana, on January […]

The 1970 All-Star Game, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, was tied at 4-4 with two out in the bottom of the 12th inning. For the National League, Pete Rose was on second base and Billy Grabarkewitz on first. When Jim Hickman lined pitcher Clyde Wright’s offering to center field, hometown hero Rose broke from second […]

A mid-August matchup between two middle-of-the-pack teams is seldom abundant with high drama or deep significance. But in this case, fate braided the threads of multiple storylines to produce a singularly fascinating game, one that marked a milestone in the St. Louis Browns’ topsy-turvy 1921 season. St. Louis had not been over .500 since the […]

Mets manager Bobby Valentine and Yankees manager Joe Torre. (Courtesy of Jerry Coli / Dreamstime)   It was a once-in-a-century event for baseball fans in New York. The Mets and the Yankees were facing each other in two different ballparks on the same day.1 The Yankees started the day a half-game in front of Toronto […]

 Boston’s Tris Speaker, described in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “the greatest center fielder playing the game today,”1 led the Red Sox in a 9-2 romp over the St. Louis Browns, as he hit for the cycle, collecting a single, double, triple and home run in the same game. The 1912 American League Bostonians were […]

Manager Casey Stengel was back at the helm for the fourth consecutive season as the American League took on the National League in the 1953 All-Star Game at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Stengel’s Yankees had won their fourth consecutive World Series the prior October, and his star young center fielder, Mickey Mantle, was elected by the […]

May 16, 1902, is noted for an occasion that has never since been duplicated: a major league game in which two deaf players faced each other as opponents. Luther “Dummy” Taylor was a pitcher for the New York Giants. The team was visiting Cincinnati for a weekend series against the Reds. The hometown club’s roster […]

The California Angels’ best player of 1979, Don Baylor, came to Toronto in a bad mood. In an interview for the Orange County Register, Baylor criticized the Angels front office for not acquiring enough pitching help for the team.1 By the end of this game at Exhibition Stadium, Baylor had a 3-for-7 day with 8 […]

Near Boston Common and downstairs from Melville’s Seafood Restaurant,1 former Red Sox pitcher, reformed alcoholic, and unreformed ladies’ man Sam “Mayday” Malone ran a sports bar2 at 112½ Beacon Street — Cheers.3 The building that housed Melville’s and Cheers had once been a private home.4 Malone pitched five years for the Red Sox in the […]