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The Wingfoot Air Express lands at Grant Park in Chicago during its maiden voyage on July 21, 1919. (Photo: Chicagology.com)   It’s usually a thrill to see a Goodyear blimp flying over a sporting event. For nearly 100 years, the iconic silver airship has been observed flying over the World Series, the Super Bowl, the […]

The Chicago Chi-Feds went into Buffalo looking to get back into first place. With his team trailing league-leading Indianapolis by just one game, Chicago player-manager Joe Tinker was confident in its ability to get back on top, saying, “We have several games to play yet … and I think my club will top the ladder […]

The Baltimore Orioles went from no hits to 26 hits in the span of four days. After being no-hit by Hisashi Iwakuma and the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, the Orioles exploded for 26 hits and 18 runs on Sunday the 16th against the Oakland A’s. In their intervening games, the Orioles got […]

John McGraw, the third baseman-manager of the Baltimore Orioles, led a team that included future Hall of Famers Wilbert Robinson, Roger Bresnahan, and Joe McGinnity as well as himself. Also a member of the team was Turkey Mike Donlin. Donlin got his nickname because of his strutting walk and red neck.1 Donlin had played for […]

After back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015, including their first championship since 1985, the Kansas City Royals began the 2016 season with high hopes of a third straight trip to the World Series. With most of their roster returning, it was not an unreasonable expectation. The defending champions, however, got off to an […]

Outfielder Willie Tasby was one of the many major leaguers who graduated from Oakland’s McClymonds High School after playing for legendary coach George Powles. Robbie Henderson of probaseballscouting.com wrote, “Seventeen of Powles’ protégés made the major leagues. He coached and mentored so many athletes. I doubt any one scout coached/mentored the likes of Curt Roberts, Willie Tasby, […]

Patrick J. “Paddy” Bolan was probably born in 1869. The first I could find of Bolan was in a March 26, 1890, article in the Sporting Life about baseball in Toledo: “Amateur ball in this city has struck a snag. Price, a promising first base player, has signed with an Indiana club, and Picord and […]

The pride of Ashton, Rhode Island, stood 6 feet tall and was made of 190 pounds of rippled muscle. He was a blond-haired, freckle-faced boy with a good-natured smile. Behind his friendly face an above-average mind was at work. Coming from a home with no economic advantages, he rose to academic heights and professional success; he […]

Born February 10, 1976, in Waco, Texas, William Lance Berkman is best known as one of the Houston Astros “Killer B’s.” From 1999 through 2005, Berkman teamed with Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio to form one of the best offensive trios in the National League. Berkman was one of the greatest switch-hitters […]

“For quickness in getting rid of the ball and accuracy, I’d have to pick Grote”1 — Lou Brock   If one were to visit Shea Stadium on October 17, 1969, the first thing they may have noticed was the condition of the playing field. The turf was shredded, causing big holes all over. Firecrackers and […]

Long-forgotten today, New York Giants right-hander Louis Drucke appeared on the verge of stardom at the close of the 1910 season. Although his 12-10 record was not particularly eye-catching, his pitching had been. The hard-throwing hurler had led National League pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and placed in the league’s top ten in […]

The score stood at 11-1 when Tim Lollar left the mound and Wes Gardner took over in the seventh inning in the sixth game of the season at Chicago. With Boston’s comfortable lead, Gardner could relax a little for this, his first game in a Red Sox uniform and his debut in the American League.  […]

It’s unlikely that Pop Corkhill is discussed as an outfielder on par with Mays, Mantle, and Musial. Perhaps he should be. During his major-league career — from 1883 to 1892 — Corkhill placed in the top 10 for fielding percentage eight times; range factor seven times; assists five times; and putouts four times.1 For his […]

Hunky Shaw’s major-league career consisted of one at-bat with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1908. Though barely a blip on the national radar, his accomplishments in the minor leagues of the Pacific Northwest made him a local legend. He won the Pacific Coast League batting title in 1910 and helped bring professional baseball to Yakima, Washington, […]

The holders of major-league baseball’s longest consecutive-game hitting streaks are members of the game’s elite — Hall of Famers such as Ty Cobb, Willie Keeler, and, of course, Joe DiMaggio. But if the survey field is expanded to encompass the entirety of professional baseball, an unfamiliar name joins the ranks: Jack Ness. During the 1915 […]

On September 27, 1940, the Detroit Tigers were in Cleveland to start a three-game series against the second-place Indians. The Tigers had a two-game lead in the pennant race, so one win in the series would bring a league title back to Detroit. But Cleveland was starting off the set by sending the top pitcher […]

The Red Sox faithful’s devotion to Nomar Garciaparra, cultivated through multiple All-Star seasons and batting titles, had seemingly reached its breaking point after a July 1, 2004, loss to the Yankees. While Garciaparra sat out the game due to his Achilles tendon injuries, his perennial rival Derek Jeter reached base twice and dove headfirst into […]

“If you can’t get fundamentals down for Hal Lanier, you cannot play for Hal Lanier,” declared the native Floridian about his managerial philosophy, nearly a half-century since his professional baseball début in 1961.1 Lanier’s emphasis on the foundations of baseball characterized his longevity as a helmsman and, for 10 seasons, a major league ballplayer. To […]

“Just call me Hank,” said Henry “Prince” Oana. He didn’t really come from Hawaiian royalty, but there was still a certain mystique about this outfielder-turned-pitcher. In a time when mainstream baseball lacked diversity, Oana was something exotic. When this story was originally published in 2009, there weren’t many men alive who knew Hank Oana during […]

World War II ended when the Axis powers surrendered to the Allied powers in 1945. Men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces returned to an America deeply affected by years of war, and they sought to resume a simple, more pedestrian way of life. They looked to an America which embraced enterprise and entertainment, […]

Tall righty Nate Minchey pitched in parts of four major-league seasons (1993-1994, 1996-1997), though he never appeared in more than six games in a given year. He then built a successful career in Japanese baseball, earning 74 victories from 1998 to 2004. Following his playing days, he spent more than 15 years working as an […]

A small group of hearty Rogers Hornsby Chapter SABR members traveled to the northwestern lands of Cedar Park, Texas, to watch the San Francisco Giants get even with the Kansas City Royals in Game 4 of the 2014 World Series on Saturday, October 25, 2014. Fueled by delicious cheeseburger sliders, cookies and brownies by host […]