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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 […]

Even if Pete Varney had never strapped on a chest protector and shin guards for Harvard, he would have had a place in the hearts of the Crimson sports faithful forever from one momentous football game in 1968. But baseball was his game, as he gained All-American recognition and led Harvard into the 1971 College […]

“It’s the starting pitcher’s job to win the game. My job is to save it. Sure the starters make more money. They don’t have as much fun.” — Don “Every Day” Elston1   If a Chicago Cubs skipper picked up the bullpen phone during the late ’50s or early ‘60s, chances are he was calling […]

This outfielder was the first member of the Lumbee people of Robeson County, North Carolina, to play in the majors. Throughout his playing days, Gene Locklear’s skill as an artist also got attention. “They are both individual things, and you have to have talent. You can’t just have desire,” Locklear said in 2005.1 One of […]

Bert Thiel pitched four games for the 1952 Boston Braves, the extent of his major-league career. He had a long minor-league pitching career with 145 wins. He pitched two seasons of winter ball with Caguas, in Puerto Rico; managed in the minors; and scouted. His baseball mentors were George Selkirk, his manager with the 1953-55 […]

“He is another Vance, another Dazzy, I’m telling you. Hasn’t the best disposition in the world. You know some of those Carolina fellows get funny ideas sometimes, but he certainly can buzz that ball over. Best young pitcher I’ve seen since Rube Marquard. Only he is faster than Rube was. Say, maybe he is another […]

As of 2013, there had been more than 18,000 members in the major league baseball fraternity. Many of those were outstanding overall athletes who excelled at more than one sport. Some, such as Jim Thorpe and Bo Jackson, attained a mythic status for their athleticism. Others performed in the national limelight such as Dave DeBusschere, […]

In a nine-year career spent with three teams, outfielder Tito Landrum never received more than 205 official at-bats in a season. Yet he earned two World Series rings and was a League Championship Series hero for both the 1983 Orioles and 1985 Cardinals. Terry Lee Landrum was born on October 25, 1954 in Joplin. Missouri. […]

“The rumors are that [rookie] Allen is not returning with the Phillies to Connie Mack Stadium on Wednesday. He’s going directly to the Hall of Fame.”1   The Philadelphia Phillies’ first black superstar, Dick Allen was one of the most feared hitters in baseball in the 1960s. In an era dominated by pitching, he slugged […]

Before Mike Lum came along in 1967, only three men born and raised in Hawaii had played in the majors, and none since 1945.1 Both before and after World War II, quite a few Hawaiian ballplayers had gone to Japan – but for mainland fans, Lum became a longstanding reminder of baseball in the Aloha […]

Entering the 2022 season, only one player had hit more than 14 triples in a season since 2012: Eddie Rosario. The left-handed-batting outfielder stroked 15 triples in 2015, leading all major leaguers. And he accomplished this feat as a rookie with the Minnesota Twins, playing in 122 games. In his next six seasons, though, Rosario […]

July 4, 1921, fell on a Monday, giving baseball teams a golden opportunity for not only a potentially lucrative Sunday doubleheader, but also another twin bill on the holiday. The Atlantic City Bacharach Giants took full advantage of the calendar, hosting two games on Sunday against archrival Hilldale of Philadelphia, and two more on July […]

On September 15, 1922, the New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 2-1, while the St. Louis Browns were beating up on the Boston Red Sox, 7-1, to pull to within a half-game of the first-place Yankees heading into a crucial three-game series at St. Louis’s Sportsman’s Park. Led by George Sisler, who […]

The Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians experienced completely different kickoffs to their 1921 campaigns. The 1920 season ended with Cleveland capturing their first World Series, over the Brooklyn Robins, after a season-long battle with the White Sox and the New York Yankees for the American League pennant. The White Sox were constantly battered by […]

Until August 31, 2005, only one major-league baseball career had begun with a grand slam in a player’s first at-bat. That honor belonged to Bill Duggleby, a rookie pitcher making his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit a grand slam in the second inning in his very first at-bat against the visiting New York […]

In 1922, the defending American League champion New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns battled for first place all season long. The pennant was at stake when the Yankees came to Sportsman’s Park on a mid-September weekend for a three-game “Little World Series” with only a half-game lead over the Browns. After the teams […]

When Pat Gosney shipped off for US Army duty in the summer of 1952, he left with a good story to tell his buddies: Just before entering military service, he’d pitched a three-hit shutout against a major-league team. The story came with a few caveats, which Gosney no doubt admitted by and by. The shutout […]

The Red Sox were down three games to none in the 2004 American League Championship Series. None of the previous 25 major-league teams that had been down 0-3 had even forced a seventh game, much less won one. After the 19-8 beating they had taken in Game Three, some rabid Red Sox fans had sold […]

By late June 1979, the once-proud Oakland Athletics had fallen into baseball’s basement. After 13 wayward seasons in Kansas City without a winning record, the franchise arrived in Oakland in 1968 with future stars Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, and Catfish Hunter on the roster. The early 1970s saw five straight division titles and […]

In the summer of 1949, preparation was underway for one of the most popular Negro Leagues events: the East-West Classic. The annual all-star game – which had been held at Chicago’s Comiskey Park every year since 1933 – had long been a fan favorite.1 In August 1948, more than 42,000 had turned out to watch […]

This article appears in SABR’s “20-Game Losers” (2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Emmet R. Nowlin.   Chris Archer took the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field on September 29, 2016, in a meaningless game between two teams slogging to the end of disappointing seasons. But a defeat would make […]