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When you review how professional baseball integrated, it is easy to begin and end with the story of Jackie Robinson’s struggles. Scant attention is given the fact that African Americans faced tremendous resistance to their presence throughout the 1950s and 1960s, especially in the Deep South. One such player who experienced this was Blue Moon […]

Gregg Olson, the only son of a highly successful high-school baseball coach, distinguished himself on the diamond at Omaha’s Northwest High School and went on to “pioneer the position of late inning college closer at a time when no one put their most talented pitcher in the bullpen.”1 That talent made him a first-round draft […]

Before Ray Chapman, Mickey Cochrane, Tony Conigliaro, Dickie Thon, and Adam Greenberg, the list of careers compromised by pitched baseballs claimed Danny Hoffman. On July 1, 1904, a Jesse Tannehill fastball caught the dynamic Philadelphia Athletics outfielder above his right eye, nearly killing him. Hoffman returned after months of recovery, and, despite significant damage to […]

Marty Krug appeared in only 20 games in 1912, his rookie season, mostly as a pinch-hitter, or a late-inning replacement. He watched the World Series from the superior but disappointing vantage of the winning team’s bench. He never once stepped onto the field against the New York Giants in those eight dramatic games. The knock […]

Known as “Gentleman Jim” and the “Ice Man,” Tennessee native Jim Hickman toiled for six years in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization before the newly formed New York Mets selected him in the 1962 expansion draft. While the Mets compiled a 260-547 record under managers Casey Stengel and Wes Westrum, Hickman had his share of […]

“I always hope he hits the ball to left so I can watch him run, because I’ve never seen anything like him turning second.” — Dwight Evans of the Red Sox, talking about Willie Wilson in 19801 “Having Willie Wilson in center field is like having four outfielders.” — Billy Scripture (Wilson’s first minor-league manager) […]

Cuban entrepreneur Roberto “Bobby” Maduro was a singular baseball man. When he passed away in 1986, the news made the front page of El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish newspaper of Miami, where he and so many of his countrymen made their home after Fidel Castro took power. In that story, Fausto Miranda (the dean of […]

 “LaMarque was probably the most unassuming of all the Monarch players. … He didn’t stand out. And he liked it like that. Lefty quietly went about his business.”  – Ray Doswell, curator, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum1   Jim LaMarque, who like so many southpaws was nicknamed Lefty, said he almost quit in 1942, his first year […]

Howard Ehmke is best remembered as the 35-year-old right-hander of the Philadelphia Athletics who unexpectedly started Game One of the 1929 World Series against the slugging Chicago Cubs and struck out a then record 13 en route to a surprising triumph in one of Connie Mack’s most famous tactical decisions. But it would be an […]

In the fall of 1992, our Milwaukee-area church invited a local ballplayer who had appeared in the recently released movie A League of Their Own, to join us for a family tailgate party. Little did we know that her spirited presentation of her playing days in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) would prompt […]

Stan Williams worked in professional baseball for more than 50 years. The Dodgers signed the big, tall, right-handed fireballer after he completed high school in the 1950s, and he was still on a major-league payroll as a scout as late as 2010. Williams had a knack for contributing to winning teams. In just his second […]

On August 7, 1923, the Washington Senators sent rookie hurler Monroe Mitchell to the hill versus Cleveland. Mitchell was coming off a five-hit shutout of the Browns which had earned him his first major league victory. Against the Tribe, he lost his shutout immediately when Charlie Jamieson led off with a triple and scored on […]

Were it not for the misfortune of attempting to break into the most talented major-league outfield of the 1990s, Brian Giles, as his post-Cleveland career confirms, might have earned a place in Heritage Park at Progressive Field as a member of the Indians Hall of Fame. In Giles’ four seasons with the Tribe, 1995-1998, playing […]

The 6-foot tall, 210-pound catcher for the Jersey City Jerseys looked like a giant to the boy. It was Camera Day at Jersey City’s Roosevelt Stadium in 1960. The Jerseys were the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A club. The catcher was Dutch Dotterer, a charming and intellectual athlete. Years later, Santa Ana High School’s Athletic Director, Frank Alvarado, would […]

First we’ll use Spahn, then we’ll use Sain, Then an off day, followed by rain. Back will come Spahn, followed by Sain And followed, we hope, by two days of rain. —Gerry Hern, Boston Post, September 14, 1948   Nobody would mistake Post sportswriter Hern’s famous lines for “Casey at the Bat” or even poetry […]

If a team’s success is attributed to how many world championships it has won, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies would be on even ground since 1995. As of 2018, each club had raised the Commissioner’s Trophy exactly once. The Braves won the whole enchilada in ’95, and the Phillies in 2008.  Atlanta by far […]

For the first time since 1956, the major leagues had a Subway Series,1 pitting the New York Yankees against the New York Mets. At the start of the season there was nothing etched in stone that would suggest the Yankees and the Mets would meet for a World Series title. The Yankees, who were trying […]

Major-league brothers are relatively rare. Brothers playing in the same game are even rarer. Brothers filling the positions of pitcher and catcher at the same time are rarer yet. But that’s what occurred with Andrew Romine and Austin Romine for the Chicago Cubs against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 12, 2021. The circumstances for this […]

“I saw Robinson coming in. I didn’t move because I had to stay to make the call on the pitch first. That’s why I stayed crouched over. I saw it perfectly. Yogi put the ball at the back of the plate and Robinson slid across the plate into the glove. I’m satisfied I made the […]

“Nasty weather outside … thank goodness there’s a dome.” — Chip Caray, TBS1   Fans in Minnesota were not always thankful for indoor baseball, but on a 44-degree, rainy October afternoon, the 54,088 that jammed the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome were glad to be inside as the Minnesota Twins squared off against the Detroit Tigers […]

Desperately needing a win, the Orioles entered Memorial Stadium in downtown Baltimore for Game Two of the 1983 World Series. They had lost Game One the previous day and were aware that no team had recovered to win the Series after losing the first two games at home. The Orioles’ Mike Boddicker had fashioned a […]

June 14 was the day before the 1949 trade deadline.1 According to the Boston Globe, the Boston Braves had sought Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Wally Westlake “for a couple of weeks.”2 The 1948 Braves had made it to the World Series and were looking to repeat as National League champion. Could they add one bat to […]

Editor’s note: This article was first presented at the 2003 SABR convention and was republished in the June 2013 edition of SABR’s Black Sox Scandal Research Committee newsletter.   By Ralph J. Christian Most people’s visions of Iowa and its connection to the Black Sox Scandal have been shaped by the movie Field of Dreams. […]

Greenlee Field, located in the 2500 block of Bedford Avenue, had its official opening on April 29, 1932, when the Crawfords hosted the New York Black Yankees and lost a tough 1-0 game. (NOIRTECH RESEARCH, INC.)   In 1931 the United States economy was drowning in the sea of the Great Depression, which brought nearly […]