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As the title of his 2013 autobiography showed, George Altman’s baseball journey took him from the Negro Leagues (1955) to the majors (1959-67) and beyond (Japan, 1968-75). The slugging 6-foot-4 outfielder, who also played first base from time to time, hit 101 home runs in the majors. He was a National League All-Star in 1961 […]

Walter “Dobie” Moore was one of the greatest shortstops in Black baseball history. Nicknamed “The Black Cat,” he was a powerful hitter and gifted fielder. He began his career playing for the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry baseball team (a squad that produced more than a dozen Negro League players in the years surrounding World War […]

Right-hander Bill Castro pitched all or part of 10 big-league seasons (1974-1983) for the Brewers, Yankees, and Royals. A reliever with excellent control, he frequently induced double-play grounders with his sinker-slider repertoire. As a player, scout, and coach, Castro spent 44 years in professional baseball. In 2009 with Milwaukee, he became the majors’ first full-time […]

Today we would call Sherry Magee a five-tool player: he could hit, run, field, throw, and hit with power. For more than a decade he was the Philadelphia Phillies’ clean-up hitter and greatest offensive star, setting the all-time team record in stolen bases (387) and ranking among the top ten in almost every other category. […]

As a rookie in the season that he turned 21, Paul Dean threw a no-hitter and helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1934 National League pennant. He then won two games to help the Cardinals win the World Series that year. The younger and less talkative brother of Dizzy Dean, Paul Dee “Daffy” […]

“He’s a quality player who’s getting better all the time. A year ago, he played on talent alone. Now he’s doing it on talent and know-how. His potential is unlimited.”1 — Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland   No word better describes Bobby Bonilla’s baseball career than “potential.” He was selected as an All-Star six times. […]

Michael James Ryan was born on November 25, 1941 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to parents John and Lorraine Ryan. He was born into athletic stock, his father John a tackle who nearly made the Boston Yanks of the National Football League. His grandfather’s cousin Jack Ryan had been a major-league ballplayer, breaking in with Louisville of […]

Reggie Smith was a rookie in 1967 when the Boston Red Sox came back from a ninth-place finish to craft an extraordinary pennant-winning season. The All-Star caliber major-league career he completed in 1982 was a great success that has been muddied by other people’s expectations (too high) and Smith’s media profile (too low). Smith batted […]

In 1947 Johnny Mize did something unmatched in baseball history. He became the first player to hit 50 or more home runs in a season while striking out fewer than 50 times, one of the game’s extraordinary records and a sole distinction Mize still held more than 65 years later. Few, if any hitters have […]

Like so many of the state’s early settlers, Bert Abbey’s ancestors were farmers who came to Vermont from Connecticut. Bert’s father, Pearl Castle Abbey, aspired to become a Baptist minister, but at his father’s insistence remained on the family farm in Essex Center. He was still living there on November 29, 1869, when his wife […]

Baseball history is filled with all variety of wonderful-sounding names. But has there ever been a more perfect name for a baseball player than Champ Summers? “With a name like that, you gotta be halfway decent anyway,” Champ would say years later. “If my name had been George, nobody would have noticed me, but Champ?” […]

For 17 seasons Bill O’Donnell covered Baltimore Orioles baseball in a calm, objective style. O’Donnell, who was said to be as unflappable off the air as he was on, once commented, “If you’re always getting excited, you will lose your credibility when it is time to be excited.”1 A highly respected sportscaster, O’Donnell also covered […]

The area known as Argo is located eight miles west of Chicago’s old Comiskey Park in Summit, Illinois, a lowdown five-figure village in Cook County known for a corn milling and processing plant that is among the largest of its kind – and has the odor to prove it. It was also home to Ted […]

Despite frequent citations over the years, it is not common knowledge that the Braves got their nickname and first Indian-head logo under James E. Gaffney. Then again, nearly a century and two franchise moves have gone by since the owner of yesteryear (December 1911 to January 1916) rechristened his team. The change celebrated his ties […]

The Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association assembled in Philadelphia in early April of 1884. They welcomed four rookies, including pitcher Al Atkinson. The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that the right-hander was “from an Illinois village and has his reputation to make as little is known of him.”1 He was quick to make an impression two […]

Right-handed pitcher Bill Harris won 24 major-league games in a career that spanned 18 seasons, from his debut in April 1923 to his final game in October 1938. He won 257 games in the minor leagues, in the years 1921 to 1945. His parents were Ed Harris and Minnie (Ragsdale) Harris. William Milton Harris was […]

This article appears in SABR’s “The Newark Eagles Take Flight: The Story of the 1946 Negro League Champions” (2019), edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin.   Throughout his career, Biz Mackey served as an international baseball goodwill ambassador by competing in Cuba, and crossing the Pacific to play exhibition games in Hawaii, Japan, […]

An aging veteran, who had battled weight problems all season and was placed on waivers a few weeks before was an unlikely choice to hurl the Tigers’ first no-hitter. But that is what George Mullin did on his birthday, no less, as he redeemed himself and mowed down theSt. Louis Browns to make Detroit baseball […]

Injuries on the field have always been part of baseball. There are the common sprained ankles, pulled muscles, and arm injuries. But the scariest injuries often occur when a ball is smacked back up the middle at the pitcher. After finishing his delivery, the pitcher is less than 60 feet from the plate with very […]

The 1946 Boston Red Sox spent only one day all season long out of first place—April 25. By the time this game got underway on July 14, nearly three months after that point, they had a nine-game lead. By the time the doubleheader was over, their lead was 11 games. The first game was close […]

I wonder who will be higher, Wallenda or Carlton?” — Montreal Expos catcher Tim McCarver1 On a muggy August afternoon in 1972, Karl Wallenda and Steve Carlton performed during a doubleheader between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. Carlton was 27 years old and entering the prime of his career. […]

“Terrapin Park, Federal League, Baltimore Md,” postcard published by The Chessler Company. (Courtesy of David B. Stinson.)   Terrapin Park, also known as Oriole Park (V), was the home of the Federal League Baltimore Terrapins in 1914 and 1915, the International League Orioles from 1916 to 1944, and parttime home field to the Negro National […]

Pitcher Gordon Zabasky winds up on the mound at Montgomery Field, April 1957, in Carlsbad, New Mexico.   In the spring of 1984, the decaying remains of Montgomery Field – a former minor-league ballpark in Carlsbad, New Mexico – were removed to make way for a multi-field youth soccer complex.1 It symbolized the way America’s […]

SABR Salute: James Bready Editor’s note: The SABR Salute, first bestowed upon writer Fred Lieb in 1976, was designed as a manner of recognizing the contributions of some of the older members of the Society. Subsequent SABR Salutes appeared in the SABR Membership Directory and honored members who had made great contributions to baseball historical […]