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He was a very good ballplayer. Certainly good enough that he posted some outstanding numbers during a long and distinguished minor-league career. Probably good enough that he could have had a substantial major-league life. But Carlos Bernier managed to play only one season in “The Show.” As Steve Treder wrote, “The baseball career of Carlos […]

Harry Walker was born to baseball and spent his life in the game. The son of one major leaguer and the brother of another, he was an All-Star outfielder, the lightning-rod manager of three teams, and a controversial hitting guru. Harry and Dixie Walker are the only brothers to win batting titles. When Harry came […]

Phil Morrison’s baseball career is indelibly connected to that of his older brother Johnny, known as Jughandle because of his quick-dropping curveball. Johnny’s glowing recommendation led directly to the professional baseball career of Phil, who was three years younger. Just as Johnny started out with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1920, Phil began pitching for his […]

A small memorial park is all that remains of Lane Field, home of the Pacific Coast League’s San Diego Padres from 1936 until 1957.1 Wind glyphs fly from three poles in the small park, each depicting a player from Padres history, a fielder, a batter and a pitcher. Ted Williams is both the batter and […]

David Green was one of baseball’s big “what if” stories. The imposing Nicaraguan was often called “the next Roberto Clemente.” His talent has also been compared to that of Vladimir Guerrero, André Dawson, and Darryl Strawberry — even Willie Mays. Alas, personal troubles and nagging injuries stopped him from realizing this vast potential. Looking back […]

When asked to make a list of the best hitters of the late 1940s and early 1950s, few would mention left-handed slugger Ferris Fain, but perhaps they should. Fain broke in with the Philadelphia Athletics as a 26-year-old rookie in 1947 and established a reputation as a daring first baseman with a discerning eye at […]

More than five decades later, his legend has not faded. The people who saw Harry Agganis play or knew him still talk both of the joy he gave to New England and of the devastating grief brought by his tragic end. Their children might know of him by walking on Harry Agganis Way, by attending […]

It was somewhat ironic that in his next-to-last appearance in a Milwaukee Braves uniform, Warren Spahn replaced Arnold Umbach on the mound. The declining veteran got the final two outs in an 11-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 3, 1964, ensuring the first – and only – victory for the 21-year-old Umbach in […]

Swift Canadian Mel Kerr made just one major-league appearance. It came with the Chicago Cubs as a pinch-runner in September 1925 as the team utilized the multi-sport athlete’s world-class foot speed. Yet, as is often the case, there is more to the story than that solitary moment in his life. Indeed, Kerr was ranked with […]

William Joseph Rohr was born on July 1, 1945, in San Diego, California, right in the middle of the baseball season. Rohr began playing baseball when he was 8, and despite weighing only 145 pounds in high school, he finished his career at Bellflower High with a 26-3 record, pitching four no-hitters for his varsity […]

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 […]

“Amazing,” said Ray Crone when asked by the author to describe fan support in Milwaukee in the 1950s.[1] A tall, lanky right-handed pitching prodigy signed by the Braves in 1949, Crone debuted in 1954 and pitched a ten-inning complete game in his first start in the major leagues. However, after four inconsistent seasons and a […]

Fans often remember the ends of seasons more readily than the beginnings. What is often associated with the beginnings of the 1975 season for the Cincinnati Reds is that on Saturday, May 17, 1975, the Reds stood at 19-19 and in second place 5½ games behind the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and just a half-game […]

In 1889 the Louisville Colonels of the American Association were a woeful baseball team. Over the season, Louisville went 27-111-2, with a record-setting 26-game losing streak. The team churned through four managers – Dude Esterbrook (2-8), Jimmy “Chicken” Wolf (14-51), Dan Shannon (10-46-2), and Jack Chapman (1-6) – with equally dismal results. By July 27, […]

After the Negro Leagues ended their regular seasons, October was an excellent time for league teams to go barnstorming, untethered from their home cities and hopping from location to location to squeeze the last gate receipts from the season before cold weather and football put an end to the baseball year. The Chicago American Giants, […]

Despite five straight World Series titles, Casey Stengel had yet to manage the American League to an All-Star Game victory when he set his lineup at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on July 13, 1954. Stengel ended his midseason drought this hot afternoon as the AL stopped a four-game NL winning streak in a record-setting slugfest. “They’ll […]

Phil Cockrell, raved the Philadelphia Inquirer, “drew transportation to the mythological ‘Hall of Fame’” following his overpowering no-hitter to lead the Hilldale club over the visiting Detroit Stars in the afternoon contest of a Labor Day doubleheader in 1921.1 Described as a “moist ball artist,” Cockrell was one of the most renowned and successful spitball […]

The unusual 1981 season, torn into halves by a players strike and lengthened by a specially added first round of playoffs, ended on a familiar note – a World Series featuring the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. The former New York City neighbors were facing off for the 11th time. The Yankees had […]

A torrential rainfall postponed the second game of a three-game set between the Brooklyn Superbas and Cincinnati Reds in August 1906. “Such a storm has seldom been seen in these parts,” observed the Cincinnati Enquirer.1 The two clubs decided to reschedule the game for the next day as part of a doubleheader. They agreed in […]

The San Diego Padres celebrated their 50th season in Major League Baseball in 2019. (SAN DIEGO PADRES)   San Diego’s quest for major-league baseball began earnestly in the mid- to late 1950s, around the time California’s largest cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, ascended to “the bigs.” Home of the Pacific Coast League Padres since […]

This article was published in the SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee’s June 2020 newsletter. Chick Gandil (top row, 3rd from left) was a fan favorite early in his baseball career, including here in 1907 in Mexico, where he was known as “Chick Arnold.” He played for a team sponsored by the Cananea Consolidated Copper […]

Former Site of Bugle Field at Federal Street and N. Highland Avenue, January 2020. (Courtesy of David B. Stinson.)   Baltimore in the early part of the twentieth century “languished in ballpark poverty.”1 The city, once home to one of the finest squads in the professional game, had hosted only minor-league teams since 1902, and […]