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The National League West-leading Cincinnati Reds hosted division rival Atlanta for a three-game series starting on May 15, 1970. The Reds (24-10) had the NL’s best winning percentage (.706) and enjoyed a four-game lead over the second-place Braves. The Reds’ balanced attack was illustrated by their leading the league in runs scored (173) and fewest […]

After the Pirates lost the first two games of the 1971 World Series to the Orioles in Baltimore, the Series moved to Pittsburgh, and the Pirates rode a complete-game three-hitter by Steve Blass to their first victory. It may have been too much for the Steel City nine to expect Game Four starter Luke Walker […]

On May 23, 1976, Minnesota pitcher Bert Blyleven beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, and won his 99th career game, all with the Twins, for whom he debuted as a 19-year-old on June 5, 1970. He had a solid rookie season, going 10-9 with a 3.18 earned-run average in 27 games, all but two as […]

In April 1933, Ed Coleman, who had shaved a full five years from his true age, entered his first full major league season tabbed as one of the Philadelphia Athletics rising young stars. “[He] is regarded as a sure-shot to bat far over the .300 mark,” The Sporting News wrote. “[H]e gave every evidence of […]

“Gruber plays baseball the way paying customers expect to see a guy play baseball – at full speed. He runs hard. He crashes into things. He never met a takeout slide he didn’t like. He dives for balls, spending a measurable portion of each game at third base down on the ground. If he isn’t […]

Whitlow Wyatt already had strong ties to Atlanta baseball when he arrived with the Braves for the 1966 season as the team’s pitching coach. The native Georgian was a short-stint collegian at Georgia Tech before starting his professional baseball career in 1927 and later serving as pitching coach for the city’s standout Class AA Southern […]

“Good field no hit” is a label that can doom any player. When that player is pushed through the system, it can stunt his natural growth into a position. And when he’s competing against several others for the same spot – people who have much more support from the team – the opportunities may just […]

Casey Stengel is best remembered for his managerial accomplishments with the juggernaut New York Yankees of the 1950s and the bumbling, beloved New York Mets of the early ’60s, but decades earlier he was a hard-hitting outfielder who compiled a .284 batting average over 14 seasons in the National League. Planting his right foot closer […]

On May 26, 1956, the Cincinnati Redlegs and Milwaukee Braves faced off in the second game of a three-game series in Milwaukee. The result was one of the most unusual and memorable games in the history of each franchise. On the mound for the Redlegs was Johnny Klippstein, a hard-throwing right-hander in his seventh season […]

When he got his shot at major-league baseball, speedy outfielder Jeff McNeely did very well indeed, batting .297 in 21 games. His on-base percentage was .409 and he stole six bases. That call-up came late in the 1993 season; the 23-year-old was then in his fifth year as a pro. Yet he never made it […]

Blaine Durbin had a meteoric rise through the bush leagues in the first decade of the 20th century. It brought the lefty pitcher to the attention of several big-league teams, including Frank Chance’s legendary Chicago Cubs dynasty. Yet Durbin’s story mirrors countless others: a phenom whose career fizzled out, promise left unfulfilled. He pitched in […]

Jorge Comellas didn’t impress during his brief stint in the major leagues at the age of 28, as a right-handed pitcher with the pennant-winning Chicago Cubs in 1945.  He was demoted before June 1.  However, he pitched for six years in the minors before the war, and at the age of 20 was good enough […]

Brothers Harry and William Hinchman were Philadelphia natives who devoted their lives to baseball. Harry was the elder (born August 4, 1878) and played professionally for 19 seasons. He added 12 more seasons as a minor-league manager before he died at age 54. He made a lasting impression in every city (there were 14 of […]

Dave Cole, a gregarious right-hander who spent six seasons in the big leagues with the Braves, Cubs, and Phillies, was the kind of pitcher who has been frustrating scouts and managers for over a century: he couldn’t control the lively fastball and sharp curve that he possessed. Cole pitched only 237 2/3 innings in the […]

He is the answer to one trivia question and half of the answer to another, but there was nothing trivial about the life of Will White. William Henry White was born in Caton, a farming community in Steuben County, in western New York, just a few miles above the Pennsylvania state line. He was the […]

Clara Díaz Chacón was a little girl who lived on a street in the fishing village of Puerto Caimito in Panama. A few houses up the road was an elementary school classmate. That boy’s studies ended in the ninth grade, but their paths crossed again when they were teenagers. They became boyfriend and girlfriend, and […]

A prominent third baseman of the 1890s, Bill Joyce hit for average and power, and drew a lot of walks; his .435 career on-base percentage ranks seventh all-time.1 He was a smart and magnetic leader who inspired his teams with his aggressive style of play, though his disputes with umpires were excessive. The oft-quoted Joyce […]

Khalil Greene’s performance in youth and collegiate ball was a showcase of abundant talent. The shortstop’s senior year at Clemson University in 2002 bespoke Hall of Fame ability. Less than two years later, Greene ascended to the majors. He had apparently begun to fully realize his huge promise at the top level in 2007. Yet […]

Charles Leander ” Bumpus” Jones began his major league career on Saturday, October 15, 1892, when he twirled a no-hitter for Cincinnati against the visiting Pittsburgs. Seemingly emerging from nowhere, Jones caused quite a stir in baseball circles. He was never able to duplicate his success in the majors. Whether it was the change in […]

José Cardenal, one of the last Cuban baseball players to leave that island before the Castro regime clamped down, played for 18 seasons in the US major leagues for nine teams. But that information only scratches the surface of a talented, yet complicated man who was once compared to Willie Mays as a young player. […]

In the 1951 St. Louis spring training camp, considerable focus turned to Bobby Tiefenauer as the answer to Philadelphia Phillies reliever Jim Konstanty, a high bar for the 22-year-old rookie to reach. Konstanty was the reigning National League Most Valuable Player, It was hoped that Tiefenauer’s knuckleball could match Konstanty’s success with off-speed sliders and […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Harvey’s Wallbangers: The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers” (2020), edited by Gregory H. Wolf.   On June 2, 1982, general manager Harry Dalton’s firing of second-year manager Buck Rodgers and appointing longtime hitting coach Harvey Keunn as the interim manager was the final piece in the Milwaukee Brewers’ only World Series appearance. […]

The Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter gathered at The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis on Monday, July 21, 2014, with 23 members and guests in attendance. Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order. There was discussion, and universal agreement, on the suggestion by Kris Lokemoen to establish an annual chapter award to honor […]