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Haywood Cooper Sullivan was many things during his life: passing record holder at Dothan High School (Alabama), college All-SEC quarterback and baseball standout (Florida), bonus baby, American League catcher, manager, general manager, and major-league ballclub owner, and to top it off, a self-made millionaire. Sullivan was born in Donalsonville, Georgia on December 15, 1930, and […]

Southpaw pitcher Pete Dowling made his major-league debut with the Louisville Colonels on July 17, 1897, just two days after his 21st birthday, and two days before Honus Wagner played his first game with the Colonels. Louisville acquired the two in separate transactions, Dowling from Paducah, Kentucky, of the Central League for pitcher Jim Jones […]

Allan Montreuil was the true definition of a baseball “phenom.” Unlike most amateur players who acquire the label when they are in high school or college, Montreuil first got attention as a two-year-old. He went on become one of the most celebrated amateur players in New Orleans baseball history as a result of his athletic […]

Burly, 6-foot-7 reliever Tim Stoddard remains (as of 2023) the only man to win an NCAA Division I basketball title and a World Series ring. Before he grew his big walrus mustache and began to lose his hair, he was the starting power forward for the 1973-74 North Carolina State Wolfpack. Although baseball’s January 1975 […]

After an even 7-7 split in his 14 decisions with the 1940 Boston Red Sox, right-hander Herb Hash needed one more decision to tip the scales one way or the other. Two hitless innings in relief of Lefty Grove in an April 18, 1941, game against Philadelphia, with the Red Sox scoring twice in the […]

On the night of September 26, 1997, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets were playing out the dregs of the regular season before a small crowd at Shea Stadium. But if part of baseball’s appeal is that any trip to the ballpark can yield historic accomplishments, the partisans of New York were in for […]

Since 1931, Earl Webb has held the major-league record for the most doubles hit in a single season – 67. It is one of the longest-lasting records in baseball, despite the fact that when it was set, the season was eight games shorter than today’s 162-game schedule. As it happens, Earl’s team that year – […]

In 1978 Cincinnati Reds’ manager Sparky Anderson, referring to the San Francisco Giants’ mound corps, said, “That’s the best pitching staff in baseball and Knepper is their best pitcher.”1 A year later, future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey echoed this sentiment when he compared his club’s rotation to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ fearsome staffs of […]

Entertaining and irritating by turns, outfielder Chuck Carr was known for his speed and cocky personality. Carr’s running ability was what made him fun to watch. He made many circus catches and stole a lot of bases. That made him a fan favorite in Miami, where he enjoyed his best year in 1993 for the […]

[With research assistance from John Leidy] Ray Fisher has been justly honored for his 38 seasons as head baseball coach at the University of Michigan. He was elected to Michigan’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1959, the American Association of College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1966, and the University of Michigan Hall of […]

When Phil Rizzuto went to his first Major League tryout, a New York Giants coach told him he was too small to play in the big leagues and suggested he should make a living by shining shoes.1 But in a later tryout with the Yankees, Rizzuto impressed scout Paul Krichell, who recommended they sign the […]

In the spring of 1947, “uncertain” may have been the word that best described the New York Yankees’ prospects. The team that had dominated the American League throughout the late 1930s and the early 1940s was coming off an ignoble third-place finish in 1946, seventeen games behind— and seemingly light years removed from—the champion Boston […]

“I will remember Dick Howser making that rush toward Bret Saberhagen the October before last, smiling like a kid, grabbing the most shining moment of a worthy baseball life.”1 – Mike Lupica, June 18, 1987. “Well, I just recruited me a shortstop.”2 – Legendary FSU baseball coach Danny Litwhiler remembering the 1955 tryout of unheralded […]

Lew Simmons was a popular performer as a minstrel entertainer both before and after his time in baseball management. One of many persons who linked the theater with nineteenth-century baseball, Simmons was a noted banjoist, a professional comedian of great repute, and an end man with the tambourine in the minstrel show.1 There is considerable […]

Venezuelan catcher Bo Díaz played for all or part of 13 seasons in the majors, plus 14 more in his homeland’s winter league. He helped the Philadelphia Phillies win a National League pennant in 1983 and was part of six champion teams with the Leones del Caracas. Díaz made it to the majors on the […]

Right-handed pitcher Bill Butland developed a sore arm his first year in the majors, 1940, and pitched with it for a full decade, fighting against the pain to do the only thing he’d ever wanted to do as a youngster – play baseball. He’d started baseball early and bore the responsibility of caring for a […]

“For a man who wants to stay in baseball, being a utilityman is the best training he can get. Much better than being a regular. The fellow who’s on the bench, if he applies himself, has an opportunity to study every facet of the game, and to learn more about it than the regular.”1 That […]

Few players in the history of our national pastime could match the versatility of the man Sporting Life magazine once referred to as “The finest all around player in the business besides Lajoie.” Lewis “Sport” McAllister was the ultimate utility man, making appearances at every position on the diamond during his 22-year tenure in professional […]

On October 20, 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers were on the verge of winning it all. They held a comfortable lead over the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, three games to one. LA was in a good spot for sure as its ace, Orel Hershiser, was the starting pitcher. After Kirk Gibson’s dramatic pinch-hit […]

Infielder Bill Ripken attacked the game of baseball with reckless abandon and paid the price, sustaining an inordinate number of injuries during his career. He never changed his all-out, hustling style of play, earning the reputation of a player who left it all on the field. The Ripkens were a baseball family. Bill’s father, Cal Ripken […]

1882 Buffalo Bisons team portrait. Players are: outside, clockwise from top: Hardy Richardson, second baseman, Davy Force, shortstop, Pud Galvin, pitcher, Deacon White, third baseman, Purcell, left fielder, Tom Dolan, catcher, Jack Rowe, catcher, Foley, right fielder. Inside, clockwise from top: O’Rourke, manager, Dan Brouthers, first baseman, One Arm Daily, pitcher. (Courtesy of the Boston […]

Heavy hitters for the 1930 Brooklyn Robins (L to R): RF Babe Herman (.393, 35 HRs, 130 RBIs), CF Johnny Frederick (.334, 17 HRs, 76 RBIs), 2B Jake Flowers (.320, 2 HRs, 50 RBIs), 1B Del Bissonette (.336, 16 HRs, 113 RBIs), and C Al Lopez (.309, 6 HRs, 57 RBIs). (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   […]

Who needs Casey? Cubs fans will forever more repeat the tale of “Lester at the Bat.” In its century of hosting Chicago Cubs games, Wrigley Field has seen some unorthodox tilts. In 1917, Cubs pitcher Hippo Vaughn no-hit the Cincinnati Reds for nine innings only to lose the game in the 10th. Sixty-two years later, […]

The Baltimore Orioles were beginning their 11th season since relocating from St. Louis before the 1954 season. Because the Orioles inherited the Browns players, maturing into a competitive club after so many down years in St. Louis had been a slow process. This was not going to be an overnight success story. Not by any […]