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Even though her nickname was “Peanuts” in view of her small physical stature, there are two words that would better define Toni Ann Palermo throughout her life – fearless and accomplished. Born in Forest Park, Illinois, on February 15, 1933, she was named Antoinette Palermo when she was adopted along with her sister Mary Ann. […]

Charles Richard “Charlie” Maxwell, the popular outfielder of the Tigers from 1955 to 1962, often called “Paw Paw” by fans, writers, and broadcasters, was one of Detroit’s best power hitters. A lefthanded batter who averaged .264 lifetime, Charlie hit 148 home runs and batted in 532 runs in a major league career lasting from 1950 […]

Billy MacLeod was a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He faced 10 batters in two games in September 1962, walking one, striking out two, and allowing four base hits. He only gave up one run, an earned run, but it was in the bottom of the 12th inning and resulted in him bearing […]

The stage was the fifth game of the World Series, on October 15, 1970. The Baltimore Orioles had taken a three games to one Series lead over the Cincinnati Reds. Brooks Robinson had already delivered a game-winning home run in the opener, robbed Tony Perez and Johnny Bench of base hits with a pair of […]

There have been two big leaguers named Joe Morgan — and it’s not hard to tell them apart. Joseph Michael Morgan played fractions of four seasons in “The Show,” finishing with three games for the 1964 Cardinals. He is white. Joe Leonard Morgan’s Hall of Fame career ran from 1963 to 1984. He is black. […]

In the first round of the 1975 amateur draft, the Baltimore Orioles chose 18-year-old right-hander Dave Ford. Blessed with an “explosive fastball” and pinpoint control, the 6-foot-4 Ford drew comparisons with Jim Palmer.1 Ford quickly progressed through the Orioles farm system and debuted with 15 scoreless innings in a September call-up in 1978. Hampered by […]

After a standout season in Class B ball, outfielder Jules Kustus got the attention of various major league clubs and landed an extended tryout with the 1909 Brooklyn Superbas. Regrettably, he flunked the audition, batting an anemic .145 in 53 games. Remanded to the minors, Kustus played well in spots but found efforts to secure […]

The March 20, 1941, edition of the Sporting News brandished this headline on page 5: “Loyal Watchers Daffy About Dodgers’ Flag Chances; Scribes Already Arguing About World Series Plans.” Brooklyn’s “Bums” had finished a distant second to Cincinnati in 1940, but the beat writers were predicting an all-New York World Series come October. The hubbub […]

For a Red Sox team suddenly lacking Babe Ruth in 1920, having Tim Hendryx for that year helped soften the blow. He didn’t hit many home runs; in fact, he didn’t hit any. But he did drive in 73 runs, and he hit .328 with a .400 on-base percentage. It was, by far, his best […]

As World War II began to encroach on major-league baseball teams as well as their minor-league affiliates, doors opened to players who otherwise would have been considered to lack major-league talent.  Some who were rejected for military service and classified 4-F became increasingly prime candidates to play in the majors – selected because it was […]

George Earnshaw was the right-handed pitching ace of Connie Mack’s last dynasty, but his major-league career started late and ended early. George Livingston Earnshaw was born on February 15, 1900, in New York City, the first of four children of John J. and Maude Earnshaw. One writer described him as “a social register Johnnie” who […]

A tall (6-foot-2), brown-haired, blue-eyed, Christy Mathewson look-alike, Walt Smallwood finished two September games on the mound for the sixth-place New York Yankees in 1917 before heading off to Siberia and France as an army sergeant during the Great War. The Maryland native played in six more games with the Yanks in 1919, toiled in […]

Dan McGann’s career closely paralleled that of John McGraw, his teammate, friend, and drinking companion in Baltimore, St. Louis, and particularly New York, where the 6’0″, 190 lb. switch hitter was a key member of the 1904-05 Giants that McGraw considered his greatest squad. Some regarded McGann in his prime as the National League’s finest […]

The last-place Detroit Tigers went to New York to meet the reigning World Series champion Yankees in August 1952. After Detroit lost the first game of the series, Virgil Trucks started Game Two. The veteran right-hander came in with a 4-15 record, but he had pitched a no-hitter and a one-hitter for two of his […]

Del Rice was a major-league catcher for 17 years, primarily with the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Braves. While he was not a good hitter, his longevity was attributable to his excellent defensive skills and his ability to work with pitchers. He also knew how to win as a member of two World Series champions, […]

During the summer of 1913, a left-handed pitcher from the Philadelphia Phillies named Addison Brennan gained notoriety and a place in baseball lore when he was fined $100 and suspended for five days for punching New York Giants manager John McGraw after a game in Philadelphia. During the seventh inning of the contest between the […]

On a summer afternoon in 1935, 17-year-old Ed Head was on a bus to Mer Rouge, Louisiana. Head, a left-handed pitcher for the semipro Pioneer (Louisiana) team, was on his way to play a game against the Mer Rouge team. He and his girlfriend were seated on the left side of the bus (facing forward), […]

“Magee came up to bat next, threw his bat on the ground, and started to call me names. He is bad when irritated—and tolerably easy to irritate, as shown by the way he knocked down Finneran, the umpire, last season.” – Christy Mathewson, Pitching in a Pinch (1912)1   During the third inning of a […]

“As a diehard Yankee hater and former Yankee killer, I even helped to germinate the seeds of the feud by spreading some fertilizer of my own.” — Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Boston Red Sox pitcher, 1969-1978.1 Books have been written, blogs have been posted and newspaper accounts have captured the intensity of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, […]

“Three games they lost for the Temple Cup; Three games right at the start; So Tebeau leaves with a pain in his back And another in his heart. Oh, where is Cleveland’s pennant pole? In the town of the oyster stew. And where is the blooming Temple Cup? I’m afraid they’ll get that too.”1   […]

In the early twenty-first century, a significant portion of the action within professional baseball games consolidated around three basic results for any plate appearance: walks, strikeouts, and home runs. Baseball fans and analysts following this development labeled it the “Three True Outcomes” (TTO). “True” because walks, strikeouts and homers – in contrast to, say, around-the-horn […]

Tossing a shutout and striking out at least 10 batters in a game was not uncommon in Sandy Koufax’s illustrious 12-year big-league career. After all, he blanked opponents 40 times and reached double figures in punchouts 97 times in just 314 career regular-season starts. The Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw’s performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates in […]

The Boston-New York baseball rivalry did not originate with the Red Sox and the Yankees clashing in American League contests. Diamond hostilities between the two cities predate the birth of the junior circuit. Heading into play on this July 1894 day in Boston, the 12-team National League clearly had an upper quartile in a trio […]

Major-league baseball saw four Hall of Fame careers come to an end after the 1993 season: George Brett, Carlton Fisk, Nolan Ryan, and Robin Yount. The Hall of Fame elected Ryan (491 votes), Brett (488), and Yount (385) to the Class of 1999 in their first year of eligibility. Fisk was elected in 2000, receiving […]