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The Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns faced each other in the second game of a doubleheader on August 18, 1937, in a battle of second-division teams. The Browns built a 6-1 lead against Willis Hudlin thanks to a three-run homer by Harlond Clift. The Tribe rallied in the sixth and had the bases loaded […]
In the late 1930s, Malden (Massachusetts) Catholic High School principal Brother Gilbert, the same Christian servant who had recommended George Herman Ruth to Baltimore Orioles manager Jack Dunn two decades earlier, believed he had hit pay dirt again. He arranged a meeting between righthanded phenom hurler Joe Coleman and his former protégé. “Pleased to meet […]
Roy Leslie set a professional baseball season record with 73 doubles in 1924 for the Salt Lake Bees of the Class AA Pacific Coast League.1 The next season, Leslie nestled into the lineup on most days in the rarefied Utah air between 60-homer Tony Lazzeri and 309-hit Lefty O’Doul. These PCL years were the highlights […]
As an itinerant left-handed pitcher in the 1870s and 1880s, John Driscoll pitched for numerous independent professional teams as well as three major league teams. He appeared as a pitcher in 83 major league games over four seasons in the early 1880s, recording a lifetime winning percentage of .494 with 38 victories and 39 defeats. […]
He was one of baseball’s freer spirits, whose flakiness could drive management crazy. But Bernie Carbo’s biggest legacy is hitting one of the all-time clutch home runs in World Series history, setting the stage for Carlton Fisk’s more memorable blast that ended Game Six of the 1975 World Series. Bernardo Carbo was born on August […]
In the winter of 1981-1982 the Cincinnati Reds began dismantling remnants of the powerful Big Red Machine. Outfielder George Foster’s contract was scheduled to run out after the 1982 season and the slugger was rumored to be seeking a $20 million renewal. On the heels of the departures of Ken Griffey and Ray Knight, Foster […]
The hallmark of right-handed pitcher Harry Gumbert’s 15-season major league career was versatility. Depending upon club need, he assumed the role of staff ace, rotation regular, spot starter-reliever, or closer. But whatever assignment Gumbert was called upon to fulfill, his persona remained steadfast. Handsome Harry (as he was often called in the press)1 was affable, […]
This whippet-quick outfielder made jaw-dropping catches wherever he played. Unfortunately, he didn’t hit enough to stay in the majors. The only time he spent at the top was parts of the year with “The Worst Team That Money Could Buy,” the 1992 New York Mets. Yet as late as 2004, Pat Howell was still chasing […]
Chroniclers of the game have rarely been kind to Andrew Freedman, principal owner of the New York Giants from January 1895 to September 1902. According to one team historian, Freedman was “naturally arrogant (with) a bad temper at the end of a very short fuse.”1 In much the same vein, Bill James memorably described him […]
In 1970 sportswriter Ted Blackman quipped, “If John Bateman bought a pumpkin farm, they’d cancel Halloween.”[fn]“Hustling Bateman Frets in Hospital Bed,” The Sporting News, April 18, 1970, 24.[/fn] The luckless reference was to the cursed timing of a kidney injury that hospitalized the Montreal Expos starting catcher two days before the start of the 1970 […]
“They can do whatever they want. I’ll still be eating steak every night,” Von Hayes said after one of the many times he faced the boo-birds of Philadelphia.1 His quote about sums up the career of a stoic but confident kid from the West Coast who rocketed to the majors and unwittingly moved east in […]
Darrell Dean Johnson worked in baseball as a catcher, a coach, a manager best known for taking the 1975 Red Sox to Game Seven of the World Series, and as a scout. He was born in the small community of Horace, Nebraska, on August 25, 1928, but grew up on the West Coast, so much […]
In 10 seasons (1967-76), all with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bob Moose pitched in 289 games, winning 76 and losing 71 with a 3.50 ERA. But the real story of Bob Moose is full of what-ifs and a tragic ending. Did the recklessness that killed him in an October 1976 auto accident derail what might have […]
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 […]
When Willie Montanez walked to the plate from the on-deck circle he would flip his bat end over end like a baton. When he swung and missed he had a high, circular finish reminiscent of a matador twirling his sword at a charging bull. At first base, he would sometimes tap runners on the rear […]
Sportswriters treated pitcher Monte Weaver as a curiosity during his nine seasons with the Washington Senators and Boston Red Sox. He was a college professor, a mathematician, a hypochondriac and – most radically – a vegetarian, according to the sports pages. Montie Morton Weaver was born on June 15, 1906, in Helton, North Carolina, a […]
At the turn of the century, professional baseball players had a general reputation for fast living and coarse behavior. While there were some notable exceptions, like Christy Mathewson, most players had little formal education, and many were poorly equipped for the transition after their playing careers ended. One exception to this portrayal is Simon Burdette […]
While growing up in Chicago’s affluent North Shore suburb of Glencoe, Ross Baumgarten hardly looked like a kid who would live the American boy’s dream of playing major-league baseball one day. “I was small for my age,” recalled Baumgarten. “I was only 5 feet tall and weighed 90 pounds when I was a freshman in […]
Louis Sockalexis, a member of the Penobscot Indian tribe of Maine, played in only 94 major-league games, but is remembered today as the first Native American, and first recognized minority, to perform in the National League.1 He was signed by the Cleveland Spiders in 1897, 50 years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn […]
Curly Onis’s major-league career batting line read: “1 game. 1 at-bat. 1 hit.” A perfect batting average. A total of 22 major-league players have stroked a hit in their sole plate appearance, and Onis, a catcher, is one of that elite group. Further, according to Baseball-Reference.com, 127 catchers had a single hit in their careers […]
His fastball has long since died. He still has a few curveballs which he throws at us routinely. — Nicholas Burns, United States State Department Spokesman Most baseball fans tend to take their idle ballpark pastimes far too seriously. On momentary reflection, even a diehard rooter would have to admit that big–league baseball’s most […]
Gary Carter had been The Sporting News’ National League Rookie Player of the Year in 1975.1 He was the Montreal Expos’ sole representative at the 1975 All-Star Game and the recipient of the team’s Player-of-the-Year Award.2 But despite all of the accolades, Carter went into spring training in 1976 battling for playing time at catcher […]
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 […]
On September 23, 1942 – a little more than nine months after the United States’ entry into the Second World War – the Brooklyn Dodgers offered free admission to anyone bringing 10 pounds of scrap metal to its afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies.1 The patriotic promotion was a success: About 150 tons of metal […]