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The unofficial concept of a local “champion” among the senior clubs in the Greater New York City region was initially associated with the Atlantic of Bedford club, which by mid-1859 had compiled a seemingly invincible record. The club’s last game loss had come at the hands of the Gothams on October 30, 1857, and its […]

In some sense, it’s always significant news to Boston Red Sox fans when their team beats the New York Yankees. Since the 1918 Red Sox won the World Series, the Yankees had won 26 World Series as of 2004 and the Red Sox had won none. As the 2004 season began, there had been three […]

The 1920 best-of-nine World Series opened on October 5 at Ebbets Field, where temporary bleachers were erected on the outfield. In a tight pitching duel featuring just five hits by both teams, Cleveland’s Stan Coveleski emerged victorious, 3-1, over the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Photo: Library of Congress)   The Cleveland Indians were making their initial appearance […]

“Cupcake,” a euphemism for a should-be-easy-to-beat opponent, entered the sports lexicon in the 1970s.1 Forty-some years earlier, the New York Yankees would’ve agreed it applied to their September 23, 1932, opponent: the cellar-dwelling, 63 games back2 Boston Red Sox. The hapless 1899 Cleveland Spiders were the last major-league team to face an opponent 60 or […]

Given Satchel Paige’s reputation and talent, his assignment to pitch on Opening Day 1935 should come as no surprise. Unfortunately, racism and Paige’s skin color kept him from displaying his skills for any National League or American League club until 1948. Further, in 1935 a contract dispute was keeping Paige from gracing a roster in […]

In the spring of 1975, the Texas Rangers finally did with David Clyde what they should have done from the start: They sent the young pitcher to the minor leagues for seasoning. The Rangers, hungry for a box-office draw, had rushed the hard-throwing Houston-bred lefty to the big leagues just two weeks out of high […]

During the first 25 years of the club’s existence, the public face of major league baseball in Brooklyn proceeded from team president Charles H. Byrne to pennant-winning field manager Ned Hanlon to front office functionary-turned-club boss Charles H. Ebbets. Throughout that period, the club’s chronically depleted treasury was regularly replenished by a far less visible […]

No pitcher born and raised in Hawaii has had more wins in the majors than Sid Fernandez, who notched 114 (against 96 losses) from 1983 through 1997. Charlie Hough (216) grew up in Hialeah, Florida. Ron Darling (136) looked the part of a Hawaiian, thanks to his Chinese-Hawaiian mother, but he called Massachusetts home from […]

Tillie Shafer was born to wealthy California parents who indulged his whim for sports, and he jumped from college to college competing in baseball, track, and rowing. In contrast, from the moment he joined the New York Giants, the shy, good-looking lad from an affluent family was harassed by the hard-nosed veterans, some from the […]

In 1886, John “Jocko” Flynn was 22 years old and the toast of Chicago, a formidable starting pitcher on a pennant-winning team. In 1887 he was 23 years old and forgotten with a sore arm and a troubling taste for liquor. In 1907 Flynn was dead at 42. Who was this man? John A. Flynn […]

Vada Edward Pinson, Jr., star center fielder for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1960s, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 11, 1938. When he was seven, his family moved to Oakland, California. His father found work as a stevedore at the Bay Area docks, while his mother did domestic work. In 1952, Pinson enrolled […]

Baseball is no stranger to big personalities. The game has seen colorful characters ranging from Mark Fidrych and his strange mound antics in the 1970s to Adrian Beltre simply being his ridiculous self after the turn of the century. On the opposite end of the spectrum, players like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens are better […]

Throughout much of his major-league playing career, he appeared to be a polarizing fusion of skills. One was a rare talent for hitting baseballs. The other, at times, seemed like an unerring instinct for finding the midst of controversy, great or small. José Manuel Guillén, a right-handed-batting and -throwing outfielder who was capable enough with […]

The first European-trained major leaguer was Wilhelmus Abraham Remmerswaal, known simply as “Win.” The pitcher from the Netherlands made his nickname come true three times in 22 appearances for the Boston Red Sox in 1979-80. He played just one more season in Triple-A after that, then spent five years pitching in Italy. Red Sox fans […]

The Charleroi, Pennsylvania Cemetery isn’t easy to find. The only access point is a steep, deteriorating road which transitions from asphalt to dirt ruts before its terminus. During inclement weather or even days after, the cemetery is inaccessible. However, if conditions are right and the road is clear, one will find the final resting places […]

Pedro Martínez, the Hall of Famer with three Cy Young Awards, is the most famous pitcher in the family, but older brother Ramón Martínez was outstanding in his own right. “What I know of baseball, and life off the field, I owe to Ramón,” said Pedro. “Everything I am I learned from Ramón.”1 Three years […]

“Frank Killen is certainly a natural born pitcher,” opined sportswriter John M. Roche in Sporting Life in 1892 as the burly 6-foot-1, 200-pound southpaw was preparing for his first full season in the big leagues. “He is well built, young and possessed of all the attributes which go to make up a winning pitcher.”1 That […]

A smallish spitballer, right-hander Jimmy Dygert joined the Philadelphia Athletics in September 1905. Two years later, his career season almost enabled Philadelphia to overtake Detroit in the heated 1907 American League pennant race. From there, Dygert’s wildness undercut his prospects. When the Athletics claimed their first world championship in 1910, Dygert was an afterthought, his […]

In many ways George Baumgardner could have become the hero of a kind of baseball fairy tale: He came to the St. Louis Browns in 1912 as a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher after playing only two seasons of Class-D ball in the mountains of his native West Virginia, someone who, the story goes, had honed his […]

Late-1880s pitcher Billy George was a flame-throwing but incurably wild left-hander, an early prototype of the Steve Dalkowski model.1 In his rookie season with the 1887 New York Giants, George established an ignominious major-league pitching record that stands to this day – most walks issued by a pitcher in a single game: 16.2 Years later, […]

“When I go, I want to be buried in my umpiring suit, holding my indicator.”1 When Tom Gorman died, his children carried out their father’s final desire. Gorman was dressed in his suit, which was meticulously buttoned, and wore his blue cap with the white “NL” embroidered on the front of it. He also held […]

Apparently young Powel Crosley Jr. had little interest in America’s pastime. Although he grew up in a baseball town, there is no evidence that he ever played the game. His favorite sports were hunting and fishing. His passions were automobiles, airplanes, and yachts. The restless energy, fertile imagination, and adventurous spirit that inspired his multiple […]

“Running! turning! leaping! like little Al Gionfriddo — a baseball player, Doctor, who once did a very great thing.” The great thing novelist Philip Roth described took place on October 5, 1947. It was Game Six of the World Series. Outfielder Al Gionfriddo, a little-used reserve, made a racing, twisting catch in deep left-center at […]

On November 12, 1982, Joe Altobelli was named the seventh manager in Baltimore Orioles history. Piloting one of the 26 major-league teams was surely an enviable position to hold. Unfortunately, for Altobelli, he was supplanting a legend. Earl Weaver, Baltimore’s field manager from mid-1968 to 1982, led the Orioles to six division titles, four pennants […]