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Dick Williams was regarded as one of baseball’s premier managers and turnaround artists. He was only the second skipper to win pennants for three different teams — Boston, Oakland, and San Diego.1 As a rookie manager in 1967, Williams led the Red Sox from ninth place the year before to the World Series. Both personally […]

In Wisconsin during the mid- and late 1950s, the most recognizable voices in the entire baseball-crazy state belonged to Earl Gillespie and Blaine Walsh, the Milwaukee Braves’ tandem of radio broadcasters. In stores, on front porches, in open convertibles at stoplights, their descriptions and accounts of the games was unavoidable. Love-struck residents of the Badger […]

Fielder Jones was an exceptionally talented ballplayer and manager. He played while professional baseball was still in its infancy, from 1896 to 1908 and briefly in 1914 and 1915. He won pennants with Brooklyn of the NL in 1899 and 1900 and with the Chicago White Sox in 1901 and 1906. As the White Sox […]

Young Lee Delhi attended Santa Monica (California) High School and pitched for its baseball team 1908-10. As a pitcher for Santa Monica, he was known as Turk, Red and Demon Delhi. By 1909 Delhi had began to draw attention from the Pacific Coast League. Happy Hogan, the manager of Vernon, wanted to sign the young […]

Most high-school or college pitchers with dreams of a major-league career think about pitching in the World Series, an All-Star Game, hurling a no-hitter, or getting a strikeout to end a big game. Besides these, Mark Wohlers had something else on his mind while growing up — throwing a pitch 100 miles an hour in […]

Given a comical nickname based on his last name and beaky nose, William Dayton “Poll” Perritt had a successful 10-year pitching career, pitched in a World Series, was bribed by Hal Chase, tussled with John McGraw and oil barons, and became a modestly successful Louisiana oilman. William Dayton Perritt was the first child born to […]

Perhaps Joe Simpson was destined to play and describe a game of pitch and catch and hit. For one thing, the holiday baby was born December 31, 1951, at a time when baseball was the only game in town. Imagining the pastime, hearing it on radio, or watching on television, no one needed slow motion, […]

John McGraw was perhaps the National League’s most influential figure in the Deadball Era. From 1902 to 1932 he led the New York Giants to 10 National League pennants, three World Series championships, and 21 first- or second-place finishes in 29 full seasons at their helm. His 2,763 managerial victories were second only to Connie […]

In a major-league playing career that lasted only seven seasons, Bill Lange made an indelible impression on those who saw him in action. A star outfielder on the also-ran Chicago Colts of the 1890s, Lange could do it all: run, throw, field, hit for average, and hit for power by the standards of his time. […]

He made his big-league debut on a day when Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed thousands of civil rights marchers on the Boston Common, and flourished as a pitcher during the Summer of Love. As he struggled with injuries, Americans grappled with the strain of assassinations, racial riots, and the escalating Vietnam War. Jim Lonborg’s […]

A rookie in his first training camp must do something to make the manager notice him. It certainly does not hurt his cause if he can get the newspaper writers to write favorably. Bernie Neis was invited to spring training with the Dodgers in 1920. He came from Class C ball in Canada with the […]

Don Baylor was a hustling player who ran the bases aggressively and stood fearlessly close to home plate as if he were daring the pitcher to hit him. Quite often they did, as Baylor was plunked by more pitches (267) than any other player in the 20th century, leading the American League eight times in […]

Sports writer Phil Jackman once called Mike Epstein “Babe the Blue Ox with brains.”1 The name did not stick, but it was an apt description of the brawny man’s prodigious power and academic bent, traits that Epstein carried throughout a baseball career that featured nine seasons in the major leagues. Michael Peter Epstein was born […]

Fred Claire wasn’t a politician. However, like many politicians, the erstwhile executive vice president of the Los Angeles Dodgers said one thing when he was talking about Pedro Martínez in 1992, ended up doing the opposite, and regretted his action. “I won’t trade Pedro Martínez, I don’t care who they offer,” said Claire.1 Well, he […]

Catchers, like musicians, use both hands for their craft: the gloved one captures the ball while the other acts as a conductor’s baton to guide the action. Johnny Bench, arguably the best player to don the tools of ignorance, stated, “The catcher is in the middle of everything. He sees it best.”1 The statement is […]

Southpaw pitcher Dolly Gray posted five 20-win seasons in the Pacific Coast League before coming to the Washington Senators (aka Nationals) in 1909. He literally walked into the record books on August 28 when he lost a one-hitter to the Chicago White Sox, 6-4. He walked seven consecutive batters (eight total) in the six-run second […]

Clarence “Ace” Parker made his major-league debut on April 24, 1937, as a pinch-runner with the Philadelphia Athletics. His first at-bat came on April 30 in Boston against Wes Ferrell. Parker entered the game in the ninth inning to pinch-hit for pitcher Lynn Nelson with the A’s down 15-3. Bill Cissell had opened the frame with a single and […]

Twenty-seven miles due south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, lies the town of Woodsboro, Maryland, the lifelong home of Archie Stimmel.[1] At the turn of the twentieth century, he was a tall, wiry right-handed pitcher who briefly made a name for himself with the Cincinnati Reds, crossed paths with many of the game’s earliest superstars, bounced around […]

He took a long time to find his place in the major leagues. After four brief callups, a successful emergency start in 1963 gave Gary Peters a job with the White Sox on his fifth and final trial. He still managed to put up a few big seasons and 124 wins, coming agonizingly close to […]

With a career batting average of .264 and the second-highest home run total of any Iowan who ever played major league baseball (after Hal Trosky), it goes without saying that Casey Blake could hit. He also was a good fielder, whether he was playing his natural position of third base or filling in at first […]

Here are The SABR Bookshelf listings for Summer 2013. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: SABR, 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018. To ensure a listing in The Baseball Index — SABR’s online catalog of baseball research materials at www.baseballindex.org […]

In the summer of 1951, the New York Giants under manager Leo Durocher began to employ an elaborate sign-stealing scheme. The Giants needed to overcome a 13.5-game deficit to the Brooklyn Dodgers to set up a historic playoff. The question is not whether the Giants stole signs, but what effect the sign-stealing had on the […]

This article was published in The 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox: Grinders and Gamers (SABR, 2025), edited by Eric Conrad, Mark Morowczynski, Bill Nowlin, and Don Zminda.   Driving along the oft-congested Chicago expressways in 2005, one might occasionally pass a wayside billboard that featured a White Sox player in full uniform with a […]