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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. […]

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 […]

When Jerry Buchek was growing up on the south side of St. Louis, he and his father, John, made the trip to Sportsman’s Park a few times a year. They would usually sit in the outfield bleachers, and one day a couple of balls came their way. “Do you think you can hit a ball […]

A hitting star for more than a decade in the minor leagues, Joe Hicks batted over .380 twice and compiled a career batting average of .313 while playing in the White Sox, Senators, and Mets farm systems. Hicks’s major-league career was brief and a lot less successful (a .221 career average in 416 official at-bats), […]

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 […]

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 […]

Franklin Walter Olin was born on January 9, 1860, in a backwoods logging camp in Woodford in the southernmost corner of the Green Mountains, near the Vermont-Massachusetts line. From that humble origin he went on to build a multi-million-dollar business that became the giant Olin Corporation, one of the largest in America’s military-industrial complex. En […]

Every baseball player whose career has been eclipsed by a single bad play during a World Series – Bill Buckner, Mickey Owen, and Fred Snodgrass – benefits from the redeeming quality of infamy: They are remembered. And, in most cases, they have also secured a place in baseball history, a much smaller berth, for the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

In 1883 the Worcester Ruby Legs became the Philadelphia Quakers and shortly the Phillies. From then until 1980, there were no World Series titles for the Phillies. They won just two National League pennants, in 1915 and in 1950, when a quiet, scholarly but rugged man named Eddie Sawyer led the club called the Whiz […]

Born in Barre, Vermont, of an immigrant father who worked in the granite industry. Died in Barre, Vermont, 70 years later. Hearing those bare facts, you might think Walt Lanfranconi’s story is that of the quintessential Vermonter, living his life out in obscurity in the town where he was born and raised. Walt Lanfranconi answers […]

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 […]

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 […]

Minnie Miñoso was coming home to Chicago after two seasons with the Cleveland Indians. On December 6, 1959, the White Sox reacquired the 34-year-old Miñoso in a multiplayer deal with the Indians.1 Miñoso had played left field for Chicago from 1951 through 1957 before being traded to Cleveland for Al Smith and Early Wynn. A […]

As the 1986 season dawned, the New York Mets occupied the doorstep of greatness. A potent collective of young talent and established stars, the 1984-85 Mets equaled the Tigers and Blue Jays for the major leagues’ most regular-season wins over those two seasons, but experienced the postseason as spectators in both years. The 1984 Mets […]

If the Philadelphia Phillies played their August 7, 1969, exhibition against their Double-A farm team as a farce, it might have been because they couldn’t handle any more drama. Phillies manager Bob Skinner resigned on the day of the game, blasting team management for perceived lack of support in his disciplinary struggles with slugger Dick […]

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 […]