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In 1763, literary critic Dr. Samuel Johnson said about women preachers, “Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”1 In the early 1900s, that same attitude prevailed when it came to women sports journalists: male […]

In 1999 the Society for American Baseball Research completed a poll that ranked Harry Wright as the third largest contributor to 19th-century baseball. Though hindsight is often said to be 20/20, that is questionable in this case. In fact, the 19th-century perception of that question was quite different. In a November 1893 edition of The […]

The Most Important Baseball Figure of the 19th Century? In 1999 the Society for American Baseball Research completed a poll that ranked Harry Wright as the third largest contributor to 19th-century baseball. Though hindsight is often said to be 20/20, that is questionable in this case. In fact, the 19th-century perception of that question was […]

“Heroes get remembered. But legends never die.” So says an apparition of Babe Ruth in The Sandlot. Statues affirm their permanence. Capturing a ballplayer’s essence creates a bond with passersby who stop to absorb the player’s importance to the game and admire the sculptor’s handiwork framing a moment. Ruth’s likeness adorns Oriole Park as a […]

A third of a century has passed since the Dodgers commemorated their centennial – 100 years since joining the National League in 1890, the year they consider their founding. The anniversary was highlighted by a midsummer Old-Timers Weekend held at Dodger Stadium, which included a private luncheon for former players and coaches on Saturday, June […]

The word nickname is derived from the Old English eke name based on the verb ecan meaning to add or augment. Thus, nicknames augment given names and provide a richer and more explicit denotation. They tell us something more about a person than just the fact that he is officially James Smith. Nicknames often serve […]

Michael Joseph Donlin was born May 30, 1878, in Peoria, Illinois, the sixth child of railroad conductor John Donlin and his wife Maggie (Clayton) Donlin. He grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania. When Mike was eight, his parents died in a bridge collapse. Young Mike had to hustle for a living and worked as a machinist. […]

“Joe Mendez is better than any pitcher but Christy Mathewson and Mordecai Brown — and sometimes I think he’s better than Matty.” — John McGraw   Little Jose Mendez, the wiry 20-year old Cuban fast-baller, startled the baseball establishment in November 1908 when the Cincinnati Reds arrived in the Islands and faced him for the […]

Urban Shocker, the legendary pitcher who perfected his signature spitball while playing for the Ottawa Senators. (Ottawa Journal, September 10, 1914: 4.)   On a hot afternoon in mid-July 1920, Ottawa-trained spitball pitcher Urban Shocker of the St. Louis Browns found himself at New York City’s Polo Grounds in a showdown with Babe Ruth. At the […]

“Hugh Fullerton has a theory regarding left-handed pitchers that their left arms affect their hearts and that affects their brain which is why they’re all eccentric. Waddell is, of course, the synonym for eccentricity in baseball.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 21, 1906   One controversial aspect of Rube Waddell’s career, while he was still […]

Baseball-Reference.com includes “A note about statistics from 1887 and 1876,” signed in 2001 by Sean Forman. In it, the inimitable site founder explained: 1887—During this year, Major League Baseball and the guides reporting on that season decided that a walk was equivalent to a hit. This was the only season in which this was true. […]

Some of the recent additions to Dodger Stadium include these larger-than-life bobbleheads. (Copyright Vitaly Lozovoy / Dreamstime)   The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the most popular and influential brands in sports. Walter O’Malley moved his team from Brooklyn to LA despite it clearly not being popular with Brooklyn fans. On April 13, 1958, […]

Thief River Falls Ladies Baseball Team Champions of Northern Minnesota 1893. (Courtesy of Pennington County Historical Society)   Despite the fact that the great American pastime has been almost exclusively identified as a male sport, women have played baseball in Minnesota for over 100 years. In the early years, from the late nineteenth century through […]

Early baseball teams in Minneapolis and St. Paul played in a number of hastily built and short-lived ballparks before settling on a pair that each lasted 60 years, longer than any other park or field used for professional baseball in the Twin Cities.  NICOLLET AND LEXINGTON Opened and closed a year apart, Nicollet Park in […]

On September 28, 1947, the Bambino made an appearance before a game benefitting his Babe Ruth Foundation – later recognized as the first Old-Timers Day. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   The story of Yankee Stadium cannot be told without telling the story of Babe Ruth. His home-field exploits during his playing days are well covered, but a […]

The Union Association of 1884 can seem puzzling. It is classified as a major league, yet it lasted but one season, with a low level of play, absurdly poor competitive balance within that low level, and an odd selection of cities, several of them changing over the course of the season. Some people question its […]

Seattle Pilots spring training program from 1970. The franchise began spring training as the Pilots but officially became the Milwaukee Brewers on April 1 (Courtesy of David S. Eskenazi)   “Dewey was in a dream world. He had no money. I swear to God, the whole franchise was being run on a Visa card.” The […]

Babe Ruth is seated in a bistro. A waiter takes his order. William  Bendix, wearing a putty-flattened Ruth nose, orders milk. Babe Ruth??? Milk??? That scene was enough to curdle “The Babe Ruth Story,” a  cheaply made production of the great slugger’s life. And Ty Cobb doesn’t fare any better. In 1916, Cobb was coaxed […]

Background Unlike the turmoil of the previous few winters, baseball in December 1970 was relatively calm. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was secure in his job for at least the next five years, and the owners and players had agreed to a new CBA in May. The 1970 baseball Winter Meetings were held in Los Angeles, from […]

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and when you combine that with the most anticipated free agent in history and a new owner determined to throw money at his team to try to win it all, you get the 2000 Winter Meetings. Over the course of the weekend, nearly a billion dollars was given […]

On June 21, 1952, the Harrisburg, Pa., Senators of the Inter-State League announced plans to sign a female player to a contract. She was Mrs. Eleanor Engle, 24, a 132-pound stenographer at the State Capitol. She worked out with the club at shortstop the next day, but did not play in the game against Lancaster. […]

To date, there has only been one woman who played baseball with a team of major leaguers in a big-league ballpark. Her name was Mary Elizabeth Murphy and she played for a team of “all-stars” against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Lizzie Murphy’s team beat the Red Sox, 3-2.1 The year was 1922, […]