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The September 24, 1920, edition of the Akron Beacon Journal blared the following headline across its sports section: “Ban Johnson Called to Stand Today; Tell Plot Against Chicago.” Johnson, the American League president, was testifying before a Cook County (Chicago) grand jury about a plot to blackmail Chicago White Sox players. Johnson predicted that the […]

In September 1922, out of pennant contention, the Cleveland Indians mounted a youth drive of remarkable proportions. The team brought in 19 players, so many that it had trouble finding uniforms for them all, and manager Tris Speaker gave them game action as he could.1 The youngsters didn’t bring back memories of the 1920 Indians, […]

There died a myriad of them, And of the best, among them, For an old bitch gone in the teeth, For a botched civilization, … — Ezra Pound, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920)   Friday, May 9, 1919. The Armistice ending the Great War was nearing its six-month anniversary. The Spanish influenza pandemic hadn’t loosened its […]

As the 10th annual East-West All-Star Game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park approached, the Black press was abuzz with the expectation that Negro League players might finally have the opportunity to break into the major leagues. This hope stemmed from Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis’s July statement in which he had declared, “There is no rule in […]

Urban “Red” Faber’s Hall of Fame pitching career took off in 1915. After posting a 10-9 record as a rookie the previous season, the Chicago White Sox spitballer went 24-14 with a 2.55 ERA in 1915, tying for second place in the American League in wins and ranking first in games pitched with 50.1 He […]

Entering the 1958 season, only two major-league teams – the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox – had never employed a Black player. Controversy in each city guaranteed that the first player across the line would play under extra attention and pressure. The Tigers acted first, introducing their first Black player in June.1 The […]

“The diamond shone in the sun like a great canvas of freshly spread green paint, the uniforms of the home team were as spotless as a just-from-the-wrapper ball and the great crowd seethed with good nature. It was the birth of a major-league baseball club for Boston.” – Boston Globe1   No one would know […]

“Major leaguers were our gods. We weren’t worshipful. We knew they were merely men like our brothers and fathers. Yet with a difference. When a father or brother died, he left no record of himself for remembrance. But a major leaguer, even though up for only a season and most of that spent on the […]

On June 26, 1962, Earl Wilson of the Boston Red Sox became the first Black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the American League, and his third-inning home run provided the game-winning run in Boston’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Wilson was the first Black ballplayer to sign with the Red Sox—in 1953—but […]

“The D is silent.” — Jamie Foxx as “Django” in “Django Unchained”   Joe Zdeb probably smiled when he first heard that line because he’s been saying it his entire life. Rare is the article in Zdeb’s early career that doesn’t include some reference to his name. Writers, or Zdeb himself, would typically settle on […]

Though he didn’t invent the pitch, Eddie “Knuckles” Cicotte was perhaps the first major-league pitcher to master the knuckleball. According to one description, Cicotte gripped the knuckler by holding the ball “on the three fingers of a closed hand, with his thumb and forefinger to guide it, throwing it with an overhand motion, and sending […]

After nearly a century, many baseball historians still wonder how Shoeless Joe Jackson’s career might have turned out were he not permanently banned from baseball after the fixing of the 1919 World Series. The same question remains for another slugging outfielder who was also thrown out of Organized Baseball after he was accused of taking […]

Tony Lloyd at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field in 2023 (Courtesy of Jeb Stewart)   Tony Lloyd1 was a second baseman for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1959, which was his only season in professional baseball. He was a right-handed hitter and thrower who stood 5-feet-9 and weighed 150 pounds.2 Anthony Carl “Tony” Lloyd was born on […]

Rocky Ellis is one of the many Negro League players whose statistics tell only a fraction of the full story. Sandwiched between official league contests were the numerous battles against teams of varying skill. These games made up the meat of a player’s diet but usually are not taken into consideration when the breadth of […]

Powerfully built with a fearful fastball and biting curve that Johnny Evers once referred to as a “meteoric shoot,” George Mullin was Detroit’s stalwart right-handed pitcher for 12 years. He was nicknamed “Wabash George” or “Big George” in reference to his 6’0″, 188 lb. frame, though his weight routinely fluctuated throughout his career. A double […]

The most powerful figure of the Deadball Era, Ban Johnson’s rise to prominence in the national pastime was as improbable as it was meteoric. Relying neither on athletic renown (his amateur catching career was abruptly cut short by a thumb injury) nor inherited wealth (he dropped out of law school to become a journalist), the […]

Ben “Old Reliable” Taylor played professionally from 1909 to 1929 and got his nickname from his consistent on-field performance. Taylor is considered one of the best first basemen in the history of Black baseball. He was also a longtime manager. Today he is immortalized in Cooperstown as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. […]

Curt Flood was a vital cog in the 1964 Cardinals’ world championship run, but that achievement may have been all but forgotten in light of Flood’s subsequent role in the arrival of free agency for baseball players. Curtis Charles Flood was born in Houston, Texas, on January 18, 1938. His parents, Herman and Laura Flood, […]

Tall, powerful, and fleet-footed, Burnis “Wild Bill” Wright was one of the Negro Leagues’ brightest stars for nearly a decade before embarking on a lengthy and successful Hall of Fame career in the Mexican Leagues. A towering 6-foot-4, 220-pound switch-hitter who slashed for average and slugged with power, he bunted effectively, ran like the wind, […]

Remember Mathewson, Ames, and Donlin,Buck Ewing, Rusie, Smiling Mickey Welch?Remember a left-handed catcher named Jack Humphries,Who sometimes played the outfield, in ’83? — From Rolfe Humphries, “Polo Grounds.”1   By the usual baseball benchmarks Jack Humphries’ major-league career was the definition of forgettable: backup catcher with the New York Gothams and the Washington Nationals in […]

Prior to his infamous involvement in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, Chick Gandil was one of the most highly regarded first basemen in the American League, both for his play on the field and his solid work ethic. In 1916 a Cleveland newspaper described Gandil as “a most likeable player, and one of excellent habits.”1 […]

White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillén once said of A.J. Pierzynski: “If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less.”1 Pierzynski was a fierce competitor with a strong desire to win. This desire at times could rub teammates the wrong way and many times would get […]

Tommie Agee was one of the key components to the 1969 Miracle Mets, solidifying the defense and serving as the club’s chief power source, albeit from the leadoff spot. His on-field heroics during the ’69 season—including socking the only home run to ever reach Shea Stadium’s upper deck—helped propel the Mets to their first postseason […]

“The great Jackie Robinson once said, ‘A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.’ This afternoon, as the Mariners acknowledge Tuesday’s league-wide celebration of the life of Jackie Robinson, the Mariners are pleased to welcome a special guest who personifies Jackie’s spirit and has dedicated his life to serving […]