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Dick Stuart was fun – as long as you didn’t have to be on the field with him. He ran the bases head down and looking anywhere except at the third-base coach or the outfield or a teammate who might be able to tell him something, often sending his team out of the inning. As […]

Darrell Brandon grew up rooting for Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. On July 5, 1966, the right-hander earned his first big league win, striking out Mantle twice as the Red Sox defeated the New Yorkers, 7-1, in Yankee Stadium. Brandon went on to win 12 more games for Boston, including five for the 1967 pennant […]

At 3:36 P.M. on October 13, 1960, Fred Green watched a ball hit by Bill Mazeroski sail over the left-field wall as Forbes Field erupted into bedlam. The improbable Pirates pulled off their stunning upset over the highly favored New York Yankees! Years later, Fred’s widow, Mona, shared her husband’s feeling on the experience: “Fred’s […]

Tony Lucadello was one of the best “ivory hunters” of all time — a scout with a keen eye for talent and street-smart in the way he watched and signed players. He was generally a quiet man, never drank or swore, and always dressed sharply in jacket, tie, and hat — a “gentlemen’s gentleman.”1 But […]

In the summer of 1955, Robert Leroy Powell became the first player from Flint, Michigan, to make the major leagues. Bob signed a $36,000 bonus contract with the Chicago White Sox following the spring quarter at Michigan State University, where he starred as a hard-hitting outfielder for the Spartans’ baseball nine. As it happened, Powell […]

Willy Miranda epitomized the “good field, no hit” shortstop. He was a lot more than good in the field, though—Tom Lasorda, to name just one, thought the flashy little Cuban was the best he ever saw at short.1 Wielding the same battered, patched, and secretly doctored glove for nearly his entire pro career, Miranda was […]

Joe Shaute, a sheriff after his baseball days ended, frequently handcuffed Babe Ruth. Ruth was the first hitter Shaute faced in the majors and he struck him out.1 Two innings later, he did it again. Overall, Shaute fanned Ruth 20 times in 82 big-league at-bats while holding him to just a .232 average. “Joe enjoyed […]

In 37 seasons as an infielder and third-base coach for the Yankees, Frank Crosetti was on the field for 23 fall classics, of which New York won 17. After a while “The Crow” had collected so many rings that the Yankees started giving him engraved shotguns instead. Sandwiched between Tony Lazzeri and Joe DiMaggio as […]

His big brother in college was Martin Luther King Jr. Somehow, it’s appropriate to begin with that fact when discussing Donn Clendenon. During his college years at Morehouse College, one of the most pivotal players in Mets history was mentored by the greatest and most pivotal African American of the 20th century. The big brother […]

In March 1956, New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel watched in “amazement” as Rod Kanehl, the club’s versatile 22-year-old prospect, “scaled the fence in a do-or-die effort to catch” a home run ball during a meaningless practice game.1 The effort left a lasting impression on Casey that when the New York Mets hired the future […]

Art Fowler’s journey through the world of baseball took him from rural South Carolina to the New York Yankees and three World Series rings. A friendship with Billy Martin that started with a brief encounter in 1950 would lead him to a second career as a pitching coach, and make him half of one of […]

Craig Cacek (pronounced Cass-ek) played in seven games for the Houston Astros in 1977. From June 18 to July 10 he was in the major leagues for the only time.1 He had one hit, one RBI, and one walk in 21 plate appearances, a .050 batting average. The Astros’ trade of Cliff Johnson to the […]

Golf fans might remember June 17, 1962, as the day Jack Nicklaus won his first major title, besting Arnold Palmer in a playoff to win the US Open at Oakmont Golf Club near Pittsburgh.1 Soccer fans might recall that the final match of the World Cup championship was held in Santiago, Chile, in which Brazil […]

David Cone took advantage of an injury to Rick Aguilera to get into the Mets’ starting rotation in 1988. He pitched a shutout in his first start and finished May with a 7-0 record. That left little doubt that New York’s high hopes for the 25-year-old right-hander were warranted. Joseph Durso of the New York […]

Pennant fever for Baltimore Oriole fans was unusually high as the 1966 season began because the newest Oriole, Frank Robinson, had excelled for the Cincinnati Reds the previous 10 seasons. His teammates admired his leadership qualities, hitting, and overall play during spring training, beginning on March 7, and many fans considered Robinson to be the […]

Roy Sievers was the slugging star as the Washington Senators edged the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in a 1957 season-long 17 innings that consumed 4 hours and 24 minutes. His 30th homer of the season, off Detroit’s Al Aber in the game’s final inning, was the margin of victory, and it was the record-tying sixth consecutive […]

Harmon Killebrew’s first major-league start hinted at a career of power and prosperity for the 18-year-old from Idaho who finished his career with 573 home runs. “Killebrew makes a sharp debut — It looks as if the boy will do,” read the quote right below Bob Addie’s byline in the Washington Post.1 Batting eighth in […]

On June 3, 1956, Richie Ashburn rapped two doubles and three singles in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3. It was the only game in Ashburn’s 15-year Hall of Fame, career in which he collected five hits. It may be surprising that Ashburn, […]

Anyone who has been to a baseball game in Chicago knows that the wind is a factor in the outcome of many games. If the Chicago wind1 is blowing in off Lake Michigan, only the strongest hitters can muscle one out. On the other hand, if the wind is blowing out, the hitters are smiling […]

It was the 24th regular season game of the 1948 season, but the contest between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox felt like an exhibition game. The Chicago Tribune reported that the fans came out to watch “the world champion New York Yankees work out against the White Sox in Comiskey Park.”1 Indeed, […]

In the aftermath of the 1967 Detroit riots, Detroiters desperately needed something positive to take their minds off their torn city. Many sought solace in the Detroit Tigers, who emerged that summer as bona-fide pennant contenders. An entire generation of Tigers fans had witnessed mostly mediocre baseball since the team last won the pennant in […]

The Sporting News is the oldest sporting publication in the United States. A weekly from its debut in 1886 until 2008, it was for decades known informally as “The Bible of Baseball” and was essential reading for players, officials, and fans. Beginning in the 1940s, it began to cover a wider array of sports and, […]

Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Spring 2019. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: The SABR Bookshelf, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. An e-book file will also suffice; please send the e-book in PDF, EPUB […]