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Winning the most games during the regular season by no means guarantees a team a World Series championship. As of 2023, neither of the two teams tied for the most regular-season wins in major-league history – 116 wins – had done so. The 1906 Chicago Cubs were 116-36 (.763) over a 154-game schedule but lost […]

After an offseason replete with anxiety, change, and excitement, the San Francisco Giants ushered in a new era on Opening Day 1993. To recap: On November 10, 1992, his fellow National League owners rejected Bob Lurie’s deal to sell the Giants to a group of Florida investors who had intended to move the franchise to St. […]

Tommy McCarthy of the Boston Beaneaters was one of the smartest players in baseball. The outfielder with the “smooth face and boyish smile” was quick thinking, “fast on his feet,” and “game to the core.”1 The Pittsburgh Pirates were victims of his astute play on Wednesday, August 15, 1894, at the South End Grounds in […]

On May 22, 1901, Noodles Hahn of the Cincinnati Reds shattered the National League record for most strikeouts in a game since 1893, when the 60-feet-6-inches distance between home plate and the pitcher’s box was established.1 Hahn struck out 16 Boston Beaneaters in the Reds’ 4-3 victory at South End Grounds in Boston. In addition […]

Both the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays reached the final day of the 2024 season, September 29, with records of 80-81. The loser of this Sunday afternoon game would enter the offseason with a losing record and a fourth-place finish in the American League East Division. The winner might not hold true bragging […]

In reviewing the previous day’s game at Ebbets Field against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bob Broeg had much to say of the St. Louis Cardinals’ skipper in the July 19, 1957, edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Red-necked Fred Hutchinson lost the National League lead and his temper. Whether he’ll regain either soon is a question […]

On October 10, 2008, the University of California at Berkeley honored the legendary Japanese author Haruki Murakami with the inaugural Berkeley Japan Prize, presented by the Center for Japanese Studies. Speaking to the university students earlier in the day, the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Murakami was asked about “the revelation which led him to writing” at […]

One week in June 1988. Zach Crouch’s major league debut was on June 4, 1988. The young pitcher came into a game at Fenway Park, with the Toronto Blue Jays leading the Red Sox, 7-2, in the top of the ninth. The Jays had already scored four runs in the inning, off ace reliever Lee […]

“Hit in the air . . . Yount . . . makes a GREAT CATCH! Juan Nieves has thrown the first no-hitter in Milwaukee Brewer history!” That was broadcaster Jim Paschke’s call on April 15, 1987. More than 30 years later, the masterpiece by Nieves remained the only no-hitter in franchise history, and only one […]

The minds and memories of casual baseball fans often recall the names and exploits of pitchers who have performed brilliantly during a career peak or even a single shining season. Hall of Fame careers have been built around a few great years in succession and the awards and buzz that accompany these successes. At the […]

With one of the finest spitballs in baseball history, Stan Coveleski baffled American League hitters from the final years of the Deadball Era into the 1920s. To keep hitters off balance, Coveleski went to his mouth before every pitch. “I wouldn’t throw all spitballs,” he later explained. “I’d go maybe two or three innings without […]

Personifying perseverance, Dyar Miller spent more than 50 years in professional baseball despite being released three weeks after signing his first contract. A right-hander with an effective fastball-slider combination, he pitched for the Orioles, Angels, Blue Jays, and Mets after debuting at age 29. Over parts of seven seasons (1975 to 1981), Miller was 23-17 […]

“Turkey Stearnes — that cat could play and hit. He could’ve made it.” — Thomas “Monk” Favors1 Over the years, the Baseball Hall of Fame’s research department routinely requested retired baseball players to submit a form whose details painted a picture of the player’s birth, family, and early years, and a sketch of his playing […]

Ray Herbert entered professional baseball at the age of 19 with the sinking fastball that major-league franchises dream of, but lacked the knowledge and skill to convert his great “stuff” into immediate success. For 11 years he toiled with mostly second-division teams, both in the majors and minors, rarely winning more than he lost, surrounded […]

Major league baseball’s biggest contribution to the nation’s bicentennial celebration in 1976 could be summarized in two words: “The Bird.” Mark Fidrych exploded on the baseball world as an unheralded 21-year-old rookie pitcher. He revealed his talent in each of his 19 victories for the Detroit Tigers, his quirkiness in his public conversations with both […]

Many famous major-league players had their careers interrupted by military service in World War II, and we wonder what records men like Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Pee Wee Reese, Hank Greenberg, and others might have achieved if it hadn’t been for those lost years. Furthermore, a large group of younger men […]

A few guys populate Baseball’s Hall of Fame who deserve the title of “hard luck hero.” Addie Joss comes to mind, a superb right-handed pitcher from the first decade of the 20th century who died of tuberculosis at the age of 31 after nine seasons, 160 wins, a perfect game, a no-hitter, seven one-hitters, and […]

From 1957 through 2001, in only one year did a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands not play in the major leagues. After the Dodgers released José Morales in June 1984, most of two seasons went by until Jerry Browne picked up the baton. The Texas Rangers called up the 20-year-old from St. Croix in […]

As far as Roy Lee Jackson was concerned, the highlight of his time in baseball wasn’t the 28 wins or 34 saves he compiled over 10 years (1977-1986) in the majors. Neither was it his induction into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. Instead, it was a conversation he had with a young autograph […]

At age 17 he signed his first professional baseball contract. Several years later he helped the Cincinnati Reds win two National League pennants. For a while, Jim McGlothlin was one of the best pitchers in baseball. However, a series of injuries and a debilitating illness brought his career to a premature close. At the age […]

“I’ve loved baseball ever since I can remember.” – Kevin Walker1   A relief pitcher most of his career, Kevin Walker played for his only World Series championship team when he appeared in nine regular-season games with the Chicago White Sox in 2005. Standing 6-feet-4-inches tall and weighing 190 pounds, the fiery southpaw was an […]

Few if any baseball men have worked harder for longer than Mel Didier. He pitched just two years in Class D, but he spent more than 60 years in professional baseball as a scout and executive. As former Los Angeles Dodgers GM Fred Claire said, “I don’t know of anyone who has been in more […]

Los Angeles’s Wrigley Field in was built and opened in 1925 as the finest minor-league park in the country. Some called it the best park in the country — majors or minors. From its earliest years Wrigley Field was home to multiple baseball teams, many other sports and community events. The history of Wrigley Field […]

This article appears in SABR’s Baltimore Baseball (2021), edited by Bill Nowlin.   1. Flat Rock (a/k/a Druid Hill Park) 1858-1859 When Baltimore grocer, George F. Beam, formed the Excelsior Base Ball Club in the summer of 1858, the choice for a practice space was imperative since ball playing within city borders was often impractical, […]