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“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Rollie Sheldon’s introduction to big-league baseball came with the 1961 New York Yankees. With a record of 109-53, that team ranks as one of the winningest in the franchise’s history.1 Sheldon’s record in his rookie year was 11-5, topped among the starters by Whitey Ford (25-4) and Ralph Terry (16-3). Though he was 24 at […]

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 […]

David Palmer was an example of local boy makes good. Sort of.  Palmer, who played for the Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Detroit Tigers, used to make the 3½-hour drive to Montreal from his hometown of Glens Falls, New York — which is halfway between Montreal and New York — to watch the […]

By the time he was 25 years old, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Austin McHenry was considered one of baseball’s best outfielders and hitters, especially after enjoying a 1921 season that saw him finish with a .350 batting average, second only to teammate and future Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. McHenry also finished second to Hornsby in […]

Ronald Michael Diorio was born in St. Mary’s hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut, on July 15, 1946. His parents, Charles and Gilda (Follachio) Diorio, were first generation Americans, with roots in the Calabria and Abruzzi regions of Italy. Charles, a Waterbury native born in 1906, worked as a plumber. Gilda worked in the shop as well. […]

Channeled into baseball by an overbearing, perfectionist father, Eric Show became a decent, if controversial, pitcher for the San Diego Padres. Although generally not considered the top pitcher for the pitching-poor club, as of 2018 he held the Padres record for career wins (100). During his major-league career, he spent 10 years with the Padres […]

Sadly, there are many stories like that of pitcher Roy “Dixie” Walker in the annals of baseball. He was a gifted athlete, said “to have as much speed as Walter Johnson.”1 His failing was that he lacked control. Not just of his fastball, but of his life. He had a temper, a proclivity to drink, […]

“That kid’s got a hell of a stance! Everything’s perfect! He ought to become a great hitter!” Legend has it that Ted Williams uttered these words while critiquing a photo of an 18-month-old boy.1 He was absolutely right; that boy, Wade Boggs, went on to win several batting titles on his way to becoming one […]

“Judy Johnson was the smartest baseball player I ever came across.” — Ted Page1   Despite his father’s aspirations for William “Judy” Johnson to become a boxer, Judy never entered the ring. Instead, Johnson took his game to the diamond. For that, baseball owes him a debt of gratitude. In the Negro Leagues, if Satchel […]

Using an effective submarine delivery, pitcher Billy Rhines won 113 games in nine major-league seasons. Like rookies Mark Fidrych in 1976 and Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, Rhines burst onto the big-league scene with phenomenal success. As a 21-year-old rookie on the Cincinnati Reds in 1890, he achieved an 18-2 record in his first 20 starts. […]

At the end of the day on September 8, 1934, the Detroit Tigers, who had not been to the World Series since 1909, stood 4½ games ahead of the powerful New York Yankees. This lead had been constricting around the neck of the Tigers since September 5, when the lead stood at 6 games. Fans […]

There was no reason to expect St. Louis Cardinals catcher Glenn Brummer to play a significant role in the team’s Sunday afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants on August 22, 1982. Though manager Whitey Herzog called Brummer “the best third-string catcher I’ve ever seen,”1 that was more a reference to his willingness to work […]

The 2007 and 2008 seasons had ended in disappointment when the New York Mets missed the playoffs on the final day of each season. In 2008 the team also bade goodbye to Shea Stadium, its home for 45 seasons. It was hoped the opening of the Mets’ new ballpark would bring better days in 2009. […]

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 […]

The New York Mets were in a middle of an eight-game homestand in May 2004. After being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in a two-game series, they won the first two games of a weekend series against the Colorado Rockies, outslugging the Rockies with a 9-run, 14-hit attack in the opener and rallying behind […]

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. […]

“We play the game the right way” is a phrase commonly bandied about in baseball. But baseball players are judged and rewarded based on their personal performances. What happens when these two sometimes disparate philosophies collide? Such was the case on September 26, 2019, at Globe Life Park, where the Texas Rangers beat the Boston […]

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 […]

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 […]