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Coaker Triplett, a righty outfielder, was an outstanding hitter in the highest reaches of the minor leagues for many years. However, he was never able to fully transition that talent to the majors, even during the talent-depleted years of World War II. In six big-league seasons with the Cubs, Cardinals, and Phillies, his lifetime average […]

Mary Driscoll was born in Milwaukee and was a member of the baby boom generation. While media descriptions of her would later give an approximate birth year of 1948, based upon a Social Security death index listing and certain inconsistencies in these accounts, it appears that she was actually born on May 17, 1945. Her […]

Every life has a moment that reshapes its course, often without warning. For pitcher Jeff Randazzo, that turning point came on a cold Tennessee highway just after 2 a.m. on February 18, 2002. Randazzo – the Minnesota Twins’ fourth-round pick in the 1999 draft – was asleep in the passenger seat of his SUV, bound […]

John Beckwith was a tremendous slugger who has received more attention for home runs hit outside of regular season Negro League play than for his superlative production during Negro League games. However, he has yet to receive induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This lack of recognition may reflect his frequent position and team […]

Jim “JD” Deshaies had a journeyman career as a left-handed pitcher for 12 years in the majors. At times he outshined some of his legendary rotation mates, but at others he suffered from shoulder injuries hampering his sneaky-fast velocity. Those injuries ultimately ended his playing days but paved the way for a second act as […]

Henry “Hank” Schenz was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants from the Pittsburgh Pirates midway through the 1951 season, setting in motion a unique connection to the most famous event in baseball history. As told by Joshua Prager in The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca, and the Shot […]

Like other marginal 19th-century playing talents, catcher Tom Gillen owes his initial entry in the record book to the proliferation of major league baseball in 1884. From the National League to the American Association to the upstart Union Association, no fewer than 34 different ball clubs were accorded major league status that year.1 A product […]

With his short arms and legs, long torso, and ample midsection, right-hander Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons may not have looked like a major-league pitcher during his 19-year career with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers from 1925 to1943. But with one of baseball’s most effective knuckleballs and a deceptive, whirling delivery, he won 217 games. […]

Throughout his 12-year major-league career, Ted Sizemore was known for his versatility and competitiveness, as well as for his love of baseball. When he was playing youth sports, some skeptics told him he was too short to be a major leaguer (sources would later claim he was either 5-feet-9”1 or 5-feet-10”; but in high school, […]

To both his 19th century playing counterparts and today’s baseball historians, the name Jim Devlin resonates of scandal. The star pitcher for the Louisville Grays, Devlin – along with three teammates – was expelled from baseball for game-fixing during the 1877 National League pennant chase. For decades thereafter they served as the principals of a […]

Contemporary accounts of Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss’ fielding almost universally used the word “slick” to describe his play. Ever since his final year in the majors, 1926, he’s largely been remembered as the man who pulled off the only unassisted triple play in World Series history but he was also an important member of […]

Half of the most famous version of the “Pretzel Battery,” catcher Heinie Peitz was a noted “coacher”—more of a bench jockey in modern parlance—whose mouth gained him nearly as much attention as his play. For nine years of his 16-season (1892–1906, 1913) career, he was a Cincinnati Reds mainstay. When he retired, Peitz ranked 12th […]

Catcher Al Stokes “was one of the hardest workers a Rockford team ever had.” So wrote the Rockford (Illinois) Republic of his debut in the major leagues.1 It was a nice expression of appreciation and a nice way to be remembered for a couple of years of service for the local team. Stokes had caught […]

For a pitcher with 474? innings of major-league experience behind him to leave on the note he did – his disastrous one partial inning for the 1908 Red Sox – must have been personally aggravating. But even with that disappointing finale, Jake Thielman won 30 big-league games with an earned-run average of 3.16. Thielman spent […]

One can statistically evaluate with some degree of accuracy the worth of a baseball player to his team. However, sometimes a player stands out because of characteristics that inspire his teammates and draws the admiration and respect of fans. Eddie “The Brat” Stanky was one of those. Stanky was a gritty, scrappy player, not gifted […]

John Harold Goodwin “Yellowhorse” Morris wore many hats during his colorful career in professional and semipro Black baseball: pitcher, manager, owner, promoter, and scout. Along the way, he played a part in several milestones. Morris is one of a handful of men who appeared in the first Negro League World Series.1 California was Morris’ home […]

Joe Hoerner lived to play baseball and nearly died to play the game. He endured nine years in the minor leagues, which included heart-related blackouts on the mound, before becoming one of the game’s early relief specialists. The left-handed sidearmer’s best seasons came with St. Louis (1966-69), during which the Cardinals won two National League […]

Forty-year-old Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves was only three victories shy of 300 for his career when he faced the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 22, 1961. Spahn pitched just three innings that day, preventing him from pushing even closer to the magical pinnacle, but he did hit a second-inning blast into Forbes Field’s right-field […]

The 1951 St. Louis Browns were one of the sorriest teams in the Browns’ often sorry history. They won barely one-third of their games, finishing with a record of 52-102, and they were the only team in the American League that averaged fewer than four runs a game. That would make the Browns an unlikely […]

The Brooklyn Dodgers were on a mission in 1955. The Boys of Summer were planting springtime seeds of success and entered this mid-May game in Chicago with a record of 22-2, leading the National League by 9½ games and undefeated in their first 11 road games.1  With Russ Meyer on the hill, the Dodgers had […]

The White Sox needed a win badly. After splitting the first two games of the World Series against the Dodgers in Chicago, they lost the next two games in Los Angeles. Their backs were at the wall and they needed a win to keep their championship hopes alive. Chicago Tribune writer David Condon wrote that […]

Going into the last day of the 1946 baseball season, Brooklyn and St. Louis were tied for the National League lead with identical 96-57 records. When each team lost on that day, the Dodgers to the Braves and the Cardinals to the Cubs, it became necessary for the teams to engage in the first-ever playoff […]

From 1926 through 1976, a wooden stadium stood at the corner of King and Isenberg Streets in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was small, with capacity of only about 25,000.1 It lacked infrastructure. It was called “The Termite Palace” for its infestation. Yet, like so many ballparks of past eras, it had a simple charm. “The first […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Wrigley Field: The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison” (2019), edited by Gregory H. Wolf.   William Sianis planned to spend the afternoon at Wrigley Field with his pet goat, Murphy. Sianis, a Chicago businessman and first-class attention-getter, had purchased two box-seat tickets for $7.20 apiece. It was Saturday, October […]