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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 Dodgers purchased 39-year-old Sal Maglie from the Cleveland Indians in mid-May 1956. The Barber bolstered a maligned staff, went 13-5, and was named Game One starter in the World Series. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   The 1956 World Series was the sixth between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers in 10 years.1 The American […]

The Brooklyn Dodgers had their backs to the wall. After coming back from a two-game deficit in the World Series, they lost the fifth game to the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field. Now they were back at Yankee Stadium and needed to win to keep the Series alive. After Spec Shea’s four-hit complete game […]

As the New York Giants made the trek across the Hudson River to play the Brooklyn Dodgers in Jersey City, there was considerable speculation as to the future of the two franchises. On May 28, 1957, the National League owners gave unanimous approval for both the Giants and Dodgers to move to the West Coast […]

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 Boston Red Sox-Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day game of April 5, 1974, was not one to remember for fans of either crisply played baseball or proper decorum. The on-field action included three runs scored on wild pitches or passed balls, subpar outings for both starting pitchers, and relief pitching that allowed six of six inherited […]

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 […]

Lou Kretlow displayed outstanding stuff over parts of 10 seasons (1946, 1948-56) with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Athletics. Yet the right-hander finished with a major league record of just 27-47 and walked an average of six batters per nine innings. Late in Kretlow’s career, his […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

Baseball lore is rich with stories of fathers and sons playing catch in the back yard, of fathers and sons bonding at a baseball park. Ken Griffey’s father never played catch with him, never bonded with him at a baseball park, or anywhere else for that matter. Nevertheless, the youngster grew up to be a […]

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 […]

Longtime scout Joe Stephenson once called Ken Brett “a combination of George Brett [his brother], Fred Lynn, and Roger Maris. He was the best prospect that I ever saw.”1 Ken Brett’s numbers never quite lived up to the reputation. “The worst curse in life,” Brett would later offer, “is unlimited potential.”2 After becoming the youngest […]

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 […]

All across the world, when it comes to moments in baseball there are various scenes that play out in the minds of boys and girls. Most will think of hitting a home run to win the World Series a la Bill Mazeroski off Ralph Terry or Joe Carter off Mitch Williams or even Warren Morris […]

“Baseball’s clichés remain largely unchanged through the years,” observed the writer Mordecai Richler in a 1986 essay for GQ.1 His first examples were the types of gripes from marginal pitchers and backup fielders: “If only they give me a chance to start, I know I can help this team,” and “I know I’m a .300 […]

An average major-leaguer and a professorial manager who tried to treat his ballplayers like grown men, Steve Boros was a baseball lifer whose career spanned over two dozen teams across six decades. Broadcaster Ernie Harwell called him “one of the most cerebral baseball men I’ve ever known.”1 Born September 3, 1936, in Flint, Michigan, Stephen […]

When he made his debut in a mid-August 1923 game against the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago left-hander Paul Castner secured a line for himself in the record book of the national pastime. That entry, however, would be a slender one, as Castner made only five more big-league appearances before abandoning the game at the close of […]

He was the Bill Buckner of his era. Mickey Owen only committed four errors during his best year as a major league catcher, the 1941 campaign with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Three came in the regular season and one in the postseason. That last error, a dropped third strike with two out in the ninth inning, […]

Clarence “Cito” Gaston was a National League outfielder from 1967 to 1978. At his best, he was an All-Star in 1970. He also made a vivid impression on the fans in Venezuela, where he won two batting titles in winter ball. However, Gaston attained much greater fame and respect as a manager. He became the […]

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 […]

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 […]