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Sergio Robles was a fine defensive catcher from Mexico. He had much in common with another receiver from the state of Sonora, Francisco Estrada. They both played very briefly in the major leagues – Estrada for one game in 1971; Robles for 16 games in 1972, 1973, and 1976. Yet both had extensive careers as […]

When Willie Montanez walked to the plate from the on-deck circle he would flip his bat end over end like a baton. When he swung and missed he had a high, circular finish reminiscent of a matador twirling his sword at a charging bull. At first base, he would sometimes tap runners on the rear […]

“I prided myself on being a good defensive catcher,” three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner Johnny Edwards told the author.1 Edwards debuted on the Cincinnati Reds’ pennant-winning squad in 1961, inaugurating a 14-year career, including a one-year stop on the 1968 NL champion St. Louis Cardinals before spending his final campaigns with the Houston […]

“It happens every time. They cheer him even before he throws a ball. It’s the way he comes across. He’s a humble person, the underdog making good. People can relate to him. He’s not that big in stature (6 feet, 180 pounds) and he is not overpowering on the mound. Randy’s the common man’s pitcher.” — John […]

aHe spent 20 years as a professional umpire, baseball’s loneliest profession, passing judgment on the performances of the game’s great athletes and egos. Many people have pursued this particular job, but Emmett Ashford had the added burden of breaking racial barriers throughout his career, as a black man whose job required maintaining authority over white […]

Saturday Night Live’s Garrett Morris popularized the line “Béisbol has been berry, berry good to me.” Long before that sketch, pitcher Bob Harmon was living proof of what a baseball career could do for the life of a player. He carefully managed his paychecks and invested in oil fields while still pitching for the St. […]

Like his contemporary in the National League, Mickey Doolan, George McBride was the prototypical “good-field, no-hit” shortstop during the Deadball Era. Widely viewed as the best defensive shortstop in his league, McBride struggled mightily at the bat. A relatively large shortstop, standing 5’11” and weighing 170 pounds, McBride was described in the press as an […]

Robert Joseph “Bobby” Jones was a thinking man’s pitcher. He didn’t possess the flamethrower fastball of the Hall of Fame pitcher to whom he was most often connected through geography — fellow Fresno, California, native and New York Met Tom Seaver. But Jones’s cerebral approach served him well throughout a 10-year career in the majors […]

A right-handed power-hitting outfielder, George Foster was a feared presence at bat and in the outfield for most of his 11-year run with the Cincinnati Reds. Once he mastered the mental aspect of his game, Foster became a key ingredient in manager Sparky Anderson’s Big Red Machine of the 1970s. But as powerful as he […]

Infielder Carlos Rodríguez Márquez may not have had a bat and glove in his mother’s womb, but he acquired those shortly after his birth on November 1, 1967.1 Born in Mexico City to distinguished Mexican baseball player Leo Rodríguez, Carlos could not recall a time when the game did not consume his thoughts. His mother, […]

Among the smiling faces seated in the front row in the 1970 Naugatuck High School baseball team photo is that of senior tri-captain John Caneira. There was good reason for Caneira and his teammates to be happily posing for the camera despite losing a marathon struggle in the previous year’s Connecticut Class A final, for the […]

Fritz Buelow exhibited many positives. A “hard working and conscientious backstop”1 with a strong arm, he was popular with teammates and kept them on their toes as a prankster. “His humorous quips and quick repartee irked umpires,” but made him a fan favorite.2 He was a student of the game and was used frequently as […]

Harry Arthur “Cookie” Lavagetto is best known for one swing of the bat against Bill Bevens of the New York Yankees on an October day in 1947. But his baseball career, as a player and manager, was much more than that. The six-feet, 170-pound Lavagetto played professional baseball for ten seasons over a fourteen-year span, […]

The fourth member of the Boyle family of Cincinnati to play in the majors, Ralph “Buzz” Boyle, made a splash when he joined in the Brooklyn Dodgers at age 25 in June 1933 after brief appearances with Boston Braves in 1929 and 1930. Joining the Dodgers in midseason after some time in the minors, the […]

No less an authority than Ted Williams referred to him as “the greatest young hitter I’ve ever seen.”1 His immense power drew comparisons to Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Eddie Mathews, while his value was glimpsed in an unexecuted one-for-one swap with the California Angels’ future Cooperstown inductee Nolan Ryan. (The talks collapsed only […]

On October 19, 1981, the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to defeat the Montreal Expos in the rubber match of the National League Championship Series. The next day, they found themselves in New York for Game One of the World Series against their longtime “bitter” adversary, the Yankees.1 The well-rested Yankees had swept the […]

Chet Laabs of the St. Louis Browns is carried off the field by his teammates after hitting two home runs in the Browns’ pennant-clinching victory over the Detroit Tigers on October 1, 1944. (St. Louis Star/Newspapers.com)   By October 1, 1944, the United States was fully engaged in World War II. War had raged for […]

This 1865 photograph of the Atlantics of Brooklyn by Charles H. Williamson depicts the “Champion Nine” of 1864 and was given to opposing teams who played the Atlantic Club. (Library of Congress)   The Atlantic Club of Brooklyn had every reason to feel confident as they traveled to Newark, New Jersey, on August 18, 1865. […]

After the Atlanta Braves staved off elimination with a win in Toronto two nights earlier, Game Six of the 1992 World Series once again began with the historic possibility of the Toronto Blue Jays becoming the first non-US and first Canadian-based team ever to win the fall classic. In Toronto’s first at-bat, Devon White singled, […]

Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper Jr. had a wonderful day on Wednesday, May 22, 1963. He was feted to a ticker-tape parade in New York City and an audience with President and First Lady John and Jacqueline Kennedy.1 A week earlier, Cooper had commanded the Faith 7 spacecraft and orbited Earth 22 times in the last […]

The New York Mets were struggling to stay in contention in the National League East in July 1989. After winning six games in a row in the middle of July, they closed out the month by losing seven straight. At the trade deadline on July 31, Mookie Wilson was traded and Frank Viola joined the […]

Just four years after playing sandlot ball in Toronto, highly-touted Vince Barton appeared to be on the verge of stardom with the Chicago Cubs.1 The 23-year-old slugger had just blasted a pair of homers and driven in four runs in the second game of an August 4, 1931, twin bill against the Cincinnati Reds. Herbert […]

“You might say I’ve seen some pretty good pitching. But I’ve never seen anything like Smoky Joe Wood in 1912. He won 34 games that year, 10 of them shutouts, and 16 of those wins were in a row. It so happened that that was the same year Walter Johnson also won 16 in a […]

Editor’s note: During our Stay Home With SABR initiative, enjoy these light-hearted Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau by Joanne Hulbert of SABR’s Boston Chapter to stay engaged with baseball until the games return. Check out what’s new and keep up with all the news in the Boston Chapter on Facebook at BostonSABR or on Instagram […]