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Baseball fans and former players love comparing great teams from different eras. So with the New York Yankees, baseball’s most storied franchise, in the midst of a historic 1998 season, comparisons to previous championship squads were inevitable when former Yankees greats gathered before a crowd of 55,638 at Yankee Stadium for the 52nd annual Old […]

It had been more than 116 years since the Boston Red Sox had found themselves in a road game where they trailed the New York Yankees by multiple runs with two outs in the ninth inning – but rallied and won the game. On June 2, 1908, the Red Sox were playing the New York […]

There was nothing on the line as the Washington Senators hosted the Boston Red Sox on October 4, 1913, in the final game of the season for both teams. The Philadelphia Athletics already had won the American League; Washington had clinched second place, and Boston fourth, by splitting a doubleheader the day before. The Boston […]

With a score of 2-2 after two innings, the August 13, 1950, game between the Rochester Red Wings and Jersey City Giants of the Triple-A International League wasn’t shaping up as much of a pitchers’ duel. Then the game’s starters took control. Rochester’s Tom Poholsky, a 20-year-old prospect, and Jersey City’s Andy Tomasic, a 32-year-old […]

“Sooner or later you have to say, it’s my ball and half the plate is mine. Only I never let on which half of the plate I wanted.” – Don Drysdale1 As the calendar turned to September, the heated 1956 National League pennant race had one month to go. The Dodgers found themselves in second […]

When Bowie Kuhn was named the fifth Commissioner of Baseball in early 1969, he was touted by owners as the man needed to modernize and strengthen the game of baseball, which was declining in popularity as pro football’s increased. It was a time, Daniel Okrent noted, when professional baseball was fighting for survival.1 Kuhn, a […]

For nearly eighty years, Hub Kittle loved and studied pitching. He first realized that this was his calling when he was eight years old. He could outthrow all the neighborhood kids. “Something clicked there, that I had something the good Lord must have gave me. I don’t know why, I couldn’t outfight ’em and I […]

“Harvey” McClellan didn’t get much respect — especially from the press. Often characterized as a good-field, no-hit infielder, he managed to last six seasons with the Chicago White Sox despite often being derided in the press. Worse, Harvey wasn’t his first name or even his nickname. It was a simple misspelling by the press. Because […]

“An indispensable playoff weapon here on pocket change.” – Sportswriter Mike Lopresti commenting on Timo Pérez, October 17, 2000.1 “I’m still very new at this; I don’t know everything that entails fame. I love the fans. All game long, they’re yelling at me and having fun with me.” – Timo Pérez, October 16, 20002   […]

Wilson was meant to be. The no-hitter he pitched for the White Sox on August 11, 1991, changed not only his life, but also the way a country’s new generation embraced baseball. Asked about the game over the years, he would repeat, “It was a gift from God.”1 Indeed, it seems it was. Wilson Álvarez […]

Signed by Boston Red Sox scout Milt Bolling, Mike O’Berry was, by the start of his second year, “considered the best receiver in the organization.”1 The Red Sox catcher at the time was three-time All-Star Carlton Fisk. O’Berry was not a high draft pick. He had been selected in the 22nd round of the June 1975 draft out […]

Fernando Viña’s story could easily have been quite different. Instead of a 13-year major league career, he could have played in the Cuban Serie Nacional.1 Rather than the red, white, and blue US uniform, he could have donned the burgundy Cuban threads. He could have played with Lourdes Gurriel, Omar Linares, and Germán Mesa in […]

Bert Campaneris had a distinguished 20-year major-league career that included six All-Star selections, six American League stolen-base crowns, and a major role in the Oakland Athletics’ three world championships in the 1970s. Dagoberto Campaneris was born on March 9, 1942, in Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba. His father was a mechanic in a factory. Campaneris had three […]

Joe Azcue caught just shy of 1,000 major-league baseball games for six different big-league teams — all but his first 14 games played in the American League. An All-Star with the Cleveland Indians in 1968, Azcue was solid on defense with a .992 lifetime fielding percentage. José Joaquín (Lopez) Azcue was born on August 18, […]

Signed by the Minnesota Twins in 1961, left-hander Jim Roland debuted as a 19-year-old in a September call-up the following season and tossed a three-hit shutout in his first big-league start, in 1963. “[He] has a blazing fast ball and is effectively wild,” wrote Twins beat reporter Arno Goethel.1 Battling injuries and control issues throughout […]

Ivan de Jesus Sr. is often remembered as being involved in the worst trade in the Philadelphia Phillies history, but the stigma associated with that trade didn’t actually define his playing career. He is otherwise known for being a durable, serviceable shortstop for the Chicago Cubs and the Phillies and for making two World Series […]

0-10, 10.32. That is the major-league career line for one William T. Stecher of Riverside, New Jersey. If you look it up, the record book tells you that Stecher holds the records for the “most career games by a pitcher who lost all his games (0-10) and the most career innings pitched by a pitcher […]

Jon Zuber was never able to make a permanent home in the major leagues, despite an unquestioned ability to hit a round ball with a round bat. After his playing career ended, the engaging and articulate Zuber could speak with knowing candor about life on the major-league bubble, the steroid era, and the struggles of […]

If you’ve seen Frank Zupo’s 1958 Topps baseball card, you probably remember him. The lefty-hitting catcher appeared in only 16 major-league games for Baltimore between 1957 and 1961 — but Zupo’s pronounced unibrow and “Noodles” nickname have gained him longer-lasting fame than his on-field accomplishments. Nonetheless, at 17 years, 11 months, and 13 days, he […]

It was a damp night at Shea Stadium in early August 1977. The last-place Mets, toiling through extra innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers, looked done for after the would-be National League champions took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 11th. But they managed to put runners at first and second with one […]

When asked to make a list of the best hitters of the late 1940s and early 1950s, few would mention left-handed slugger Ferris Fain, but perhaps they should. Fain broke in with the Philadelphia Athletics as a 26-year-old rookie in 1947 and established a reputation as a daring first baseman with a discerning eye at […]

Righty Elías Sosa was a useful reliever for eight different big-league teams. He appeared in 601 games at the top level from 1972 through 1983. He posted 83 saves, with a high of 18 in both 1973 and 1979. Though Sosa was never a big strikeout pitcher, “he’s got a good fastball and excellent slider,” […]

Harsh sunshine beat down on the Los Angeles Coliseum floor. Two men, drenched in sweat, practiced baseball drills while local temperatures soared past 100 degrees in the spring of 1960. Maury Wills, an eager Dodger infielder, and Pete Reiser, an enthusiastic LA coach, worked together for nearly two weeks. “You can’t quit,” Reiser said over […]

This article is the third and last in a series about the most famous sign in any baseball stadium and the man behind it. From 1931 until 1957, the Dodgers’ last season in Brooklyn, clothier Abe Stark’s sign, which offered a free suit to a batter who hit in on a fly, adorned the right […]