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“One guy I hated to hit against!” Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez, at SABR 53 in Dallas, June 26, 20251 It’s a theatrical term – spear carrier. The glory is minimal, and the role is relatively insignificant. To a degree, Jeff Nelson was baseball’s equivalent of a spear carrier. He neither started nor closed games. Wins and saves […]

When Ruthford Eduardo “Chico” Salmon stepped up as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning of Game Two of the 1970 World Series, Baltimore was trailing Cincinnati, 4-1. Salmon was batting for Tom Phoebus, already the second pitcher used by Earl Weaver. “I got the greatest thrill of my life just walking up to the plate,” […]

John (Jack) Burwell Reed played the outfield in the regular and post-season for the fabled 1961 New York Yankees, and contributed to their pennant-winning efforts in 1962 and 1963. He was Mickey Mantle’s defensive replacement for most of these three seasons.  Jack was a terrific high school/college athlete in Mississippi, winning the state quarter-mile run […]

Pat Gillick served four different stints as a general manager, and during each his task was different. That he succeeded at all four marks Gillick among the very best in the history of the game, a career that would lead to enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In Toronto, he built an […]

Del Rice was a major-league catcher for 17 years, primarily with the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Braves. While he was not a good hitter, his longevity was attributable to his excellent defensive skills and his ability to work with pitchers. He also knew how to win as a member of two World Series champions, […]

With its long winters and cold, rainy springs, New England has never been a hotbed for scouts hunting baseball talent. There have, however, been ballplayers through the years who have overcome these weather woes to shine brightly enough that they can’t be ignored. Ray Martin was one such prospect — a pitcher so strong he […]

Every team goes through it in every season. Untimely injuries test an athlete’s mettle as well as a club’s depth of personnel. Pitchers are hampered by a torn rotator cuff and sore shoulders, as well as the dreaded elbow maladies that may result in Tommy John surgery. Of course, position players are not immune to […]

Late in the afternoon of September 22, 1942, propelled by a Lew Riggs single, pinch-runner Stan Rojek rounded third base and scored a ninth-inning run that sent the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants into extra innings. A five-feet-ten, 170 pound shortstop, appearing in his first major-league game, Rojek found himself in the midst […]

The neighborhood surrounding 11th and Wharton Streets in South Philadelphia is known for producing entertainers Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Fabian Forte, and Chubby Checker. John Marzano wasn’t a teen idol. He didn’t star in Beach Blanket Bingo and he didn’t invent “The Twist.” However, at one point in his baseball career, Marzano was considered the […]

Fear. Ballplayers don’t like to talk about it. Rarely is a pitcher so fearsome that he can’t be ignored. Walter Johnson was one. Bob Feller. Randy Johnson. Ewell Blackwell was one. Batters weren’t called cowards when they admitted they were afraid of him. Ewell Blackwell was “The Whip,” a long, lanky sidearming right-hander who threw […]

Baseball pioneer Abraham Gilbert Mills is remembered-if at all-today for heading the “Mills Commission” which concluded that the game of baseball was invented in America by Civil War General Abner Doubleday. However, this actually represents a very small piece of Mills’ fascinating life. Born March 12, 1844, in New York City, Mills lived there until […]

Dwight Smith entered the major leagues with a bang, thanks to a dynamic rookie season that included clutch hits, a playoff appearance, Rookie of the Year votes, and even a chance to sing the National Anthem. He never matched the success of that first season, but Smith still had a respectable eight-year career in the […]

Yankee Stadium, October 12, 1977, World Series, Game 2: The Yankees were trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, but had runners on first and second with only one out. Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard, “the Voice of God,” surely intoned his usual introduction, “Now batting for the Yankees, pinch-hitter, number 25, George Zeber, number […]

The list of major-league record-holders contains names familiar to all baseball fans — Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan, Spike Owen … wait a minute! Spike Owen? Yep. While his name won’t roll as easily off the casual fan’s tongue as some others would, Spike Owen was indeed a record-setter during a steady 13-year career, […]

\Baseball aficionados know that trades, sales, and waivers are a part of the game. The general manager of the 1951 Chicago White Sox was Frank Lane, who earned the nickname Trader Lane for his propensity to exchange players. His attitude must have filtered down through the organization because minor-league director John Rigney engineered a trade […]

In the spring of 1972, Wes Stock worked as pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, a four-year-old team with a roster of unproven throwers in need of tutelage. A year later, he had the same job with a different employer — the world champion Oakland A’s. “Wes Stock must feel like the auto mechanic who […]

Southpaw Paul Minner overcame serious injuries to his wrist and neck to transform himself from a hard thrower to a soft-tossing junkballer relying on location and control, and fashion a 10-year career in the big leagues (1946, 1948-1956). Traded by the Brooklyn Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs before the 1950 season, Minner averaged 10 wins […]

Charlie Mason was a co-owner and, for one game, a player for the 1883 American Association pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics. He held other jobs throughout his baseball career and was an innovator, credited with conceiving the ladies day promotion and the rule that gave batters first base after they were hit by a pitch. Charles Edward […]

For more than 50 years, Mike Shannon has been a fixture in the Cardinals’ organization. He played for his hometown team and was a member of three pennant-winning teams and two World Series champions. He became a hometown hero with a game-tying home run at Busch Stadium that helped win the first game of the […]

When the Baltimore Orioles dropped their 20th straight game to open the 1988 season, they broke the post-1900 American/National League record for fewest wins before losing 20. That mark had been held by a ghost from the Orioles’ past, the 1936 St. Louis Browns. (The Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 and renamed themselves Orioles.) […]

When baseball’s stars convened in Pittsburgh for the 1994 All-Star Game, emerging pennant races and milestone quests shared headlines with labor-management discord. A strike shuttered the majors a month later, relegating the unfinished campaign to an ignominious place in the game’s history, but the National League’s 8-7 win over the American League in 10 innings […]

“Los Angeles really did it yesterday. It gave its Dodgers the goldarndest, warming, howling, confetti filled, big league welcome it has ever accorded anyone. And the Dodgers responded by winning their home opener, 6-5 before 78,672 in the Coliseum, a figure that broke four baseball records.”1 “The only records that remained in the face of […]

The Dodgers hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates for a Thursday afternoon doubleheader at Ebbets Field, with the Pirates only one game behind the Boston Braves in the National League standings. They’d been in third place for most of the season, but had tied for first for one day, June 16. The second game was a makeup […]

By most measures, the game wasn’t important. It was the last of the season, played on a sunny Sunday afternoon before 5,779 fans at Arlington Stadium. No matter the outcome, the Texas Rangers were assured of their best record in franchise history and second place in the American League West. The visiting Oakland A’s, three […]