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Bill “Wee Willie” Sherdel was a durable, rubber-armed starter and reliever who frustrated batters with a mesmerizing slowball during his 15-year big-league career from 1918 through 1932, most notably with the St. Louis Cardinals. Described by a contemporary as “one of the great left-handers” in baseball, Sherdel’s career is defined by a seven-year stretch (1922-1928) […]

Frank O. Mancuso was the younger brother of a better-known big league catcher, August “Gus” Mancuso, a two-time All-Star who enjoyed a 17-year major league career and produced his best seasons with the New York Giants from 1932 through 1938. Gus spent more than 40 years in baseball, serving as a minor league manager, a […]

When Bob Uecker was sent down to the minor leagues in 1961 after breaking camp with the Milwaukee Braves, manager Charlie Dressen told him, “There is no room in baseball for a clown.” 1 Dressen could not have been more wrong. While no one would dispute that professional baseball is a business, Bob Uecker has […]

When Rocco Baldelli emerged as a young star in the minor-league system of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he drew comparisons to Joe DiMaggio. Though that association was almost certainly setting him up for failure, the speedy outfielder had been more earnestly compared to a young Andre Dawson or Dale Murphy. Within a few years, […]

“He’s too young to throw a no-hitter!”1 With the words of Cincinnati Redlegs manager Birdie Tebbetts still ringing in his ears, 17-year-old southpaw Dave Skaugstad took the mound on September 29, 1957 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. Appearing in his second major-league game, he relieved 20-year-old rookie Jay Hook, who’d held the National League pennant-winning Milwaukee […]

Bill Campbell could be excused for deeming life as unlucky as a crooked draw. His mother died giving birth to him on September 7, 1923, in Atlantic City. Dad kept the secret from him till Bill was 11. He lived with his father, a traveling paint salesman, then aunts, then Dad again, changing schools six […]

“It’s a shame … he would have been a helluva player if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Ron Jones was a hitting machine.” — Lee Thomas, general manager, Philadelphia Phillies (1988-1997) 1   Ron Jones was a stocky outfielder from Seguin, Texas. Shortly after he reached the majors, in September 1988, the Philadelphia Daily News wrote, “Jones, […]

Catcher/first baseman Don Pavletich broke into the big leagues on April 20, 1957, but had to wait until April 29, 1962 — a little more than five years — before he got his first base hit. He was only 18 at the time of his debut with the Cincinnati Redlegs. Just a couple of months […]

On November 29, 1971, the Cleveland Indians dealt pitcher Sam McDowell to the San Francisco Giants. Sudden Sam had struck out more than 2,000 batters in his 11 years with the Indians, but his career spiraled downward in 1971, when he posted a 13-17 record with a 3.40 ERA. His 192 strikeouts were his fewest […]

Dave Eiland holds a unique baseball record: He is the only major-league player to give up a home run to the first batter he faced, and to hit a home run off the first pitcher he faced. But his contributions to the game go beyond that unusual historical footnote. A “pitch to contact”1 right-handed pitcher […]

In 1902 Cleveland manager Bill Armour raved about his pitcher Bill Bernhard: “Critics may choose [Rube] Waddell or Cy Young and be welcome, but neither of these two men has anything on ‘Berny.’”1 From 1899 to 1907, Bernhard compiled an impressive 116-81 major league record. The fury of his fastball contrasted with his calm demeanor. […]

Should the National League permanently adopt the designated hitter, Puerto Rican infielder Mario Ramirez’s big league career from 1980 through 1985 will serve as a time capsule of forgotten strategy. A lifetime .192 hitter in just 184 games, known primarily for his glove, he was nevertheless used as a pinch hitter on 39 occasions and […]

In October 1935 Perry Noren of Jamestown, New York, drove his sons, Everett and Irving, to Detroit for the opening game of the 1935 World Series, and they saw Schoolboy Rowe pitch for the Tigers. The next time the family attended a World Series, Irv was playing in it. Perry, a native of Sweden, owned […]

A light-hitting, rifle-armed shortstop who played a key role in baseball’s biggest scandal, Swede Risberg was a rising young player in the American League when he was banned from the game at age 25. The youngest member of the Black Sox, he always found his home state of California and the Pacific Coast League preferable […]

Fate can sometimes be cruel. After working his way through the Philadelphia Phillies farm system for three years, hard-throwing right-hander Dwight Siebler injured his elbow pitching to the first batter in his first major-league spring-training game, in 1962.  Robbed of his heater, Siebler relied on ball movement, a hard curve, and command when he made […]

Bubba Morton spent parts of seven major-league seasons between 1961 and 1969 as a platoon outfielder and pinch-hitter with the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Braves, and California Angels. He was a spray hitter with occasional pop, had a penchant for getting on base, and played excellent defense. Don Mincher once called him “the perfect teammate.”1 Morton […]

“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 […]

There on the ball diamond in Arlington, Texas, was Teddy Ballgame himself — Ted Williams, dramatically symbolic of dreams having come true for thousands of North Texans. It was a Friday evening, April 21, 1972, when Frank Howard, “the Washington Monument,” as he was known in Washington before the franchise migration, and his Texas Rangers […]

Stan Musial’s arrival with the St. Louis Cardinals coincided with a resurgence for the franchise, which had not been to the World Series since 1934. In 1942, Musial’s first full season, the Cardinals won a team record 106 games,1 and they won 105 in 1943 and 1944. Musial had a good season in 1942, hitting […]

When Game Three of the 1953 World Series began, Carl Erskine was looking for redemption. By the time it had finished, Erskine had not only gotten redemption – he had broken one of the most cherished records in World Series lore. The 1953 Series marked the seventh World Series appearance for Erskine’s Brooklyn Dodgers franchise, […]

Mark Davis brazenly introduced himself to the San Francisco Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers rivalry. On July 30, 1983, the Giants’ 22-year-old left-hander authored a crafty 8-0 shutout in his debut against the Dodgers before 38,771 fans at Candlestick Park. Making his eighth start since being recalled from the Giants’ Triple-A Phoenix farm club in June, Davis […]

With their 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on April 20, 2018, the Boston Red Sox improved their season record to 17-2 – the best start in franchise history. It was their eighth win in a row, with only one intervening loss following a prior nine-game winning streak. The Red Sox had lost on Opening […]

The year after a last-place finish in 2012, the Boston Red Sox in 2013 were in position to win the World Series at Fenway Park in Game Six, having taken both Games Four and Five in St. Louis to seize a three-games-to-two lead. They had won it all in 2004 and 2007, but both clinchers […]

November 18, 1997, was a monumental day in the life of 23-year-old Bobby Abreu. While playing winter ball in his native Venezuela, Abreu, who had appeared in 74 games for the Houston Astros over the previous two seasons, learned he had been selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the expansion draft, then traded […]