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After spring training tryouts with the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies and seven years in the minors, Ed Cole caught on with the St. Louis Browns in 1938. Pitching primarily in relief, Cole won his only big-league game that season in a grueling start against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The rubber-armed pitcher, however, […]

Bill Veeck’s one-man carnival came blaring into Chicago on March 10, 1959. He and an investor group bought a majority interest in the Chicago White Sox from Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, granddaughter of the franchise’s founder, Charles Comiskey. The 45-year-old Veeck was coming home. He liked to say, “I am the only human being ever raised […]

Scooter Tucker was not unlike millions of boys who have aspired to play in the big leagues. It was a dream of his from an early age to play professional baseball. His influential mentors as a youth taught him how to play the game. His sports role models were former major leaguers from his hometown. […]

Through the 2021 season, Brady Anderson is the only player in the history of Major League Baseball to amass at least 20 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one season, and at least 50 homers and 20 steals in another. Anderson usually batted leadoff over a 15-year career (1988-2002) spent almost entirely with the […]

When Jake Beckley gained election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, 53 years after his death, most baseball fans had no idea who he was or why he should be honored with a plaque in Cooperstown. Beckley’s reputation suffered because he never played on a pennant winner, and only one team he […]

Claude Jonnard, the lesser-known half of the Jonnard brothers battery, was a prominent right-handed relief pitcher in the 1920s, leading the National League in saves with the New York Giants in 1922 and 1923, and in pitching appearances with 45 in 1923.  By the end of the decade his skills had diminished, but he still […]

In September 1970, amid a woeful stretch for Cleveland baseball, a David and Goliath battle played out in front of 7,857 fans in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The 97-win Orioles, who had already clinched the American League East, started Dave McNally in pursuit of his 24th victory. Cleveland gave local flamethrower Jim Rittwage his first big-league […]

In February of 2006, Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso was preparing himself for the day he had anticipated for many years. Considered by a significant group of historians, statisticians, and old-time fans to be among the best baseball players not enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Miñoso awaited the voting results of the Committee on African-American Baseball, […]

In his lifetime Herman Bell was a highly regarded defensive catcher for the Birmingham Black Barons, but one who could not catch a break. His career in the Negro Leagues was marred by untimely injuries and complicated by unexpected happenstances and the harsh reality of being an African-American baseball player in the Jim Crow South. […]

Few players have exited the major league stage with more unrealized potential than did Jeff Stone in 1990. Nine years before, the lightning-fast outfielder was being compared to future HOF base stealer Rickey Henderson after setting the professional single-season record for stolen bases with the Spartanburg (South Carolina) Phillies in the South Atlantic League. “Get ready […]

The 1981 made-for-television movie Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy “Satchel” Paige, opens with a scene at a game between the Dizzy Dean Major League All-Stars and the Satchel Paige Colored All-Stars.1 The first name to be announced for the starting lineup is Felton Snow of the Baltimore Elite Giants. Many details from the […]

When he was 36 years old Paul Krichell found himself at something of a crossroads in his baseball life. After many years playing professional baseball—including two nondescript seasons in the majors—Krichell had become a minor-league manager. Near the end of the 1918 season, however, Krichell resigned and quit Organized Baseball in the wake of a […]

Wilbur Good was a Deadball Era pitcher (5 games) and outfielder who posted pedestrian statistics (.258/.322/.342) in 749 games for six major league clubs. He left the majors as that era ended and became a feared hitter in the minors where he posted a career .335 average while playing into the 1930s. When his playing […]

Eddie Ainsmith punched above his weight – both in terms of the accolades he received during and after his playing days as a light-hitting backstop who never appeared in the postseason…and as a fierce fighter. His career raises the question of how much credit a player should get for partnering with a legend of the […]

With the muscular physique of a football player, 6-foot-2, 215-pound rookie pitcher Earl Francis was called up in midseason 1960 by the Pittsburgh Pirates to strengthen their bullpen. The 24-year-old right-hander logged 18 innings in seven appearances and sported a nifty 2.00 earned-run average, but came down with shoulder problems and was sent back to […]

From May 6, 1992, to July 24, 1993, righty pitcher Anthony Young lost 27 consecutive decisions with the New York Mets. It was an astounding run of bad luck, since Young did not pitch that poorly — although it didn’t help that “The Worst Team Money Could Buy” was behind him. In a 2009 interview […]

Cuban entrepreneur Roberto “Bobby” Maduro was a singular baseball man. When he passed away in 1986, the news made the front page of El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish newspaper of Miami, where he and so many of his countrymen made their home after Fidel Castro took power. In that story, Fausto Miranda (the dean of […]

The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates had their fair share of heroes and players who had career years, but when all is said and done, without Vernon Law they might well have been just another team that came close to glory. Heading into 1960, Law had just turned 30 and was an eight-year veteran of the Pirates, […]

“Part of [Hack] Wilson’s legend was his physical appearance. At 5-foot-6 and 195 pounds, he had spindly legs and a shoe size of five and a half. He had a massive upper body, including an 18-inch neck that was reminiscent of a fire hydrant.”1 Fresh off a 13-3 loss to the first-place St. Louis Cardinals […]

The Houston Astros owned a 3½-game lead in the National League West when they hosted the Atlanta Braves on August 3, 1979. Their starting pitcher, ace J.R. Richard, took the ball with a 9-11 record. As is often the case with pitchers’ won-lost numbers, though, the sub-.500 record failed to reflect the overall strength of […]

Though the crowd for the joyous May 7, 1918, Braves Field record 16-0 blowout was rather sparse in comparison, just two days earlier the Wigwam was filled to capacity for what in previous years would have been an illegal Sunday ballgame. Connie Mack‘s former star shortstop Jack Barry and his Charlestown Navy Yard All Stars […]

Duke Snider, the Duke of Flatbush, had a phenomenal stretch, blasting at least 40 home runs in five straight seasons (1953-1957) while batting .311 with a .407 on-base percentage and a .618 slugging percentage, yet did not win an MVP award. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   Sportswriters expected another duel between the starting pitchers, but Duke […]

“Never was Paige more tantalizing,” mused the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about 45-year-old “Old Satch’s” remarkable 12-inning shutout of the Detroit Tigers. “[He] wins games [and] entertains in the process.  He whirled his arm twice in a full windup; sometimes just once. His slow ball … seemed to hang in the air, as though manipulated by […]

“Expect the unexpected,” an overused yet reliable phrase that addresses the surprising possibilities accompanying any game of baseball, proved especially trustworthy on what in advance seemed an inauspicious contest. Neither team going into this late-season National League matchup in Pittsburgh on September 7, 1899, possessed much incentive, particularly the visiting Louisville Colonels, who stood 28 […]