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Michael Brooks Kieschnick was a rare combination relief pitcher (74 major-league games) and outfielder (50 games), who also played a couple of games at first base, as a designated hitter, and pinch-hit. He batted from the left side and threw right-handed. He was 6-foot-4 and listed at 225 pounds. Kieschnick was born in Robstown, Texas […]

 “Riggs Stephenson is a brilliant hitter, steady fielder, and a southern gentleman,” wrote Chicago Cubs beat reporter Edward Burns in 1929, as the rugged Alabaman was en route to a .362 batting average and 110 runs batted in for the pennant-winning Cubs.1 Blessed with eagle eyes, but cursed with a poor throwing arm, the career […]

In the early 1990s, no major-league pitcher’s nickname fit better than Steve Avery’s — The Kid. Unfortunately for Steve and the teams he played with, the trials, tribulations, and disappointments that sometimes come with adulthood came much too fast. Steven Thomas Avery was born in Trenton, Michigan, on April 14, 1970 to Kenneth W. and […]

Two Long Islanders joined the Boston Red Sox in 1961: Carl Yastrzemski and Chuck Schilling. It was Schilling, a second baseman, who won the team’s MVP award that year. Of course, Yastrzemski went on to become a Hall of Famer and one of the most celebrated Red Sox ever, whereas Schilling’s big-league career ended after […]

During a wide-randing 30-year career, in which he pitched and played in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the US Negro Leagues, Ramón Bragaña made his most indelible mark from the baseball mounds of Mexico. Born on May 11, 1909, in Havana, Bragaña was most notably a right-handed mound authority, though he began his career […]

The children of the elite often will have difficulty establishing their own identities and achieving success, particularly if their interests parallel those of a parent. Such was not the case with Joe L. Brown, whose father was Joe E. Brown, the popular comic actor, film star, and baseball aficionado who (unlike practically all celebrated sports […]

In August 1985, The Cosby Show was tops on television, Back to the Future was a box-office hit, and Mike Young was one of baseball’s hottest hitters. That month, Young went deep nine times in a 14-game stretch for the Baltimore Orioles. He finished the season with 28 homers – 20 of which came after […]

“We’re Australians. We’re not intimidated. By anybody.” Infielder Trent Durrington’s approach to baseball was best summed up when his national team took on the sport’s traditional powers in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. “Durro”, who got into 140 major-league games from 1999 through 2005, was never a heavy hitter, but he ran and fielded well. […]

John Stearns was a stalwart on some of the worst New York Mets teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He earned the nickname Bad Dude, which he picked up while talking to a reporter in 1970.1 It stuck with him throughout his playing days. The nickname was indicative of Stearns’s toughness and confidence. […]

The history of baseball is filled with highly touted pitchers who blow out elbows, injure shoulders, hurt backs, and damage knees throwing a baseball 60 feet 6 inches from an elevated mound to home plate, and never make it to the big leagues. Southpaw Dave Roberts appeared to be one of those pitchers whose major-league […]

One of the main attractions of the Louisville Slugger Museum is its Signature Wall showing the names and signatures that have been branded on bats for hundreds of baseball players dating back to the beginning of the practice. Among the names of plaques featured from the 1920s is Baldonaro Acosto. The incorrectly spelled name on […]

Cory Lidle pitched for seven teams in the major leagues, primarily as a starter, during nine seasons from 1997 to 2006. His life was cut short on October 11, 2006, when the Cirrus SR20 airplane he was piloting struck a building while attempting to make a turn over the East River in New York City.1 […]

Bill Craver was known as one of the best catchers of his time and an innovator at that position. He was also known as a gambler and a troublemaker — one of baseball’s early wily characters. His run-ins with fans, opponents, teammates, and umpires were noteworthy, yet the biggest impact made by this early star […]

Mild temperatures and the consistent sunshine of Southern California have helped young baseball players gain an advantage over prospects from other areas of the country. Yet, the accommodating weather comes with a cost as baseball competes with many other outdoor activities that attract young prospects. For 18-year-old Tom Thobe of Huntington Beach, surfing and skateboarding […]

His first name, translated from Spanish, means “welcome.” But Bienvenido Rodríguez was not welcome in the big leagues. Although Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby integrated Organized Baseball in 1947, no dark-skinned man ever caught in major league ball (as it was then defined) from 1884, when Moses Fleetwood Walker debuted for the Toledo Blue Stockings, […]

Few people have the talent and good fortune to have successful careers in two such diverse fields as professional sports and the film industry. Ernie Orsatti was one of those lucky few. In his nine-year career with the Cardinals (1927-1935), Orsatti hit .300 or better in six seasons, twice hit over .330, and finished with […]

It’s not easy following in the footsteps of a famous big brother. Arthur “Doc” Hillebrand, two years older than Homer, was one of the most well-known athletes in the country at the turn of the century. A two-time All-American as a tackle on the Princeton University football team, Art was enshrined in the College Football […]

Through the 2016 season, Chris Guccione has been a major-league umpire for eight full seasons. Before that, he was an “up and down” umpire, for the eight prior seasons (2000 through 2008), and he had worked five years in the minor leagues, from 1995 through 1999. Like most umpires, he had to work many years […]

Armando Antonio Galarraga was born on January 15, 1982, in Cumana, Sucre, Venezuela. His mother, Mariza, was a chemistry teacher and his father, Jose (known as Pepe) was a biologist.1 The 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher spent parts of six seasons in the major leagues. He is best known for what transpired on June 2, 2010, at […]

Starting 217 games as a Browns pitcher and relieving in 49 more, Barney Pelty was, along with shortstop Bobby Wallace, the common thread on a team that flirted with destiny and fell into oblivion. Armed with an excellent curveball that kept opposing hitters off-balance, the 5’9″, 175-lb right-hander recorded 22 career shutouts, but also was […]

Jack Hayes was a doctor’s son and former pre-med student — an apt coincidence, since he needed medical attention often during his major league career. “He should be recognized as the holder of some sort of record for being injured every season,” the Chicago Tribune’s Irving Vaughan wrote.1 When Hayes was healthy, his White Sox […]

On June 6, 1935, Winnipeg’s Osborne Stadium reopened after renovations with an exhibition that featured future Hall of Famers Willard Brown, Satchel Paige, and Bullet Rogan. The game ended in a scoreless tie. The Kansas City Monarchs, an independent team in 1935, were considered the home team for the exhibition, while the integrated professional team […]

Phil Rizzuto had the nickname “Scooter” because of how he got from place to place. He’d earned the moniker as a 5-foot-6 minor leaguer, with short and quick shuffles to any ball or base that needed him.1 He embodied it with the New York Yankees for 13 seasons, turning more double plays than all but […]

Struggling at third base during the first two months of the 1998 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates summoned their top-rated prospect, 19-year-old Aramis Ramírez, from Triple A. Ramírez, who had just 40 games of professional experience above Class A, went hitless in his first 24 big-league at-bats before breaking through with a game-clinching two-run double on […]