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After completing the rough draft of his Hall of Fame acceptance speech during the summer of 1993, Reggie Jackson asked legendary New York Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard to critique it. “Now, I want you to be honest with me,” the verbose slugger known as Mr. October told the man he had dubbed “The […]

As one of the earliest ballpark groundskeepers, John Haggerty1 worked for the Boston ballclub in the National League for 24 years to maintain the South End Grounds. After he was fired in 1907 by the new owners of the ballclub, John worked another 15 years as a gatekeeper for the Boston club in the American […]

When Craig John Counsell first reached the majors in 1995, a Rockies security guard wouldn’t let the 25-year-old in the clubhouse, mistaking him for a bat boy.1 Just two years later, the 6-foot 179-pound infielder scored the walk-off run in Game Seven of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins. Remarkably, in 2001 he […]

Often compared to his teammate Rod Carew, Lyman Bostock was second only to Carew as a hitter in the eyes of his Minnesota Twins manager Gene Mauch. Mauch once said he had no doubt that Bostock would eventually win batting titles. With Bostock having hit .323 and .336 during his first two full big league […]

The Boston Red Sox were clinging to the slimmest of leads in the American League East Division. They had just lost two of three games to the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium. A quick look at the standings on July 4, 1975, showed that the Red Sox were in a virtual tie with the Brew […]

Rudy Regalado is one of few players—perhaps the only player—to have participated in the College World Series, Caribbean World Series, the Junior World Series, and the Major League World Series.  He was successful on the diamond on every level from high school to the major leagues.  In his career, he was in the company of […]

There have been two Nick Cullops in major-league baseball; one a left-handed pitcher, the other primarily an outfielder. Despite a 13-year age difference, they faced each other in the American Association in 1926. Nick the outfielder had recently joined the St. Paul Saints from the New York Yankees. His first weekend series with the Saints […]

Roy Leslie set a professional baseball season record with 73 doubles in 1924 for the Salt Lake Bees of the Class AA Pacific Coast League.1 The next season, Leslie nestled into the lineup on most days in the rarefied Utah air between 60-homer Tony Lazzeri and 309-hit Lefty O’Doul. These PCL years were the highlights […]

Ed Crane was a big, strong guy for his era. He stood only 5 feet 10 inches tall but weighed more than 200 pounds. Much of it was muscle, at least when he was young. His nicknames reflected his stature: Big Ed, Big Ned, and Hercules. He was said to throw harder than any other […]

The Negro Leagues featured many of baseball’s greatest two-way players: Leon Day, Martín Dihigo, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, and Bullet Rogan. Yet before these leagues began in 1920, many Black players alternated between pitching and position play. Few in this era excelled in multiple roles as did Harry Buckner. From 1896 to 1914, the righthander […]

Alejandro Oms made a significant mark on baseball in his native Cuba, and in Venezuela and the United States. During his nearly 30-year career he was considered among the best Latino outfielders. Well regarded as a player, he was also respected as a man, earning the nickname “El Caballero” or the gentleman, for his deportment […]

Tommy Lasorda. You could almost say he needs no introduction. Famous and familiar for his nearly 20 years as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lasorda was the personification of the Dodgers and baseball’s best-known ambassador. Profane or charming, pugnacious or proud, outrageous or simply outspoken, Lasorda could be all these and more. Lasorda’s major-league […]

In March 1993 Rafael Ramirez was trying to secure a bench spot on the rebuilding Oakland Athletics. He was among the first cuts, nursing a sore arm and having been outplayed by another veteran, Dale Sveum.1 The 35-year-old shortstop’s career was effectively over. He spent 13 big-league seasons fielding grounders on two of the most […]

In the early years of baseball, the job of manager entailed far more than it does in the modern era. Today’s skipper is focused almost exclusively on the play on the field – making lineups, in-game decisions, keeping the club focused on each and every game. While he may consult on roster decisions, they are […]

Dave Leonhard had a mediocre high-school and college pitching career. He refused a scout’s first offer to sign him, then changed his mind and signed for a $9 bonus. From that humble start, he carved out a six-year career as a pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles. David Paul Leonhard was born on January 22, 1941, […]

 The fourth man from the Bahamas to play in the major leagues, Ed Armbrister was a spare part in Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine. His career was modest (265 at-bats in 224 games), but he won World Series rings in 1975 and 1976. Yet for Boston Red Sox fans, Armbrister was in the wrong place at […]

In the box, Beaneater Harry Staley pitched a mystifying curve, yet he often wrestled with his control and the barrage of temptations offered baseball stars. At his peak, the curves, the speed, and workhorse stamina helped the Boston Beaneaters to three straight pennants (1891-1893). “Staley wild” was an often-used phrase by the papers of the […]

Omar Linares is widely considered the best third baseman found anywhere in the world outside of the U.S. major leagues during much of the 1980s and 1990s. What Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard or Satchel Paige may have been to the first half of the 20th Century (potential national sporting icons barred from the big-league stage […]

A member of the Washington Nationals, a short-lived 1872 National Association club, Oscar Bielaski is generally recognized as the first major league ballplayer of Polish descent. Other aspects of his five-season professional career are less noteworthy. A low-average singles hitter and a poor defensive outfielder, Bielaski holds another, less enviable distinction – that of being […]

Romeo had Juliet, Anthony had Cleopatra, and the borough of Brooklyn had their Dodgers. Theirs was a love affair that included the likes of Duke, Campy, Pee Wee, Newk and Jackie. But the name of only one of the Boys of Summer was translated into Brooklynese. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound right-hander, with the large number 17 […]

Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders won 41 games in 1904 by throwing a “spit ball,” and the pitch became the talk of the baseball world. Chesbro’s teammate Brose Puttmann said, “They talk about that spit ball as if it were a new wrinkle. I saw it in use on the Pacific Coast when […]

On Friday, June 13, 1958, the Milwaukee Braves, holding a 1½-game lead atop the National League standings, opened a weekend series in St. Louis. The Braves’ starting pitcher was Joey Jay. Connecticut native Jay had not yet succeeded as a major-league pitcher, but he already held two distinctions: He was one of the original “bonus […]

July 1976 was filled with breathtaking events. Operation Sail’s parade of Tall Ships in New York Harbor marked the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.1 NASA navigated the Viking 1 lander onto the surface of Mars to search for evidence of life.2 And Israeli commandos freed 103 hostages from a hijacked […]

If “What’s past is prologue,” as Shakespeare wrote,1 Ruppert Stadium’s in Newark began with Charles A. Davids, a Bayside, New York, promoter.2 To most of the public, though, it begins with the baseball original for whom the park was named, ultimately housing two teams so good that to some they seemed better than several teams in […]