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Gone and virtually forgotten today, Claude Ritchey was one of the key members of the first seven of Fred Clarke’s highly successful Pittsburgh Pirate teams of the early 1900s, a time when he acquired a reputation as a sure-handed, clutch-hitting second baseman and a durable performer. And even as late as 1964, after Bill Mazeroski […]

Even though he managed to stay on the roster most of the 1902 season with the Brooklyn Superbas, his only season in the big leagues, Ed Wheeler had a miserable rookie year. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound switch-hitting utility infielder got into just 30 games, committed six errors in his first two, and barely managed to keep […]

Mel Parnell devoted a full decade to the Boston Red Sox, from 1947 through 1956, winning 123 games while losing just 75. He ranks first among left-handed Red Sox pitchers in wins, number of games started (232), and number of innings pitched (1,752⅔). The New Orleans native performed exceptionally well in Fenway Park, a ballpark […]

Hundreds of ballplayers, from Jack Graney to Alex Rodriguez, have traded their gloves for microphones. Joe Garagiola, the second-best catcher from Elizabeth Street in St. Louis, was the most successful. Branching out from his roots as a baseball announcer, he filled in for Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show, served two terms as […]

In the history of Major League Baseball, there are only a handful of players whose abilities have been so unique that they have led to the need for the creation of new rules of the game. Pat Venditte was one of those players, with his unique ability to switch-pitch leading to a new rule unofficially […]

Long-forgotten today, New York Giants right-hander Louis Drucke appeared on the verge of stardom at the close of the 1910 season. Although his 12-10 record was not particularly eye-catching, his pitching had been. The hard-throwing hurler had led National League pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and placed in the league’s top ten in […]

On a team composed of several leading men and future Hall of Famers, Ángel Mangual was, at most, a minor actor in a supporting role on the great Oakland A’s teams of the early 1970s, good for an occasional walk-on or cameo appearance. He was dubbed the “Little Clemente,” but it was a billing he […]

The most electrifying defensive shortstop of his generation, Mark Belanger set the standard by anchoring a great Baltimore Orioles infield for most of 14 seasons. During this stretch, Baltimore won 90 or more games 11 times with six postseason appearances capped by the 1970 world championship. Belanger and Ozzie Smith are the only shortstops to […]

Right-handed knuckleballer Charlie Zink put in his time, rising through the Boston Red Sox organization. He pitched for seven-plus years in the minors before finally getting the call to the big leagues. He was with the Boston team for only one day and got into just one game, but he did accomplish something that tens […]

A celebrated base ball character” was A. G. Spalding’s succinct description of Bob Addy, who was his teammate on three separate clubs.1 Others who knew Addy well referred to him as a philosopher or as a wag or as the “Honorable Bob.” The reasons behind that last tag remain unknown, but it certainly sounds like the sort […]

Infielder Larry Wolfe spent two full seasons in the major leagues, 1978 with the Minnesota Twins and 1979 with the Boston Red Sox, and a partial season for each team, too. He attracted enough interest in high school and college that he had been drafted by both the Dodgers (in 1971) and the Yankees (in […]

In 1942, the Cleveland Indians chose their slow-footed, hard-hitting, slick-fielding 24-year-old shortstop Lou Boudreau to become player-manager of the ballclub. In his seventh season at the helm, he led the Indians to a World Series title. Perhaps the best shortstop of the 1940s and a great defensive player and batting champion, in that glorious season […]

Luis Polonia had a nomadic career, playing for six teams in his 12 major-league seasons. He was a .293 career hitter, and played for four World Series teams, including the champion 1995 Atlanta Braves and 2000 New York Yankees.1 He made a name for himself in Latin America, eventually being elected to the Caribbean Baseball […]

Pack your bags. Frank Lane’s in town. The compulsive trader known as Frantic Frank shuffled at least 690 players in 414 transactions with five teams.1 Wherever Lane went, turmoil followed. He traded one manager for another. He traded a home run champion for a batting champ. He traded local heroes and future Hall of Famers. […]

Walter Paul Gautreau was born on July 26, 1901 in Cambridge, MA. His parents, Henri and Bibienne Gautreau, came to the United States from Sorel, Quebec, Canada after having lived earlier in New Brunswick. The Gautreau brood consisted of Walter, three other brothers and a sister. His first words as a child were spoken in French and he […]

Joe Nelson was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the June 1996 major-league amateur draft. The day after he was drafted, his scout, Mack “Shooty” Babitt, came over to Nelson’s house to discuss a signing bonus with Nelson and his parents. Shooty asked Nelson what he wanted. Nelson had already done […]

Artie Wilson’s career makes just the barest impression in the old Baseball Encyclopedia: 19 games and 24 plate appearances spread across five weeks in the spring of 1951. But both before and after that short stint with the famously fated ’51 Giants, Wilson ranked for years as one of the biggest stars in two big-time […]

Gifted with intellect, musical acumen, and athletic ability, Deadball Era pitcher Eddie Higgins deferred a life in dentistry for the opportunity to play professional baseball. Though he pitched in just 18 big-league games in 1909 and 1910, and he was just 22 when he made his final appearance at the top level, he enjoyed an […]

Louis Frank Klein, Jr. was an international baseball lifer who had a travelogue of experiences. Perhaps best known as one of 22 major league players who jumped to the outlaw Mexican League and for his tenure as a rotating manager in the Chicago Cubs’ College of Coaches, Klein had a varied and colorful career. The […]

Looking at Ken Silvestri’s major-league statistics could leave the impression his baseball career was marginal at best. He played in 102 games in eight seasons spread over 13 years, hit five home runs, and had a .217 batting average. However, by the time he died at 75, in 1992, he had spent more than half […]

If hard work and commitment are needed for a successful baseball career, Herb Perry learned those lessons early. He grew up on a farm where chores and responsibility were the norm. Herbert Edward Perry Jr. was born on September 15, 1969, to Herbert Edward and JoAnn Perry of Mayo, east of Tallahassee in rural northern […]

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in SABR’s The National Pastime, Vol. 18, in 1998. For additional commentary about this story, read “The Veracity of Veeck,” by Robert D. Warrington and Norman Macht in the Fall 2013 Baseball Research Journal and Warren Corbett’s SABR biography of Bill Veeck.   Baseball is a game in […]

Editor’s note: An excerpt of John Jakicic’s poem, “My Bums Holding My Dream,” was published in Volume 2 of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts (2020). The entire poem, truly epic in length, is here for all Baseball and the Arts Committee members to enjoy.   All my dreams as a kid are long […]

“You Called That a What . . . ?”The Newsletter of the Official Scoring Committee Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) June 2018, Volume 3, Number 2 Past newsletters   Editor: Stew Thornley Committee Meeting at Convention to Feature Real Live Official Scorers New Minor League Rule Raising Questions (and Answers) Conundrum of the Month […]