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He was a hardnosed player whose blue-collar work ethic maximized his talent and inspired his teammates. His red hair and true grit made him the most recognizable Blue Jay as their starting third baseman for nearly four years. Josh Donaldson? No, Roy Howell, whose career included stops with the Texas Rangers and the Milwaukee Brewers […]
Until a devastating ankle injury effectively ended his major-league career, George Van Haltren was late 19th-century baseball’s premier leadoff man. A lefty hitter with keen strike-zone awareness and a quick bat, Van Haltren topped the .300 mark in 13 of his 14 seasons as a lineup regular. He also drew a slew of walks, stole […]
It’s called the fall classic, and the 1975 World Series was indeed a “classic.” The Series waged between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox was one of the more memorable championship battles, as a single run decided five of the seven games. Cincinnati shortstop Dave Concepción entered the Series hoping that the old […]
Fleet-footed Dode Paskert was one of the finest defensive center fielders of the Deadball Era. “It is no exaggeration to say that Paskert is one of the greatest judges of a fly ball in the game today,” wrote Baseball Magazine‘s J. C. Kofoed in 1915. “Those who have seem him circle, hawk-like, turn his back […]
He began his baseball life as the mascot of his college team, but the diminutive Ed Burns grew into a World Series catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. On October 31, 18871, in San Francisco, Edward Aloysius Burns and his wife Louisa (née Schaufele) welcomed their only child. Edward James Burns. into the world. The elder Edward […]
“What do [you] think of Tommy Henrich?”“I don’t know, he’s dependable, I guess.” This bit of repartee, from Philip Roth’s novella Goodbye Columbus, just about sums up Henrich’s career with the New York Yankees during the late 1930s and 1940s. If Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Bill Dickey, Phil Rizzuto, and Yogi Berra were […]
Billy MacLeod was a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He faced 10 batters in two games in September 1962, walking one, striking out two, and allowing four base hits. He only gave up one run, an earned run, but it was in the bottom of the 12th inning and resulted in him bearing […]
With a population of just over 10 million, the Dominican Republic has produced approximately 450 big-league pitchers as of May 2021. Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez are easily the most famous, and most successful; however, no hurler from the Caribbean nation had a reputation as a harder thrower than Mario Soto. A […]
Johnny Morrison had one of the deadliest, most knee-locking curveballs baseball had ever experienced. “You simply couldn’t see it,” raved contemporary Pat Duncan. “The ball came in like a fast ball and it dropped so fast that it fell completely out of your vision unless you were looking for such a hook.”1 That pitch became […]
High atop the left-field foul pole in Wrigley Field waves a flag bearing Cubs uniform number 14, retired in honor of a slugging 1953 rookie. Paul Schramka wore number 14 for Chicago on Opening Day, 1953, when he pinch ran for Clyde McCullough in the seventh inning against Cincinnati. He did not score. Two days […]
Jerry Moses aspired to become a major-league ballplayer, and declined football scholarships at Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities to pursue his dream. A 1970 American League All-Star, Jerry became the youngest Red Sox to hit a home run, at age 18 and 289 days, with a pinch-hit rocket off Jim “Mudcat” Grant on May 25, 1965. […]
The poet David M. Harris wrote: “No hick carpenter for Mary. Then the angel came.”1 The hick carpenter became St. Joseph, one of the most venerated figures in all Christendom. To baseball fans a different Hick Carpenter comes to mind. He is not venerated, but he is honored as probably the best left-handed third baseman […]
Dave Shean was the epitome of the Deadball baseball player on the field—he sacrificed runners to the next base, played a steady second base, and collected his share of singles. Off the field, Shean was the opposite of a hard-charging deadballer – he didn’t smoke, drink, chew tobacco, or swear, and regularly attended Sunday Mass. […]
Tommie Agee was one of the key components to the 1969 Miracle Mets, solidifying the defense and serving as the club’s chief power source, albeit from the leadoff spot. His on-field heroics during the ’69 season—including socking the only home run to ever reach Shea Stadium’s upper deck—helped propel the Mets to their first postseason […]
Going into the 2024 postseason, the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers had met 172 times in the regular season since 1998, each team winning 86 games and losing 86 games. The wild-card Mets and National League Central Division champion Brewers continued this trend by splitting the first two games of their 2024 NL Wild […]
True, a hitter going for .400 doesn’t like outs – but was this taking things a little too far? Bob Dunbar of the Boston Herald let it be known that Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams had “bored a couple of holes through the left-field fence with his new rifle. … Teddy’s sharp-shooting ability […]
“There are worse places to open a baseball season than the Astrodome, but no team is based in Death Valley or on Alcatraz. … [Atlanta Braves manager Bobby] Cox counts himself among the game’s traditionalists and thinks the Dome should be torn down and a shopping mall erected in its place. He hates it for […]
One of the more exciting days on the baseball calendar is the trade deadline on July 31.1 Networks and sports talk shows fuel the speculation and rumor mill about who could be on the move. Team officials must determine if their club is a pretender or a contender, a buyer or a seller. With the […]
The Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, two teams firmly entrenched at the bottom of the National League standings, squared off in an unlikely pitchers’ duel at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia on August 22, 1921. Fans who attended were treated to a “herculean pitching battle”1 fought by two unlikely mound combatants, journeymen slingers Elmer Ponder […]
In 1911, their 11th year in the American League, the Nationals had yet to have a winning season. The team had been so lackluster in its years in Washington that its ownership solicited fan suggestions and changed its name from the Senators to the Nationals in 1905 in hopes of inspiring a change in fortunes.1 […]
The National League West-leading Cincinnati Reds hosted division rival Atlanta for a three-game series starting on May 15, 1970. The Reds (24-10) had the NL’s best winning percentage (.706) and enjoyed a four-game lead over the second-place Braves. The Reds’ balanced attack was illustrated by their leading the league in runs scored (173) and fewest […]
Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn posted a 59-12 record for the National League’s Providence Grays in 1884, but that was still 10 years in the future. He’d won 48 in 1883. In his 11-year career, there were three times Radbourn won more than 30 games. Al Spalding had only a six-year career, if one excludes the […]
A marquee matchup was scheduled on June 10, 1981, with the Houston Astros in town to face the Eastern Division-leading Philadelphia Phillies. The two teams, which met in the NL Championship Series in 1980, were playing at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia on that Wednesday night. Several headlines dominated the festivities. First, barring a last-minute settlement, […]
Acquired in an offseason trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, hard-throwing Kirby Higbe tied teammate Whit Wyatt for the NL lead in wins (22) to help lead the Dodgers to the NL pennant in 1941. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive) The 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers got their season started on the wrong foot – and to add insult, […]