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When the Chicago Cubs finally won a World Series again in 2016, after 108 years of futility, they also shed their standing as “lovable losers,” ceding that title back to the squad to whom it truly belonged: Charlie Brown and his ragtag neighborhood team of Peanuts fame. Indeed, for all the failure and ignominy the […]

A genuine pre-modern national star, one of the major league game’s pioneers, and one of the sport’s most enduring and intriguing figures, Louis Rogers “Pete” Browning was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 17, 1861, at 13th and Jefferson on the city’s west side. A lifelong resident of Louisville, Pete Browning was the youngest of […]

Gene Garber parlayed a unique wind-up and delivery and an effective sinker into a 19-year career as a major-league reliever. Though he never pitched in the World Series or made an All-Star team, the righty used perseverance and an agrarian work ethic to overcome various setbacks and become one of the best among the first […]

The Miracle Mets of 1969 rode their powerful young pitching to an improbable World Series championship, and the man who developed and nurtured that staff was an easygoing ex-catcher named Rube Walker. Despite not being a pitcher himself, he had an innate sense of the mental side of pitching and he used this to help […]

James Creighton was the greatest pitcher of his day. Famous principally for his exploits on behalf of the champion Excelsiors of Brooklyn in the years 1860 to 1862, he possessed an unprecedented combination of speed, spin, and command that virtually defined the position for all those who followed. Prior to Creighton, pitchers had been constrained […]

First baseman Jack Baker’s time in the majors was limited to a dozen ballgames in September 1976 and two more in June 1977. All came with the Boston Red Sox. Asked to look back at his career, Baker said, “I always wonder what might have happened if they’d have given me a chance to play […]

Brad Pennington was a hard-throwing left-hander who drew comparisons to fellow southpaw Norm Charlton. One of the infamous “Nasty Boys,” along with fellow Cincinnati Reds relievers Randy Myers and Rob Dibble, Charlton threw the ball hard but didn’t always know where it would end up. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Pennington didn’t always know either, but he […]

“First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League”1 — Charles Dryden’s memorable line was certainly one of the most fitting epigrams ever penned to capture just about any inept big-league baseball team from just about any epoch. Authors Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris went one hilarious step further when […]

“The biggest thrill was being able to step on the field,” Harry Danning said.1 His 10-year big-league career, all with the New York Giants, gave him plenty of thrills: three World Series, four All-Star Games, and a memorable nickname, “Harry the Horse.” Danning was the answer to the Giants’ prayer for a Jewish star, but […]

Rumor in Town is a very persuasive book. Subtitled “A Grandson’s Promise to Right A Wrong,” Matt Dahlgren’s 2007 book tells the story of the life of first-baseman Babe Dahlgren and how his life in baseball (1934-48) was tarnished by rumors of drug use.1 Murray Chass of the New York Times wrote of grandson Matt’s […]

Whether you knew him as “Porterhouse” or “the Beard,” or you cheered him on in big game moments shouting NA-PO-LI, Mike Napoli was a force to be reckoned with at the plate and a consistent, dependable presence in the field. Standing 6-feet-1 and weighing 225 pounds, Napoli was a free-swinging power hitter who struck fear […]

In the early 21st century, Jerry DaVanon is probably best known as the father of eight-season big leaguer Jeff DaVanon, but he played as many years in the majors himself, starting in 1969. In contrast to his son, who played somewhat regularly for four years, Jerry appeared in just 262 games at the top level, […]

More than a decade after the 2005 World Series win, the White Sox play their crosstown rival Cubs on a warm July 25 night in 2016. The Sox went on to win 5-4. (Courtesy of the Chicago White Sox)   The saying “To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in […]

Montreal Expos manager Jim Fanning returned to the dugout on September 22, 1982, after missing five games with severe migraines. But it was Expos shortstop Chris Speier who gave the visiting Philadelphia Phillies headaches that night, driving in eight runs in an 11-4 Expos win. Expectations for the Expos ran high at the beginning of […]

The 1961 Cincinnati Reds1 were a pre-season pick to finish sixth in the National League.2 Having finished 28 games of the pace in 19603, baseball pundits viewed them as only better than the Cubs and Phillies. While a club with undeniable batting prowess—think Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, Gordy Coleman, Gene Freese, and pinch-hitter extraordinaire Jerry […]

After more than two decades as Expos owner, Charles Bronfman had become disillusioned with the business of baseball. He was looking to sell the team, and he wanted to go out a winner, so he had his GM, 32-year-old Dave Dombrowski, make a move that wasn’t normally part of the Montreal playbook.1 On May 25, […]

The Cleveland Indians hosted the Boston Red Sox for a doubleheader on the first Sunday in August 1958. The two teams were pretty much neck-and-neck in battling with four other teams for second place in the American League standings, with the Yankees far out in front of the tightly-bunched pack. The Indians were 17 games […]

Few pitchers in Chicago Cubs history have burst on the scene with such an immediate explosive (albeit quickly fading) impact as Burt Hooton. Described by Windy City sportswriter Bob Logan as an “instant superstar” and compared with such icons of the sports-crazed city as Bobby Hull of the Black Hawks and Gayle Sayers of the […]

A lot can happen in a year. Miguel Fuentes was proof of that. On September 8, 1968, he wore the Guerrilleros (Warriors) of Río Grande uniform and tamed the Polluelos (Chicks) of Aibonito 7-1 to secure the Puerto Rican Double-A championship. A few weeks later, the jersey read “Puerto Rico” as he represented the island […]

When San Francisco Giants leviathan Barry Bonds went on the disabled list for a torn triceps muscle in the third week of the 1999 season,1 he had some unexpected company. That same day Baltimore Orioles’ Iron Man Cal Ripken Jr. landed on the disabled list for the first time in his then-19-year career.2 Bonds’ spot […]

No one at Montreal’s Jarry Park on Saturday, April 19, 1975, could ignore the howl of tropical-storm-force winds.1 Philadelphia Phillies manager Danny Ozark listened to the wind and let it dictate last-minute changes to his starting lineup. The results made him look like a genius as his team downed the Expos, 3-0. Most accounts of […]

“It was a freak contest.”1 That’s how the Buffalo Evening News summed up the action between the Buffalo and Kansas City teams at Buffalo’s International Fair Association Grounds on September 28, 1914. It seemed to be shaping into an utterly forgettable affair through seven innings. Loose fielding and poor pitching were the order of the […]

Jimmy Zinn spent 1921 as a swingman on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching staff, contributing occasional starts but more often working from the bullpen. One of his most valuable performances came on August 5 at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. Tossing six innings of nearly spotless relief and adding two key hits, Zinn sparked the first-place Pirates to […]

After Hartford finished fifth in the eight-team Connecticut State League in 1907, the club hired Tommy Dowd to manage the 1908 team. Dowd, whose 10-year big-league playing career ended in 1901, appeared to have the difficult task of finding replacements for two stars: captain and third baseman Harry Noyes, and pitcher Pete Wilson, who had […]