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In the summer of 1985, all eyes were on an historic chase that thrust three men into the national consciousness. Two were ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, vicious competitors who weren’t above injuring an opponent if it meant taking an extra base. The other was one whose former coach said of him, “I have never worked with a […]

The Yankees grabbed all the headlines in 1961. Roger Maris set the new single-season home run record with 61. Mickey Mantle hit 54 home runs himself and was neck and neck with Maris for much of the year. Maris and Mantle finished first and second in the American League MVP voting, respectively, and the team […]

Billy Geer had a somewhat nomadic baseball career, playing parts of six major league seasons with seven different teams. That nomadic life would continue in his post-baseball career as he took up another profession that would keep him on the run for the rest of his life. William H. Geer was born about 1852 in […]

An undersized one-game pitcher for the 1885 Cincinnati Reds, Bill McCaffrey has been elusive quarry for baseball genealogists. The brevity of his major league stay has not been the only obstacle in the McCaffrey quest. Inconsistent spelling of his surname as well as the existence of equally obscure baseball contemporaries with the same or similar […]

Bob Ferguson, one of the most respected and influential baseball players of the 19th century, was the game’s first switch-hitter. He may not have done it regularly and, surprisingly, he didn’t do it for the reasons hitters do today; he didn’t switch-hit depending on whether the pitcher was right-handed or left-handed. (At the time, there […]

He is the answer to one trivia question and half of the answer to another, but there was nothing trivial about the life of Will White. William Henry White was born in Caton, a farming community in Steuben County, in western New York, just a few miles above the Pennsylvania state line. He was the […]

As a pitcher, Lary Sorensen handled plenty of challenges over the course of his successful 11-year major-league career with seven teams. But not even the best-hitting opposing lineup—like the one he faced in the 1978 All-Star Game—compared to the opponent he battled after his playing days: alcoholism. His story resembles an amusement park ride, with […]

When 20-year-old right-hander Lee Meadows took the mound on April 19, 1915, for the St. Louis Cardinals, he became the first big-league ballplayer to wear spectacles since pitcher Will White of the Cincinnati Red Stockings in the American Association retired in 1886. The thought of a professional baseball player with “cheaters” was preposterous to most […]

Johnny Murphy was an ace relief pitcher for the 1930s New York Yankees who spent 18 years playing professional baseball. Murphy spent even longer in the front office, first with New England’s obsession—the Boston Red Sox—serving as a scout and then ran the team’s minor league operations. Moving onto New York’s National League expansion franchise, […]

The Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., is busy – fireworks and crowds on the National Mall, the Capitol Fourth broadcast, and a baseball game that starts at 11 in the morning.1 In addition to the red, white, and blue bunting decorating Nationals Park, the day’s commemoration features a balloon arch over the third-base entrance, […]

    The Pittsburgh Pirates were firmly entrenched in sixth place heading into their August 27, 1949, game in Philadelphia against the fourth-place Phillies. The Pirates, near the middle of a long road trip, had taken two of the first three of the four-game series heading into the Saturday afternoon tilt. Thirty-six-year-old Ernie Bonham, known […]

A pivotal Game Five in the 1920 World Series was on the horizon in Cleveland. With the Series tied at two wins apiece, the Brooklyn Robins and Cleveland Indians were looking to gain an important advantage with a victory. If the visiting Robins captured a win, they would be assured of a return to Ebbets […]

“To encounter Walter Johnson even one time during a series is considered misfortune for any ball club,” lamented the New York Times, “but to inflict him on an opposing ball club twice in the same afternoon verges on downright cruelty.”1 The Big Train, the Washington Senators’ hard-throwing right-hander, proved to be the hero of the […]

When the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox faced off on this August Saturday afternoon, both teams could claim to be in divisional races. The Red Sox were just 56-55 and in fourth place in the AL East, but this was enough to leave them 3½ games behind the first-place Tigers in a tight, […]

In this present era of pitch counts, innings limits, and rare complete games, it is difficult to imagine two starting pitchers grinding it out over the course of a 16-inning contest. Yet such was the case on July 8, 1924, when Cincinnati Reds left-hander and future Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey prevailed over Philadelphia Phillies […]

Gabe Kapler understood that one of his first priorities in taking over as manager of the Phillies in 2018 was to improve the team’s offense. The 2016 Phillies finished last in the National League in runs scored, and progressed only to 12th-most in 2017. The Phillies started the 2018 season 1-4, but despite the team’s […]

Sean Doolittle, the Washington Nationals closer, was sitting in the bullpen when, by the top of the fourth inning, the Nationals were losing 9-0 to the Miami Marlins. Some thoughts that could have been going through his (and the other relievers) mind: “I feel sorry for Helly — he’s sick and he’s out there getting […]

The 2004 regular season ended with the St. Louis Cardinals winning 105 games, while the Houston Astros squeaked past the San Francisco Giants by one game and into the wild-card spot on the last day of the season. Though the Cardinals had won the National League Central Division by 13 games over Houston, many experts […]

Ted Williams ended his 1941 season, the one in which he was the last American or National League batter (as of 2020) ever to hit over .400, with a career total of 91 home runs. As May 1942 approached its end, he already had a dozen more. The Red Sox, though, were in fourth place […]

A season was drawing to a close. In Baltimore, an era was also drawing to a close as the Orioles prepared to play their final game at Memorial Stadium. It was the only home the Orioles had known since they moved to Baltimore in 1954. For many fans, it was bittersweet to see the ballpark, […]

In a 21-year career that was honored by his 2024 election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, Adrian Beltré spent one season – 2010 – with the Boston Red Sox. At age 31, it was one of Beltré’s best years, and it reignited the Dominican-born third baseman’s path […]

Editor’s note: This article continues from Part 1, on the New York Giants team ownership from 1883 to 1957.   Stoneham the Younger The narrative of Giants ownership had changed abruptly and dramatically on January 6, 1936, when Charles A. Stoneham died of symptoms associated with Bright’s disease. The franchise immediately passed into the hands […]

From its beginnings in the 1880s, the franchise now known as the Los Angeles Dodgers has provided a parade of well-known players and managers, 23 pennant winners, and six World Series victories. Off the field, it has been associated with some of the most recognized front-office talent in the game’s history. Names such as Charles […]

This article was originally published in “The First Negro League Champion: The 1920 Chicago American Giants” (SABR, 2022).   Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants played home games at Schorling Park in Chicago (NoirTech Research, Inc.)   The arc of the history of the Chicago American Giants follows closely with the arc of Black and Negro […]