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When the hot and humid morning of Tuesday, July 11, 1972, dawned in Detroit, the Tigers found themselves hanging onto a slim one-game division lead over the reigning World Series champion Baltimore Orioles, who were in the midst of a five-game losing streak that had coughed up their hold on first place just a couple […]

Dating to the nineteenth century, the city of Youngstown, Ohio, had always been a stop for semipro or minor-league baseball teams. In 1885 it was part of the short-lived Iron & Oil League. In the early 1900s, the Ohio Works—named for the U.S. Steel mill in the city—played in the Ohio-Pennsylvania League. Central League entrants […]

Eric Davis was used to overcoming serious injuries. His aggressive, all-out style of play had landed him on the disabled list 11 times in his first 13 years in the big leagues.1 In the 1990 World Series as a member of the Reds, he suffered a life-threatening injury when he dove for a ball and […]

Harold C. Burr gave a tepid review of the Dodgers pitching staff that headed into the 1952 World Series. “Some are pitchers with good arms, some with sore arms, some with tired arms, and some with no arms at all,” he wrote. “But it’s by this motley corps that the Dodgers must rise or fall […]

On Friday, August 25, 1972, the New York Yankees began a 10-day, 12-game homestand. Early-season rainouts forced the Yankees to make up two games in doubleheaders, and a scheduled twin bill made it three doubleheaders in five late-August days.1 New York ended up playing 33 games in August. Twenty-five innings of baseball in the Sunday, […]

From 1925 until 1933 the Philadelphia Athletics finished in third place twice, second place four times, and first place three times (winning the World Series in 1929 and 1930). Beginning in 1934, however, the A’s were on a downward spiral that saw them with just two fourth-place finishes between 1934 and 1968. As for the […]

The Little World Series had been played on and off between the champions of the American Association and the International League (originally the Eastern League) since 1904. Unfortunately for the Minneapolis Millers, the series was mostly off during the 1910s, when they had some of their most powerful teams. The series was back on by […]

Rube Foster of the Chicago American Giants, J.D. Howard, and C.I. Taylor of the Indianapolis ABCs (NOIRTECH / LARRY LESTER)   Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants had been arguably the best team in Negro baseball since 1911, but C.I. Taylor’s Indianapolis ABCs were poised to overtake them in 1916. The rivalry was intense as the […]

At a game on a pleasant afternoon at Eclipse Park in Louisville, the home fans saw five batting records set or tied. Remarkably, they were all set or tied by the same player. Even more remarkably, the record-setting player was a pitcher, Louisville’s Guy Hecker. The trail of statistics was not as well marked in […]

One day you will tell your grandchildren “of the glorious deeds of Homer Hank, the big Greenberg boy, of Machine Gunner Charlie Gehringer, of Fire Chief Rogell, the great hop expert, of Marvin Owen, the man with the magnetic mitts.” — Detroit Free Press, August 1, 1935   The Detroit Tigers won the 1934 American […]

“Screams, shrieks, whoops, bawls, howls, hollers, roars swept through the ball-yard with the weird noise raised by cow bells, auto horns, whistles, rattles, and musical instruments,” wrote Damon Runyon about the wild scene at Sportsman’s Park for first World Series game ever played in St. Louis.1 A member of the National League since 1892, the Cardinals had spent […]

Tetelo Vargas was a player with exceptional skills in nearly all aspects of the game. He hit for average, had good power for his physique, and was a superb defender. He possessed a strong throwing arm and superior speed – which won him the nickname El Gamo Dominicano, or “The Dominican Deer.” He was an […]

“This game is tough to play,” said 11-year major-league infielder Doug Flynn in an interview with the author.1 Progressing through the Cincinnati Reds’ system in the early 1970s, Flynn was a utilityman on the Reds championship teams in 1975 and 1976 before being traded to the New York Mets in 1977. A Gold Glove winner […]

Known as “Smokey Joe,” possibly after Boston’s accomplished pitcher Smoky Joe Wood due to his fast ball, stocky right-hander Joe Lotz also gained the title of “Iron Man Pitcher.” The latter moniker resulted from his fortitude and consistency on the field for some 30 years commencing at the age of 15. First recognized for his […]

Stories about Art Quirk’s golden arm and Ivy League degree accompanied the left-handed pitcher on his rise to the major leagues. There were double-digit strikeout games and a no-hitter. Most newspaper profiles mentioned the rarified source of his college diploma. But the excitement of his 1962 debut was short-lived when he was bumped from the […]

As his nicknames, Speed Boy and Sparkplug,1 suggest, John Edward Reese was a fleet-footed outfielder who put together a 12-year career at the highest levels of professional baseball in the Negro Leagues. Although he spent most of his career as a reserve outfielder, he was talented enough to play in the outfield alongside some of […]

Curtis Brown’s one game in the majors came on May 27, 1973. He played left field for the Montreal Expos at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, going 0-for-4 against Ron Bryant. Less than two weeks later, the 27-year-old was sent back to the minors, never to return. For reasons unknown, he just didn’t have any […]

The National League’s career home-run leader until his record of 251 was surpassed by Rogers Hornsby in 1929, Cy Williams is remembered today primarily for his slugging achievements with the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1920s, but the 6’2″, 180 lb. center fielder began to show his potential as a power hitter while with the Chicago […]

Bob Bolin did not have the decorated career Bob Gibson had, but in 1968, their paths crossed. Gibson’s St. Louis Cardinals were World Series champions in 1967 and would eventually make it back to Game Seven of the Fall Classic. Bolin’s San Francisco Giants would finish in second place in the National League every year […]

A league pennant was squarely on the line under the brutal Mexican sun on September 5, 1938. A team known as Agrario, led by the legendary Satchel Paige, battled Aguila for the championship of the summertime Mexican circuit, a league recently strengthened by the importation of such frontline Negro League stars as Josh Gibson, Ray […]

Jimmy Jones ended his major-league career with one sweep of his arm. The last-place New York Giants were struggling on August 6, 1902, having lost three straight to Pittsburgh and facing Jack Chesbro, who was on the way to a 28-win season. The Giants were in a foul mood and complained about umpire Bob Emslie […]

Brothers Harry and William Hinchman were Philadelphia natives who devoted their lives to baseball. Harry was the elder (born August 4, 1878) and played professionally for 19 seasons. He added 12 more seasons as a minor-league manager before he died at age 54. He made a lasting impression in every city (there were 14 of […]

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in SABR’s “The National Pastime,” Vol. 6, No. 1, Winter 1987. To read more from the TNP archives, click here.   Conceived and nurtured by Information Concepts Incorporated (ICI), a systems company, and published by The Macmillan Company, The Baseball Encyclopedia: The Complete and Official Record of Major League […]

Index for Bill James’s Baseball Analyst Nos. 1-40, 1982-1989 Read Rob Neyer’s introduction of the Baseball Analyst archives “Baseball Analyst,” a Bill James creation that he self-published from 1982 to 1989, was one of the first publications to feature articles devoted to sabermetrics — a phrase he coined in part to honor SABR. “Baseball Analyst” […]