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Heading into the 1993 season, the July 2 game between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres at Veterans Stadium seemed like an unexciting item. The Phillies had finished last in the National League East Division in 1992, 26 games out; the Padres were third in the NL West, 16 games out. The Phillies promotions […]

When muscular, truculent gentlemen with names like Brutus Beefcake and Bret “Hit Man” Hart are waiting to use your baseball field, you step aside and let them use your baseball field. Or so it went on August 1, 1985, when a “Balls and Falls” promotion at a minor-league ballpark turned into an unexpected conflict between […]

“Whoosh … budap … snap … whoosh … budap … snap.” Vern Duncan’s earliest memory of baseball was of throwing a ball against the brick wall of a neighboring store in his back yard.1 His childhood efforts led him on a long baseball career highlighted by three seasons at the highest professional level, one in […]

When New York Giants announcer Russ Hodges uttered the immortal words “The Giants win the pennant!” the legacy of Bobby Thomson was indelibly etched into baseball history. Despite modest career stats, Thomson’s October 3, 1951, home run off Ralph Branca was, in 1999, ranked number one on The Sporting News’ Greatest Baseball Moments.1 The “Shot […]

He arrived on the big-league scene like a bolt of lightning through the evening sky. Fred Lynn played in his first game on September 5, 1974, and proceeded to smash major-league pitching to the tune of a .419 batting average and a .698 slugging percentage over his first 15 games. He followed that up with […]

“He’s a little guy. Thinks he can do anything. Damn near can.” That description of John W. Galbreath came from the longtime manager of his Darby Dan Farm, Olin Gentry. Galbreath built his Kentucky farm into a world-renowned thoroughbred racing stable. He owned the controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Pirates for 35 years and celebrated […]

In a 1987 Sports Illustrated article on teammate Eric Davis, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Dave Parker said, “Eric is blessed with world-class speed, great leaping ability, the body to play until he was 42, tremendous bat speed and power, and a throwing arm you wouldn’t believe.”1 Parker was right on all counts but one; Davis suffered […]

Right–handed pitcher Kevin Appier, who played 16 major–league seasons (1989–2004), was one of the best starters of his generation. He was the rare hard–throwing pitcher who developed an array of elite secondary pitches to complement his fastball. Appier’s slider and forkball were notoriously devastating, enabling him to remain a top–notch starter even after a series […]

Denny Lyons hammered the baseball and played fine defense in his 13-season 19th-century major-league career. His outstanding performance at the plate, now obscured by a century-plus of intervening baseball history, ranks him with the top third basemen of all time, at least as measured against his contemporaries. David Nemec’s profile of Lyons in Volume 1 […]

Middle infielder Rey Sánchez spent 15 years in the major leagues and worked just 10 games shy of 1,500. About two-thirds of the games were at shortstop and one-third at second base. He hit .272 over the course of a career spent with nine big-league ballclubs, though his first seven seasons were spent with the […]

Bob Watson of the Houston Astros touches home plate to score what was widely reported as the 1 millionth run in Major League Baseball history on May 4, 1975. (COURTESY OF THE HOUSTON ASTROS)   Like many youngsters growing up in urban America in the 1950s, Bob Watson’s first at bat was in a game […]

Brian Kowitz, a speedy, defensively-gifted outfielder, worked his way from college stardom through five-plus minor-league seasons to a call-up with the Atlanta Braves that, brief as it was, earned him a World Series championship ring. The compact (5-foot-10, 180 pounds) Kowitz was a schoolboy phenom in Baltimore, then an Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the […]

Bobby Young grew up near Baltimore when the city had no major-league team. But like his grandfather, who remembered the Orioles’ championship clubs of the late 19th century, he longed for big-league baseball to return. When that did happen, Young became the first player to sign a contract with the modern-day Orioles. His major-league career […]

Imagine a sudden official statement that George Washington was not, in fact, elected the first President of the United States. For followers of Puerto Rican baseball, such was the magnitude of the announcement that José “El Gacho” Torres, not Hiram Bithorn, was the first man born on the island to play in baseball’s “major leagues.” […]

For an eight-year period before, during, and after World War II, Bucky Walters was the premier pitcher in the National League and one of the best in the major leagues. Over the years from 1939 to 1946, Walters led the majors in wins (141), innings pitched (2,030), complete games (178), support-neutral wins (146), and, among […]

Long before Bill Veeck sent a midget up to bat, Joe Engel sent a teenage girl out to pitch to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Engel, “the Barnum of the Bushes,” was minor league baseball’s premier showman for nearly four decades. “I don’t care what you say about me,” he said, “as long as you […]

John Beckwith was a tremendous slugger who has received more attention for home runs hit outside of regular season Negro League play than for his superlative production during Negro League games. However, he has yet to receive induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This lack of recognition may reflect his frequent position and team […]

The most athletically gifted of three big league brothers, Charlie High hit .323 across 14 minor league seasons, but could not turn that heavy hitting into anything more than a pair of September tryouts with the last-place Philadelphia Athletics in 1919 and 1920. Charles Edwin High was born December 1, 1898, in Ava, Illinois, to […]

During the 1920s and 1930s the New York Giants captured seven National League championships. While they had great outfielders like Mel Ott and Ross Youngs as well as solid pitching, most prominently Carl Hubbell, it was their infield that anchored the team in its success. George Kelly, Fred Lindstrom, and Bill Terry each had a […]

In 1989, the Yankees closer got his big start as the late-inning specialist for the Holyoke Millers of the Eastern League. Not Mariano Rivera, but Duke, the closer in Major League portrayed by Milwaukee Brewers reliever Willie Mueller. Willard Lawrence “Willie” Mueller Jr. was born in West Bend, Wisconsin, 35 miles north of Milwaukee, on […]

Bobby Pfeil’s role on the 1969 Mets may have been small, but it was significant, and it’s one that he has cherished for the last four decades. Robert Raymond Pfeil (pronounced “file”) was born on November 13, 1942 in Passaic, New Jersey, but he only lived there for two years. At age 2, Pfeil’s mom […]

As the 1929 season began, the Chicago Cubs were in trouble.  They were without the services of their starting catcher, 28-year-old Gabby Hartnett, whose arm had gone dead.  While Hartnett would eventually regain his throwing abilities, he played in only 25 games that year, just one as a catcher.1 Initially, 38-year-old Mike Gonzalez and Earl […]

Andy Coakley is remembered most as “Lou Gehrig’s coach” in his 37 years as head of Columbia University’s baseball program. But this overlooks his extensive influence on the game. Once a promising right-hander with Connie Mack’s Athletics in the early 20th century, Coakley was also a labor pioneer, a forward-thinking league organizer, a team owner, […]

Few multi-purpose stadiums in North American history can rival Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium for the number, variety and stature of events held there. Set in a vast fairgrounds complex on the shore of Lake Ontario, the municipal facility originally known as Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) Stadium served as the largest sports and entertainment venue in Canada’s […]