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Journal Articles
The Creation of the Alexander Cartwright Myth
Who invented baseball? This question has held a niche in the American consciousness since the 1880s. The most widely known answer is that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. The casual observer who knows one thing about baseball’s origin knows the Doubleday story. The next answer is that Alexander Cartwright invented […]
Babe Ruth and Baseball Diplomacy
Babe Ruth with Japanese students wearing Koshien jerseys. (Courtesy of Yoko Suzuki.) The American ambassador to Japan stretched out his long legs and put the final touches on the speech to welcome the All American baseball team to the Land of the Rising Sun. Although the ambassador, Joseph Grew, was probably pleased with it, […]
Editor’s note: Fall 2014 Baseball Research Journal
A note from the editor of the Fall 2014 BRJ.
Field of Schemes: The Spring Training Tryout of NFL Star ‘Jerry LeVias’
In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida, according to fable in search of the Fountain of Youth. Ever since, Florida’s menu of sun, fun, beaches, and citrus has symbolized renewal and regeneration, an “enchanted reality,” per state historian Gary Mormino, ripe for second chances amidst a constantly shifting dreamscape.1 Since the early […]
How Stan Musial Picked Up the Nickname ‘Stan the Man’
Stan the Man remains a legend in St. Louis and throughout Cardinal nation. (Photograph by Glen Sparks.) Almost exactly five years after Stan Musial made his major-league debut, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bob Broeg wrote an article that forever transformed Musial into Stan the Man. Published on September 20, 1946, the article referred to […]
Dodger Stadium and the Battle of Chavez Ravine
When eternal Dodgers hero Johnny Podres threw the first pitch to Cincinnati Reds shortstop Eddie Kasko on April 10, 1962, it marked the official opening of Dodger Stadium as the new home of the Los Angeles Dodgers.1 Less recognized and certainly less celebrated was how it represented the definitive end of what has come to […]
Roy Face’s Incredible 1959 Season
In 1959, ace Pittsburgh Pirates fireman Roy Face set a major-league record by winning 18 games in relief against one loss. His .947 winning average also established the record for pitchers with at least 15 decisions. Face’s incredible numbers far exceeded those of the Pirates, who went 78–76 and finished fourth, nine games behind the […]
Average Batting Skill Through Major League History: A Commentary
Many of us who read Richard D. Cramer’s article “Average Batting Skill Through Major League History” in BRJ 1980 (pp. 167-72) regard it as one of the most important, impressive, and fascinating articles which SABR has ever published. Its implications — which are not spelled out by Mr. Cramer — are so amazing that they […]
Dave Nicholson, Revisited
He was forever young on his baseball card—6-foot-2, with a square jaw, and a passing resemblance to Mickey Mantle. He was 24, and I was in the third grade. It was the summer of 1963. I never minded that he set a record for strikeouts in a single season that year, which is how many […]
Umpire Schools: Training Grounds for the Guardians of the Game
Introduction In September 2005 the confirmation hearings of John Roberts as the nominee for chief justice of the United States included an unexpected but telling nod to the national pastime when Roberts observed, “Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules; […]
Restart of Legend: The Waseda-Chicago Rivalry 1910-2008
1930 University of Chicago team in Japan. (Rob Fitts Collection) On the fourth day of spring in the 20th year of the Imperial Heisei era, just as the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom, another chapter in one of the most significant stories in US-Japan sports history was about to be written. It was […]
How The Devil Rays Came to Tampa Bay
“If there’s a greater day in the history of Tampa Bay, I don’t know what it is,” proclaimed Tampa Bay Devil Rays principal owner Vince Naimoli on March 20, 1995, the day the American League awarded a franchise to the group he headed.1 After many years of city leaders striving to bring a team to […]
Deadball Era Umpires: What They Did for Baseball
Very little has been written about Deadball Era umpires who established the foundations of the modern umpiring profession — the implementation of umpire signals, the two-umpire system, and more support from league authorities for umpires. And yet this group of men who umpired during the Deadball Era established the traditions, rules, and procedures by which […]
More Baseball in Non-Baseball Films
Back in the mid-1990s, I published Great Baseball Films (Citadel Press), which charts the manner in which the sport has been depicted onscreen from the late 1890s to early 1990s. Twenty years ago as today, even the most obscure films with obvious baseball themes were readily accessible to researchers. However, seeking out films in which […]
Cigars, Horses, and a Couple of Homers: Babe Ruth’s Experience in Cuba
Havana served for many years as something of a playground for the idle wealthy of the United States, as often as not those of New York, particularly during the Prohibition years (1920-1933), when alcohol was banned in by an amendment to the US Constitution. It was a major tourist mecca and attracted a large number […]
What’s in a Name? Examining Reactions to Major League Baseball’s Change From the Disabled List to the Injured List via Twitter
Mickey Mantle is carried off on a stretcher after injuring his knee during the 1951 World Series at Yankee Stadium. (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY) A batter takes a fastball to the ribs. An outfielder crashes into the wall trying to make a circus catch. A baserunner steps on the side of first […]
A Yankee Fan’s Perspective on the 2004 American League Championship Series
Ticket purchase receipt to Game Five of the 2004 World Series — had it been played at Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Jeb Stewart) Even for a confident Yankees fan (are there any other kind?), the 2003 offseason began with troubling signs. True, Brian Cashman found a way to obtain Alex Rodriguez, who had seemed […]
Satchel’s Wild Ride: How Satchel Paige Finally Made the Hall of Fame
Editor’s note: This article was selected as a recipient of the 2025 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award. On July 25, 1966, Casey Stengel and Ted Williams were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Although most observers likely assumed that Casey would steal the show, as he usually did, it was Williams […]
Review: Satchel Paige: Off on His Own, at the Center of the Crowd
On Larry Tye’s 2009 biography of Paige and Timothy M. Gay’s 2010 book on the barnstorming tours of Paige, Dizzy Dean and Bob Feller.
Jury Nullification and the Not Guilty Verdicts in the Black Sox Case
This article was selected as a winner of the 2016 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award. This well-known Chicago Tribune photo of Black Sox defendants, attorneys, jurors, and supporters shows them celebrating the not guilty verdicts on the steps of the Cook County Courthouse on August 2, 1921. A number of the celebrants have numbers inscribed […]
Dobie Moore
“Has anybody else told you about Dobie Moore? Well, I’ll tell you something about him. That Moore was one of the best shortstops that will ever live! That fella could stand up to the plate and hit right-handed, he could hit line drives out there just as far as you want to see.” — Casey […]
Forbes Field, Hitter’s Nightmare?
Forbes Field was one of the very first classic era ballparks (only Philadelphia’s Shibe Park preceded it) to be built in America. It was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates for 62 seasons after it opened June 30, 1909. Forbes Field has been regarded as a spacious park and a poor park for hitters. Only […]