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The Tampa Bay Devil Rays finished last in their division nine times in 10 seasons after joining the American League as an expansion franchise in 1998. Their winning percentage was .398 over their first decade. Their best season was 2004, when they went 70-91 and finished fourth in the five-team AL East Division. Their fortunes […]

It’s a trivia question that most baseball fans would struggle with: Who was the first American League or National League batter to have a 7-for-7 game in the twentieth century? Even with the hint that it was a Detroit Tiger, the question is a tough one to answer. Ty Cobb would be a good guess. […]

Blessed with speed and quickness, Bill Bruton was arguably the fastest man in professional baseball in the 1950s. While prowling center field, he could race back for well-hit long balls and charge in to scoop up potential Texas Leaguers. When batting, he used his speed to intimidate opponents into making throwing and fielding mistakes. He […]

Whenever the subject of best baseball names comes up, Scipio Spinks is sure to be on the short list. A classic wild flamethrower, Spinks was breaking through to success in 1972. If he hadn’t torn up his knee in a collision with Johnny Bench, he would have more to show than a career record of […]

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, […]

There may have been no one more surprised to find Chick Fullis playing for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Seven of the 1934 World Series than Fullis himself. In his only start in the World Series (in Game Five), Fullis had misplayed two balls in center field that directly led to two runs in […]

The 1969 Miracle New York Mets will always have a special place in baseball lore. Not only are the Amazin’ Mets remembered for their stunning upset over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles, but also in the way in which they won, with some of most remarkable defense and pitching ever displayed in World Series history. […]

Craig Swan pitched in 12 seasons for the New York Mets, starting with their pennant-winning 1973 club and ending in May 1984. He got little offensive support while playing on some of the worst teams in Mets history. Nonetheless, he managed some strong performances during that time – most notably in 1978, when he won […]

When the name Jim Brown is mentioned, most sports fans call to mind the NFL’s Hall of Fame running back who starred for the Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. There was, however, an earlier Jim Brown – a catcher, first baseman, and, later, a manager – who played for Chicago American Giants squads that […]

The 1934 Philadelphia Stars, champions of the second iteration of the Negro National League (NNL2), used a balanced four-man rotation that consisted of two righties and two lefties for most of their league games. Slim Jones, a 21-year-old southpaw, emerged as the team’s ace as he pitched to a 20-4 record and a 1.29 ERA […]

“My big idol was Larry Kopf, who played with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1919 World Series. They’re still my team. That’s a big thing for a town our size to have a guy in the big leagues.” So said Abraham A. “Abe” Ribicoff, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and a former Governor of […]

“There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer,” said the greatest player of his time, or most any other time — Honus Wagner. He may be the greatest player in National League history. One of five sons and four daughters of the former Katrina Wolf and Peter Wagner, Honus (a diminutive of […]

Jake Brown deserves to be remembered as a profile in courage. A gruesome industrial accident in February 1974 could well have ended his baseball career. Yet even though his left forearm was nearly severed, Brown came back after surgery repaired the limb. A catcher by trade, he could no longer play behind the plate, but […]

Who’d have thought that almost a decade after Pete Henning’s final major-league game he could run afoul of none other than Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis? What’s more, he was connected to an obscure aftereffect of the momentous 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Yet Henning didn’t even have American or National League experience; he peaked as […]

A flamboyant playboy and partygoer who dressed impeccably and always had a quip and a handshake for everyone he met, Mike Donlin “may have been the most colorful character in the National League during his playing career. … Prone to late nights after afternoon games, he was a night crawler in the truest sense. … […]

John Trautwein comes from a baseball family. His father Jack and brother Dave both played minor-league ball, and his son Michael, selected in the 13th round of the July 2021 major-league draft and signed with the Cincinnati Reds, represents the start of a third generation. John pitched in nine games for the 1988 Boston Red […]

Maybe it was Leon Wagner’s bad luck to have been born too soon. A major-league outfielder for 12 years, Wagner was a two-time All-Star who averaged 29 home runs and 87 RBIs from 1961 through 1966. Still, because of fielding deficiencies that were either imagined (his opinion) or real (his managers’ views), he always seemed to […]

Until Rickey Henderson donned New York Yankee pinstripes in 1985, Fritz Maisel’s 74 stolen bases had been the franchise’s single-season record for 71 years. The diminutive Maisel, nicknamed “The Catonsville Flash” for his Maryland hometown, spent all or parts of six seasons (1913-1918) with the Yankees and St. Louis Browns. For 57 years he was […]

His teams won more games than any team in the annals of organized black baseball. “Candy Jim” Taylor’s professional baseball career began in 1904, well before Rube Foster’s first Negro National League was formed, and his managerial tenure ended abruptly, just before the 1948 baseball season began, due to Taylor’s sudden death. In between, Taylor […]

A switch-hitting reserve catcher (.228 career batting average) who came up in the Red Sox farm system, Tim Blackwell had his best season at the plate as a Chicago Cub, hitting .272 and catching full-time in 1980. Blackwell grew up in San Diego and participated in Little League baseball. A star in two sports at […]

Looking back over a century of hometown baseball, a Pittsburgh sportswriter observed that pitcher Nick Maddox “may be the best September call-up in Pirates’ history.”1 No wonder. In his September 13, 1907 major-league debut, the 20-year-old right-hander threw a two-hit, 14-strikeout shutout at the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 4-0. Three days thereafter, he set the […]

I was strictly a submarine pitcher, a lot of junk. I had a good fast one, but I didn’t throw it when I didn’t have to. With the hard hitters, I’d time them. I’d throw mixed pitches – “56 varieties” they used to call me. And then when I showed them a good fast ball, […]

A late-season addition by the Detroit Tigers in 1905, right-hander George Disch posted a 2.64 ERA in eight games. Initial reports were positive, and a bright future was predicted. However, he could not crack a Tiger rotation of George Mullin, Ed Killian, Bill Donovan, and Frank Kitson (116 complete games in 137 starts in 1905) […]