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Scrap Iron: the punchy, evocative nickname fit Phil Garner well in the 1970s and ’80s — but it fit catcher Clint Courtney even better a generation before. The punchy part was one reason. Journalist Bob Addie wrote in 1959, “Clint put his aggressive temperament to work several times and was involved in some notable fisticuffs […]

Metropolis, Illinois, is the hometown of Superman, the comic-book character who leaps tall buildings in a single bound. Back in the day, Robert Dale “Hawk” Taylor was the genuine article when it came to baseball. Unlike mild-mannered Metropolis Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, who left his office, entered a phone booth and came out as […]

“I have never seen a pitcher like him, and I have caught some of the best in the business.” – Frank Duncan1 “That Rogan can beat you, even when you pitch around him.” – Candy Jim Taylor2   How good was Bullet Rogan, also known as Bullet Joe Rogan? If the baseball gods were kind, […]

Bill McKinley was a steady, dependable American League umpire whose 20-season career, from 1946 to 1965, was marked by numerous highlights and one well-publicized low point. The highlights included four World Series assignments, three All-Star Games, five no-hitters—one behind the plate—and other historic moments. McKinley was working home plate in 1947 when Larry Doby of […]

On his 18th birthday, righty Chris Haughey appeared in his only major-league game, pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 3, 1943. He appears to be one of only three players in big-league history whose lone appearance came on his birthday.1 It was a Sunday afternoon game in Cincinnati, the last game of the season. […]

Texan lefthander Cliff Hill overcame family tragedy to become a stalwart minor league starter from the late 1910s into the early 1920s. He once won 14 straight games, as well as a 20-inning complete game. Hill pitched in one game in the major leagues, for the cellar-dwelling Philadelphia A’s of 1917. Clifford Joseph Hill was […]

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 […]

Harry Eisenstat might have said it best after the conclusion of his eight-year (1935-1942) big-league career: “As long as baseball fans talk about Bob Feller, my name will probably never be forgotten.” When Feller set the modern big-league record (at the time) with 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game in 1938, Eisenstat – in his […]

Dave Ricketts was a bespectacled catcher who looked as much like a math teacher as he did a professional athlete. Indeed, he was a schoolteacher for several years and nearly gave up baseball to teach full-time. The statistics on the back of his baseball cards may give the impression that Ricketts had little impact on […]

Reaching the major leagues is the pinnacle of a baseball player’s rise through the professional ranks. A player whose uniform says “Philadelphia” rather than “Scranton” knows without being told that he is competing against the greatest players the game has to offer. For some, a long and fruitful career is in the offing. But for […]

Teammates remembered his hands — “bear claws for hands,” one said.1 Those powerful hands could pat you on the back or clamp you so hard your knees buckled. No formula can explain leadership, but Terry Moore knew the secret. As center fielder and captain of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s, Moore earned the […]

When he made his debut in a mid-August 1923 game against the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago left-hander Paul Castner secured a line for himself in the record book of the national pastime. That entry, however, would be a slender one, as Castner made only five more big-league appearances before abandoning the game at the close of […]

A bright future appeared to lie ahead for Boston Braves outfielder Max West after he became a major-league regular in 1938 at the age of 21 and was the team’s top offensive performer a year later. Following a memorable appearance in the 1940 All-Star Game, when he hit a home run to win the contest, […]

Charlie Rivera was a third baseman, second baseman, and shortstop who played with several clubs in the Negro leagues for parts of five seasons, from 1939 to 1944. He was a right-handed hitter who stood 5-feet-9 and weighed 155 pounds.1 Carlos Manuel Lavezzari y Sierra was born to Manuel Lavezzari and Trinidad Sierra on September […]

“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 […]

In the second half of 1945, no pitcher in baseball had been as hot as Chicago Cubs right-hander Hank Borowy. Acquired from the New York Yankees in late July, the strapping 29-year-old went 11-2 from that point on, leading the National League in earned-run average at 2.13. In Game One of the 1945 World Series […]

Under a broiling midsummer sun, five National League pitchers combined to throw the first shutout in All-Star Game history. With their 4-0 victory in the 1940 contest, the Nationals had now won three of the last five games, after having lost the first three. Although the American League Browns and National League Cardinals shared Sportsman’s […]

In a time when a pitcher’s ability to finish games was thought to say something about his character, even his masculinity, Hank Borowy was developing a reputation as a man who couldn’t finish what he started. An All-Star with the New York Yankees, Borowy was considered one of baseball’s best pitchers, but in 1945 the […]

The commute for Larry Dierker on Sunday, June 8, 1969, was longer than normal. He had just finished the first week of his annual two-week military obligation with the 95th Training Division of the Army Reserve at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and was given a pass to travel about 200 miles to Houston for his “day […]

On Flag Day, June 14, 2016, the Tampa Bay Rays were scrambling to reach the .500 mark, and the Seattle Mariners were waging a fairly successful season with a 34-29 record in second place in the American League West Division. It was the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The […]

It was the first trip of the season to California for the 1968 Boston Red Sox. In 1967 they lost seven of nine games played in Anaheim against the Angels, each of those by just one run. On May 20, 1968, Boston started a 10-game road trip with three against the Angels. This game was […]

With baseball nearing the end of its second season of play since the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I, the game’s continued operation was being called into question by high-ranking military officials, particularly the provost marshal of the US Army, General Enoch Crowder, who was in charge of the military […]

After his brain cramp in Game Two of the 1951 World Series, Eddie Stanky used guile to spark the New York Giants to a 6-2 triumph over the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds in Game Three and a 2-1 Series lead. Rarely does a stolen base matter more than a three-run homer, but […]

Willie Mays topped the National League in slugging percentage five times. (Photo: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   In 1954, few teams needed a player to return from military service during the Korean War as much as the Giants needed Willie Mays. In 1951, though he had played in only 121 games, Mays was […]