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The first official cycle in the major leagues was accomplished by Charles Joseph Foley (also known as Curry Foley) of the Buffalo Bisons in a May 25, 1882, National League game against the Cleveland Blues.1 The two teams met at Riverside Grounds, the home ballpark of the Bisons. Because of cold weather, this rare achievement […]

A teenage Willie Mays with the Birmingham Black Barons. Mays’ father did not allow him to join the Black Barons full-time in 1948 until school was over at the end of May. (Courtesy of Memphis Public Library)   The Birmingham Black Barons and the Kansas City Monarchs met at Rickwood Field for Game Two of […]

“I’ve seen everything of this sort ever attempted, but this tops them all. It has been an amazing job of promotion, and an amazing show.” — Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.1 After just a handful of seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Bob Feller had become an adopted son of the city. The Van Meter, Iowa, native […]

The September 7, 1889, game between the St. Louis Browns and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms is now remembered for the humorous episode when the Browns had lighted candles put up in front of their bench to emphasize to the umpire that it was too dark to play. But the game’s riotous ending and rancorous denouement fractured […]

Welcoming back their popular soldier-catcher Hank Gowdy after nearly a two-year absence, the Boston Braves held a ceremony in his honor on Saturday afternoon, May 24, 1919, before a game against the Cincinnati Reds.1 Gowdy had been the first active major leaguer to enlist for military service in World War I. John Heydler, the president […]

Harry Walker was born to baseball and spent his life in the game. The son of one major leaguer and the brother of another, he was an All-Star outfielder, the lightning-rod manager of three teams, and a controversial hitting guru. Harry and Dixie Walker are the only brothers to win batting titles. When Harry came […]

Over a span of 17 years, catcher Harry Chozen played in 1,696 games in the minor leagues and one game in the majors. A lifetime .287 hitter, he had a 49-game hitting streak with Mobile in the Southern Association in 1945 that has been equaled or surpassed by only five of the thousands of players […]

Like Mark Twain before him, fellow journalist-turned-novelist Ring Lardner never let the truth get in the way of a good story.  In May 1911, Lardner “interviewed” utility man George “Peaches” Graham of the Boston Rustlers (later the Braves) and attributed to him a bit of braggadocio that revealed much of the talents of both writer […]

Vice and dissipation may have had their way. Meridian, Mississippi, was home to “The Father of Country Music,” Jimmie Rodgers, also known as “The Singing Brakeman.” It was also home to gas-station owner Danny Clark, and major-league pitchers Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and Jay Powell. Clark’s claim to fame came from baseball as well. He […]

Viola Thompson’s contribution to World War II was a rather unusual one. She didn’t do war work in a factory, or enlist in the armed services. Rather, she became a pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), and helped to keep the national pastime going during the war years. She was modest about […]

In the days before radio, Billy Sunday was the most successful evangelist America had ever known. The renowned preacher and temperance crusader found the Lord while playing for the Chicago White Stockings in the 1880s. He was an exciting player, speedy and daring on the base paths and acrobatic in the outfield. His earnest and […]

In the time when Giants walked the earth and roamed the Polo Grounds, none was more honored than Christy Mathewson. Delivering all four of his pitches, including his famous “fadeaway” (now called a screwball), with impeccable control and an easy motion, the right-handed Mathewson was the greatest pitcher of the Deadball Era’s first decade, compiling […]

The fifth-winningest pitcher of all time, Warren Spahn went 363-245 over parts of 21 years from 1942 to 1965. Only by remaining in the game two seasons too long did he fail to finish with an ERA under 3.00 (3.09) and a winning percentage over .600 (.597), and his totals are all the more impressive […]

Tenacity and zeal were hallmarks of Gail Henley’s game, which along with stellar baseball skills fueled a rapid rise to the major leagues and engendered high regard from renowned talent evaluators. That tenacity and zeal also played a part in making his big-league career much shorter than expected. The native of Wichita, Kansas, developed a […]

Alexander S. Hoyle Jr. was the youngest of nine brothers in a baseball-playing family. He was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, on January 8, 1928, to Alexander S. Hoyle Sr. and Alice (Hazen) Hoyle. Because of the way his father filled out the paperwork, his legal name was actually Junior. His father was of English and […]

The list of National League batting champions from the 1930s and early ’40s contains many familiar names: Hall of Famers like Joe Medwick, Johnny Mize, and Stan Musial and stars such as Pete Reiser and Dixie Walker. Amid this listing is an obscure name, Debs Garms. Little known, he is now recalled as the answer […]

Dick Brodowski’s career was interrupted by the Korean War at what was perhaps a crucial point in his development as a right-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on July 26, 1932. His father, Andrew Brodowski, had emigrated to the United States from Poland at about age 10 […]

Erv Palica, a laconic Californian, was little more than a bit player during the 1947 season, but four years later he was at the epicenter of a midseason controversy that may have cost the Dodgers the 1951 pennant. Palica was born on February 9, 1928, in Lomita, California, a small town west of Long Beach. […]

In the summer of 1904, the Zanesville, Ohio, baseball team had a game scheduled with a team in neighboring New Concord. “When the time arrived for the boys to take the bus, there was one player missing, so the bat boy had to be used in right field to complete the team. As luck would […]

Catcher Charlie Hoover debuted with the Kansas City Cowboys in the American Association on October 9, 1888, one month after he turned 23. “Hoover made his debut behind [Henry] Porter and did well in the field,” wrote the Kansas City Times, despite two errors against one assist.1 Described as 170 pounds and 5 feet 9 […]

Fred Caligiuri’s career as a major league pitcher was brief, just seven starts and 11 other mound appearances over a little more than a calendar year. But for a day, at the end of the 1941 American League season, he was center-stage as events left baseball with one of its most enduring statistics: .406. And […]

Roy Partee’s career as a scout rivaled that of his career as a catcher. He caught for the Boston Red Sox for five seasons, 1943-48, and he scouted (mostly for the Mets) for more than a quarter of a century. He also managed in the minor leagues and helped win World War II. Partee was […]

Here are the SABR Defensive Index™ rankings through games of July 9, 2023. The SDI is used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™, presented by SABR. The SABR Defensive Index accounts for approximately 25 percent of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process which are […]

Here are the final SABR Defensive Index™ rankings for the 2023 season among positional qualifiers for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. For the 11th consecutive season, the SDI will be used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™, presented by SABR. The SABR Defensive Index accounts […]