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On April 26, 1969, pitcher Al Raffo of the Triple-A Eugene Emeralds received the good news from his manager, Frank Lucchesi, that he was moving up to the parent Philadelphia Phillies. In his eighth season and eighth team in the Phillies organization, Raffo was asked shortly before he was called up if he thought he […]

George Fox was the definition of a utility player. In the minors, he played every position – including pitcher. “Fox can play any position on the nine and do it well,” wrote his hometown paper, the Pottstown, (Pennsylvania) Ledger.1 When he made the major leagues, he played first base, third base and catcher. In addition, […]

“I have never seen a recruit pitcher with a more deceptive hook,” gushed syndicated sportswriter (and AL umpire) Billy Evans about rookie right-hander Sam Gray of the Philadelphia A’s in 1924.1 Gray rode his impressive curveball to a 10-year career, the final six with the St. Louis Browns. Three years after winning 20 games for […]

Brooklyn–born Gennaro Joseph Casale, better known as Jerry, played 11 seasons in professional baseball beginning in 1952 and concluding in 1963. During a five-year stretch, from 1958-1962, he pitched for three major-league teams, a hard-throwing right-hander and recorded his best season in 1959 as a 13-8 rookie with the Boston Red Sox. Casale was a […]

An integral player on the 1971 World Series Championship team in Pittsburgh, a three-time All-Star and Most Valuable Player vote-getter in Philadelphia, Dave Cash spent his 12-year career as a reliable and often stellar second baseman. Cash has been credited with coining the phrase ‘Yes We Can’ as the Phillies ended their 26-year postseason drought […]

By all outward appearances, George Davies was leading the good life in the early autumn of 1906. A dozen years removed from a short but respectable stint as a major leagues pitcher – he had won 10 games for the second-half pennant winning Cleveland Spiders in 1892 — Davies was now an eminent citizen of […]

Few players in baseball history have jumped directly to the major leagues without ever playing a game in the minors. Many of these were the Bonus Babies in the years before the amateur draft was established in 1965. Before that, Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Frankie Frisch, Mel Ott, and George Sisler went directly from […]

Between 1870 and 1920, over a million Swedes emigrated to the United States, primarily seeking greater economic opportunities.1 This influx produced notable second- and third-generation Swedish-American baseball stars like Charles “Swede” Risberg and Freddie Lindstrom. But only four Swedish-born players made the big leagues. Collectively they appeared in just 149 major-league games.2 Pitching for the […]

For a brief time in the summer of 1961, Ken Hunt was mentioned in the same sentence with Sandy Koufax as the top two young pitchers in the National League. The 1961 Cincinnati Reds were expected to finish no higher than sixth in the eight-team National League.1 However, on the last day of June, Cincinnati […]

Inspired by the debut of pitcher “Noodles” Hahn, the Dayton Herald published an article in 1899 celebrating the colorful nicknames of ballplayers. Among the names mentioned were “Eagle Eye” Beckley, “Fatty” Childs, and “Three Fingered” Smith.1 Beckley and Childs were well-known major leaguers. Clarence “Three Fingered” Smith was an ace of the New Castle Quakers […]

Some former major-league ballplayers are remembered for hitting an unforgettable home run, while others are remembered for a very successful business career after retiring from playing baseball. Charlie James, a St. Louis native who played for the Cardinals from 1960 to 1964, is remembered for both. Charles Wesley James was born on December 22, 1937, […]

Jim Gosger was a hustling, hard-working ballplayer for 13 professional seasons, years that took him all over the baseball map, and to the majors for parts of 10 seasons with five different teams. He played a good center field but never really established himself as a good enough hitter to stay in a lineup long. […]

Vaughan Pallmore “Bing” Devine, a soft-spoken, modest man, spent more than a quarter-century as a baseball executive and played a major role in building four National League champions and three World Series winners. Devine left his biggest mark as the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, whose owner fired him in 1964 just as […]

In 1909 Joe Bernard was a bookkeeper for Springfield Marine Bank in Illinois, playing baseball two or three games a week for local amateur teams and a semipro club in Gillespie, Illinois. The 27-year-old, 6-foot-1, 175-pound righthander had never played a game in the minor leagues. His chances of ever pitching in the major leagues […]

It was June 28, 1969. The San Diego Padres were about halfway through their inaugural season in the major leagues. With his pitching staff wrecked by injuries and retirements, Padres manager Preston Gomez opted to give a 23-year-old rookie, who missed spring training because he really wanted to be a dentist, a start against a […]

It was a new season, the Pirates opening against the 1952 National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers. Pittsburgh had finished last (42-112-1) in 1952, 54½ games behind Brooklyn. Fred Haney had been brought in as manager. They’d played Opening Day at Ebbets Field the day before and taken a 4-0 lead in the top of the […]

Tossing a shutout and striking out at least 10 batters in a game was not uncommon in Sandy Koufax’s illustrious 12-year big-league career. After all, he blanked opponents 40 times and reached double figures in punchouts 97 times in just 314 career regular-season starts. The Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw’s performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates in […]

The New York Yankees could be excused for their anemic batting performances in the first two games of the 2001 World Series – both Arizona wins – as they faced the Diamondbacks’ dominating duo of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. With the Series shifting to New York for the next three games, the Yankees also […]

While we take radio for granted today, when it came onto the scene in 1920, it was considered a marvel. It was the first mass medium that brought entertainment and information into people’s homes in real time. Most baseball fans were delighted. There were a few games on the air as early as 1921 (including […]

 The Boston Beaneaters entered their three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies in a foul mood. Their frustration stemmed from a disappointing loss to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms the day before. The entire City of Boston seemed upset by the fact that Beaneaters manager Frank Selee had decided to start Vic Willis against Brooklyn just one day […]

When the Montreal Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers headed to Stade Olympique to play the second game of a four-game series on June 9, 1978, they were going in seemingly opposite directions. Skipper Dick Williams, in his second year at the Expos’ helm, had his club playing its best ball of the year. They […]

It was “one of the most spectacular closing chapters in all World Series history,” gushed sportswriter Grantland Rice about Mel Ott’s home run in the top of the 10th inning against the Washington Senators in Game Five of the World Series to give the New York Giants a surprising title.1 It was a stunning turnaround […]

An ancient Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times.” In the middle of August 1965, the times in California were interesting indeed. In the north, the Bay Area was with a hotbed of political activity, San Francisco was the epicenter of the national anti-Vietnam War movement, while across the bay Berkeley was a […]

Sixteen members and guests of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter gathered at The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis on Monday, April 25, 2016. Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order and again reminded everyone of the Chapter Research Conference that will take place in August. He encouraged those with research presentations to […]