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Few major-league careers have begun as auspiciously as Bill Duggleby’s. On April 21, 1898, the rookie pitcher made his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies against the visiting New York Giants. At bat in the second inning, with the bases loaded, Duggleby caught a Cy Seymour fastball “right on the pickle, and it sailed out of […]

A weak-armed washout from two other American League teams, catcher Ira Thomas was purchased by Connie Mack prior to the 1909 season. Thomas immediately prospered with Philadelphia’s “inside” game, and was the Athletics’ primary backstop as they captured World Series victories in 1910 and 1911. He then transitioned to coaching and team captaincy as his […]

As a 22-year-old Bill DeLancey caught every inning of the 1934 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals as the club won its third championship. Later, he was named by Branch Rickey as one of the best three catchers he had ever seen, alongside Roy Campanella and Mickey Cochrane. However, DeLancey accumulated only 686 plate […]

A crafty hitter and disputatious competitor, Jesse Burkett won three National League batting titles from 1895 to 1901 before finishing his 16-year-career in the American League with a lifetime .338 batting average. Twice a .400 hitter, Burkett stands larger in the record books than he did in real life. Upon his election to the Hall […]

“I know I’ve been a chump for a long time,” said Frank Grube on the verge of making the St. Louis Browns in April 1941, “and I know I’ve got some good baseball left in me. You don’t know how tough it is,” Grube continued, looking back on the past four years he had spent […]

During a professional pitching career that spanned the Deadball Era, right-hander Bobby Keefe won more than 200 games. Regrettably for him, only 16 of these victories came while in a major league uniform. A curveball artist, Keefe’s time in the bigs was sidetracked by untimely health problems, a periodically sore arm, and the perception that […]

Hank Steinbacher amassed 170 hits in his three-season big-league career. Fully 10 percent of them came in a seven-game flurry in June and July 1938. In that spate, the 25-year-old lefty hitter came to the plate 34 times and pounded out 17 hits, including four doubles, a triple, and a home run. He knocked in […]

The New York Yankees dynasty began with Jacob Ruppert Jr. When Ruppert purchased the franchise in January 1915 with his partner, the improbably named Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston, it was one of the American League’s most hapless teams. The previous owners, a gambler and a shady ex-police chief with Tammany Hall connections, had run a shoestring […]

Pat Gillick served four different stints as a general manager, and during each his task was different. That he succeeded at all four marks Gillick among the very best in the history of the game, a career that would lead to enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In Toronto, he built an […]

One of the more colorful aspects of baseball history is the wide, imaginative variety of nicknames assigned to the players by their teammates and the media. Some of the sobriquets lend an air of strength and might to the recipients that their birth names might otherwise not. Edwin Snider might not have struck fear in […]

William Orange Forman, who pitched briefly for Washington in 1909 and 1910, was born on October 10, 1886, in Venango, Pennsylvania, the youngest of William (Billy) and Almira (Myra) Forman’s three children. The elder Forman came to northwestern Pennsylvania during its oil rush, and made a living drilling wells and refining their product. Young Will […]

No one chooses to become a professional widow, and Eleanor Gehrig derived little satisfaction in being called one. Yet few ballplayers’ wives maintained a level of such prominence so long after their husband’s death as they had when he was alive. Mrs. Lou Gehrig was married less than eight years; she was a widow for […]

Francis Bernard Cox spent many years playing for town and company teams in New England during the 1870s and 1880s. In 1884 he reached the zenith of his baseball career when he played for two professional clubs, including, for a brief stint, the Detroit Wolverines of the National League. Frank Cox was born on August […]

When introducing the Orioles’ new manager in 1968, general manager Harry Dalton said, “In short, I believe Earl Weaver is a winner.”1 Weaver was short. And he was a winner. For the next 14½ seasons the Orioles won more games than any other team, piling up six division titles, four pennants, and one World Series […]

Buck Herzog was one of the most versatile infielders in the history of the major leagues; his 1,493 games were divided almost equally among second base, shortstop, and third base. His motto, “When you get ’em down, choke ’em,” earned him the nickname “Choke ‘Em Charley.” John McGraw signed Herzog for the New York Giants […]

“Hi everybody. Glad to have you aboard for today’s game.” Miami Marlins fans will recognize these words as the greeting that Dave Van Horne has used before every game since he began broadcasting major-league games in 1969 with the Montreal Expos. These words are also an invitation to sit down and listen to the smooth […]

Right-handed pitcher Bill Pertica was a prospect who showed promise early in his career, had one prime season with the Cardinals, and ultimately faded into obscurity. He was born in Santa Barbara, California, on August 17, 1898, and made the big leagues (albeit about as briefly as possible) in his first year of pro ball. […]

Like the real estate business that he would later enter, success and failure during the career of late-19th century pitcher George Haddock was often a matter of location. When on the roster of bad clubs, Haddock regularly tasted defeat, losing a staggering 72 games over his first three full professional seasons. Yet once assigned to […]

The 1908 Chicago Cubs are remembered by baseball fans for many reasons. The club, managed by first baseman Frank “Husk” Chance, ended the season by capturing its third consecutive National League pennant and defeated the Detroit Tigers for its second World Series crown. The Cubs were widely recognized in this era for being one of […]

“When going through hell, keep running” – Winston Churchill1 “Beware of advice from experts, pigs and members of Parliament” – Kermit the Frog2   Mickey Cochrane was going through hell as he rounded the bases on his June 4 inside-the-park grand slam against the Philadelphia A’s in Shibe Park. He made it home, but he […]

(Photograph by Duane Rieder) After winning three straight games at home, including Nelson Briles’ masterful two-hit, 4-0 shutout in Game Five, the Pirates returned to Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium with the hope of clinching their fourth World Series championship in Game Six. A win in Baltimore was a tall order, 6-feet-3 to be exact, which was […]

“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” So said the reporter at the end of the 1962 movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.1 Upon hearing a popular politician confess that he was not the real shooter, the journalist ignored the fact to preserve the lawmaker’s legend. Thirty years earlier, baseball writers at the […]

Located about 15 miles west across the Hudson River from midtown Manhattan, Bloomfield is an older, mostly blue-collar New Jersey town with a rich athletic tradition. To continue this heritage, the municipality maintains more than a dozen greenswards suitable for the play of outdoor sports. One of these is Felton Field, a small, tidy playground […]

The 1882 Providence Grays. Back: Paul Hines, Jerry Denny, Hoss Radbourn, Jack Farrell. Middle: Tom York, Joe Start, Harry Wright, George Wright, John Ward. Front: Charlie Reilley, Sandy Nava, Barney Gilligan. (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY, COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.)   Competing in the National League from 1878 to 1885, the Providence ballclub won the championship […]