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Mike Goliat has long been the answer to a popular trivia question about the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies: Who was the second baseman on the Whiz Kids? Since 1950 was the only full year that Goliat spent in the major leagues, the answer to that question eludes many.1 But Goliat was a solid-fielding second baseman (a […]

Baseball fans often hear of researchers uncovering records set by current and former players which sometimes lead to discussions about which records are most likely never to be broken. Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak, Cy Young’s career win total, and Cal Ripken’s consecutive games streak are often put up as examples of records that will stand […]

Sam Wise teamed with Jack Burdock to form the double-play combination for the Boston Red Stockings for seven years during the 1880s. An unusual shortstop,i Wise was a Jekyll-and-Hyde player,ii a free swinger (“When Sam Wise offers at a ball and misses it he takes a turn like a prize fighter landing the pivot blow”iii) […]

On September 2, 1969, Phil Hennigan made his major-league debut in Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium in relief of Cleveland Indians starter Luis Tiant. Entering the sixth inning with his club trailing 5-1 and the Twins threatening more, Hennigan retired the always-dangerous Rod Carew on one pitch by inducing the future Hall of Fame famer to fly […]

Everyone knows about John Smoltz’s dominance as both a starter and as a reliever. Same with Dennis Eckersley. Little do people know they were hardly the first people to be widely praised at both spots in the pitching staff. Though he started his career as a highly touted starting-pitcher prospect, Jim Slaton eventually moved to […]

When manager John McGraw needed a clutch win for his New York Giants during their four-year run as National League champions (1921-1924), he often relied on ace southpaw Art Nehf, winner of 184 games for four teams in his 15-year career (1915-1929). Described as a “money pitcher” by sportswriter Frederick G. Lieb, Nehf won the […]

In 1935, The Sporting News captured in a few sentences the early (possibly entire) playing career of Joe Bowman: “[He] was something of a humpty-dumpty, with more ups and downs than [heavyweight boxer] Max Baer, when he started out to follow baseball as a profession. Indeed, at one time, the right-hander didn’t know from one […]

Eugene “Gene” Cocreham, the son of a small-town Texas doctor, pursued a professional baseball career in his early 20s and eventually spent part of three seasons pitching in the big leagues. All but two of his 17 big-league appearances came in 1914 for the World Series champion Boston Braves. After his baseball career ended, Cocreham […]

In 1971 The Sporting News reported “Joe Moeller, the sometime starter, sometime relief pitcher of the [Los Angeles] Dodgers [was] a ‘situation’ pitcher.’ ‘The problem,’ Moeller [joked] ‘is that they haven’t found the right situation.’”1 Dubbed the hardest thrower in the Dodger stable of flamethrowers in 1962—a remarkable claim considering the presence of future Hall […]

Over the course of three decades in the early 20th century, Robert Joseph Connery was a major-league scout and minor-league player, manager, and owner. He was the closest friend of Hall of Fame manager Miller Huggins, and was Huggins’s scout with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees. Best known as the […]

Homer Simpson may live forever in baseball history as the man who pinch hit for Darryl Strawberry—who had already hit nine home runs (four-base hits often dubbed “homers”)—in the 1992 City Championship game between Springfield and Shelbyville. It was Simpson who knocked in the winning run, being knocked out in the process, and gave victory […]

Ben Douglas Junior of Middletown, Connecticut is a forgotten pioneer of early baseball. Of the six New England cities which have had major league baseball teams, Ben Douglas Junior started the original team in half of them. In 1848, Ben became the third of four sons born to wealthy industrialist Benjamin Douglas Sr. and his […]

Over a major-league career that lasted 10 seasons, Elden Auker played for Hall of Fame managers Bucky Harris, Mickey Cochrane (who called him “Mule Ears”), and Joe Cronin (who severely limited Auker’s effectiveness by calling, from his shortstop position, each pitch Auker was to throw). Auker was a teammate of Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg, Charlie […]

In the summer of 1909, Detroit Tigers center fielder Ty Cobb won the Triple Crown, his Tigers won their third straight American League flag, and Ty was involved in the infamous spiking of Frank “Home Run” Baker. Because of that slide, Baker’s manager, Connie Mack, accused Cobb of being the dirtiest player in the history […]

Just three years after graduate Jim McHale played outfield for the Boston Red Sox, St. Mary’s College of Oakland, California, had a total enrollment of 238 in 1911 – more or less 60 people in each graduating class. This small college has produced 63 major-league baseball players, most recently Mark Teahen, James Mouton, and Tom […]

Remembered mostly for his more famous older brother Ed, Jim Delahanty was a fine player in his own right, and one of the most well-traveled hitters of the Deadball Era. During a professional career that lasted nearly two decades, the free-swinging right-hander played for fifteen different clubs, including eight in the major leagues. Despite his […]

At the start of the eighth inning of Game Seven of the 1971 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates clung to a 1-0 lead over the Baltimore Orioles. With his second pitch of the inning, Baltimore starter Mike Cuellar delivered a fastball to the leadoff hitter, big Willie Stargell, who rapped a single to left field. […]

A self-made success in the rough-and-tumble world of Cincinnati politics, Garry Herrmann was the gregarious president of the Cincinnati Reds from 1902 to 1927 and chairman of the three-man National Commission that ruled major league baseball from 1903 to 1920. A flashy dresser who favored checked suits and pinky rings, Herrmann was a larger-than-life character […]

In 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates rookie catcher Steve Nicosia watched the 6’1”, 220 lb. right-handed power hitter crowd the batter’s box and wondered, “How are we ever going to get a pitch by him?”1 Nicosia was hardly alone in these thoughts. For much of his 15-year major-league career Greg Luzinski – whose large bat appeared toothpick-like […]

“I can’t say enough about it, or savor it enough,” said inspirational team leader Gary Carter after his New York Mets clinched the NL East crown by defeating the Chicago Cubs.1 While hard-throwing Dwight Gooden buoyed the team with a sparkling six-hitter, September call-up Dave Magadan, making his first big-league start, supplied the offensive fireworks […]

After 80 years in the same home on the South Side of Chicago, the White Sox were moving. Two years before, the team was dangerously close to moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, until a last-minute, late-night deal in the Illinois Legislature ensured that the name Chicago, instead of Florida, would remain in front of the […]

“There is nothing to compare with it,” said Bobby Richardson after going 3-for-5 in Game Four of the 1961 World Series. “The World Series certainly is not another group of ballgames. I actually enjoy it. The excitement and the little tensions you feel before and after the games are beyond comparison.”1 The Cincinnati Reds were […]

At the end of June 1920 the National League pennant contenders were tightly bunched behind the defending champion Cincinnati Reds. The Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals were in a virtual tie for second, three games out. The greatest surprise among these contenders was the Cardinals — the year before, they had finished […]

In the aftermath of the 1967 Detroit riots, Detroiters desperately needed something positive to take their minds off their torn city. Many sought solace in the Detroit Tigers, who emerged that summer as bona-fide pennant contenders. An entire generation of Tigers fans had witnessed mostly mediocre baseball since the team last won the pennant in […]