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Connie Mack had been there from the beginning. When the Philadelphia Athletics helped establish the upstart American League in 1901, he was at the helm. He masterminded the club to five American League pennants and three World Series titles through the 1914 season. Then, as the A’s dropped into the league cellar in 1915 — […]

The Altoona Mountain Citys were a short-lived major-league team that played in the short-lived Union Association. The club’s lone season lasted 25 games and ended with a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Monumentals on May 31, 1884. The Central Pennsylvania railroad city of Altoona was not originally in the Union Association’s plans. League President Henry […]

Rookie knuckleballer Tim Wakefield boosted the Pittsburgh Pirates to their third consecutive National League East Division crown in 1992 after getting called up in July to fortify a shorthanded starting rotation. With the Pirates trailing the Atlanta Braves two games to none in the NL Championship Series, Wakefield continued his late-season infusion, tossing a five-hit […]

On the morning of May 28, 1916, a lean, lefthanded pitcher took the mound in Oakland for the hometown Oaks. Jimmy Claxton’s debut in the Pacific Coast League was with a team desperate for pitching. The Oaks had already slipped into the basement, where they would remain for the rest of the season, finishing 72-136. […]

Everything about Jim Bibby was big. His frame: 6’5” and 235 pounds, with “legs like oak trees.”1 His hands: he could fit eight baseballs in his right hand — palm down — one more even than Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench.2 His fastball: “vicious … serious heat … would scare the bejesus out of most […]

Bob Quinn was a baseball man for more than 60 years. He started as a player in the 1880s, although he never made the majors, and then became a business manager/general manager. At various points from 1917 through 1945, he held this role at the big-league level with the St. Louis Browns, the Brooklyn Dodgers […]

The Clown Prince of BaseballDid 5,000 gigsFor 50 years he shared the billWith circus dogs and talking pigsAnd by the 9th inningHe’d be back at the motelWith an early morning wake-up callAnd the next night he’d be someplace else.1   Max Patkin never made it to the big leagues as a player. But that did […]

Perhaps Gene Oliver was born too soon. With the advent of the designated hitter in 1973, he was already four years removed from his ten-year major-league career. He was a power hitter who drew favorable comparisons to sluggers Frank Howard and Joe Adcock. His glove work was often (and unfairly) derided – making him a […]

“That long, long list of pitchers…like a lost platoon.”[1] So the Chicago Tribune described the many young hurlers who came through the Cubs system in the late 1960s. Some of those prospects went on to better things after trades, but others got only a cup of coffee – if that. Pat Jacquez – the elder […]

The Negro Leagues featured many of baseball’s greatest two-way players: Leon Day, Martín Dihigo, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, and Bullet Rogan. Yet before these leagues began in 1920, many Black players alternated between pitching and position play. Few in this era excelled in multiple roles as did Harry Buckner. From 1896 to 1914, the righthander […]

Baseball fans are notorious for their propensity to argue long hours about who was the “best” at a position or at bat or on the mound. Dozens of baseball books are published discussing the “best at” this or the “Top 10” of that. These discussions are hardly a modern phenomenon. As early as 1890, the […]

They called him “Dirty Jack,” but John Joseph “Jack” Doyle never quite understood why. The name was given to him in recognition of his aggressive style of play and of his insistence that the base paths belonged to the runner. “I was a hard base runner,” he later recalled. “You had to be in those […]

Red Ames’ curveball was one of the Deadball Era’s most dramatic pitches. “Ames is without question almost the hardest pitcher to catch of the professionals,” wrote the Sporting Life in 1906. “Players say no man who holds a place in the pitcher’s box is able to curve the ball so far as he can. It […]

A leading slugger of the 1930s, Zeke Bonura was “one of baseball’s best-loved figures.”1 He was a colorful first baseman with an indomitable spirit, and his great enthusiasm resonated with fans. In seven major-league seasons, he hit .307 and averaged 100 RBIs per season. During World War II, he received the Legion of Merit medal […]

“Henry Aaron in the second inning walked and scored. He’s sittin’ on 714. Here’s the pitch by Downing. Swinging. There’s a drive into left-center field! That ball is gonna be … outta here! It’s gone! It’s 715! There’s a new home run champion of all time, and it’s Henry Aaron!”  — Atlanta Braves’ announcer Milo […]

David LeFevre, who once tried to buy the Cleveland Indians, said it: “I want to stand next to Gabe Paul when they drop the atomic bomb.”1 Because Paul was a survivor. In his first 20 years as a major league general manager, he never won a pennant and only once came close. Then he sold […]

Mid-1880s outfielder Ed Glenn had various skills needed for an extended stay at the major league level. In the field, he was an exceptional defender, a ground-covering, sure-handed flycatcher with an excellent throwing arm. On the base paths, he was a fleet-footed, intelligent runner. And in the clubhouse, he was a positive presence, a quiet […]

Were it not for the misfortune of attempting to break into the most talented major-league outfield of the 1990s, Brian Giles, as his post-Cleveland career confirms, might have earned a place in Heritage Park at Progressive Field as a member of the Indians Hall of Fame. In Giles’ four seasons with the Tribe, 1995-1998, playing […]

On April 16, 1945, after fierce lobbying by Pittsburgh Courier columnist Wendell Smith,1 the Boston Red Sox held a tryout at Fenway Park for three African American players: Jackie Robinson, Sam Jethroe, and 25-year-old Marvin Williams.2 The trio took infield practice and hit against Red Sox pitchers, but not one player was signed. Manager Joe […]

Arthur Soden was like many nineteenth century capitalists: He had a near single-mindedness when it came to the bottom line. He saw baseball as a business, pure and simple, though he did admit later in life that he had a fondness for the game. Controlling costs and expanding revenues were his priorities. The well-being and […]

Cy Young is a name familiar to all but the most casual of baseball fans, well over 100 years after his pitching career ended. After all, he is the one the Cy Young Award is named after, the award given every year to the best pitcher in each league. Young also holds numerous baseball records, […]

“His reputation is that of a driving, spirited leader who at all times has evidenced an interest in the boy’s future, rather than furthering any ambitions he might have had for himself.” With those words in The Sporting News, columnist John Steadman introduced George Staller as the latter joined the Baltimore Orioles’ coaching staff in […]

Alvin O’Neal McBean – for decades, the only big-league pitcher from the Virgin Islands – was a good one. His hard sinker and limber, resilient arm made him valuable as a starter and even more as a reliever. Throwing from various arm angles as the spirit moved him, McBean was somewhat reminiscent of Orlando “El […]

St. George Grounds began as a paradise, created alongside the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, in what became the city that never sleeps.1 The centerpiece of developer Erastus Wiman’s resort on the northeast prow of Staten Island, New York, the Grounds were, variously, the last home of the American Association Metropolitans, the setting […]