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Pitcher Joe Berry was variously described as little, skinny, slight, bandy-legged, and pint-sized. Berry was officially listed as 5-feet-10 and 145 pounds, but Jim Coleman of The Sporting News wrote that “he was only 135 pounds and looks as harmless as a dead moth.”1 So small was Joe that in 1942 during an exhibition game […]

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 […]

Artie Wilson’s career makes just the barest impression in the old Baseball Encyclopedia: 19 games and 24 plate appearances spread across five weeks in the spring of 1951. But both before and after that short stint with the famously fated ’51 Giants, Wilson ranked for years as one of the biggest stars in two big-time […]

In groups of twos and threes at first and then, little by little, in larger groups, the fans rose and cheered for their hometown team. It spread throughout Fenway Park until virtually every one of the 35,000 fans had joined in the spontaneous standing ovation. The top of the ninth inning on October 12, 1967, […]

“[T]he first major-league pitch I ever called for [was] a curve ball to Wally Moon,” recalled catcher Chris Cannizzaro. “I didn’t catch it. Moon hit it over the left [field] screen of the Coliseum in Los Angeles.”[fn]“’Young Ideas’ by Dick Young,” The Sporting News, June 30, 1973, 14.[/fn] Despite this inauspicious debut, Cannizzaro would go […]

It is easy to imagine that at the end of her final day of filming with acclaimed director Ken Burns, Rachel Robinson must have felt some sense of relief. When Jack died, she was only 50 years old. Since then, she had been blessed with a long life and had spent almost as many years […]

When Elvis Presley died, Mark Clark didn’t cry. He cried when Bake McBride was traded. “Can you believe that? Elvis meant absolutely nothing to Mark?” his mother, Marjorie Clark, said. “He didn’t cry for Elvis, but he cried for Bake.”1 When the king of rock ‘n’ roll died in August of 1977, the 9-year-old Clark […]

Redheaded lefty pitcher Charlie Perkins got into just 19 major-league games in 1930 and 1934. His record was an uninspiring 0-3, with a 7.50 ERA. “I had one fault,” he said looking back in 1976. “I had a good arm but I was wild. To stay in the big leagues, you had to throw that […]

In the American League’s first-ever season-ending tiebreaker, the Cleveland Indians’ rookie sensation, Gene Bearden, faced the Boston Red Sox on October 4, 1948 at Fenway Park. At stake was who would face the Boston Braves in the World Series. Bearden’s last two starts had been shutout victories, giving him a 19-7 won-lost record for the […]

In June 1950 Jimmy Bloodworth, one of the oldest players on the Philadelphia Phillies youthful roster, quipped, “It took me 34 years to become a Whiz Kid.”1 In truth, Jimmy was soon to turn only 33 but that didn’t prevent him from another of the many wisecracks that endeared him to fans and teammates alike. […]

Overcoming potentially career-ending shoulder injuries in the early 1950s to develop into one of the most feared sluggers of his era, Roy Sievers became just the 18th player to hit 300 home runs. With a powerful and graceful swing that Casey Stengel called “one of the sweetest,” 1 Sievers, known as Mr. Clutch for his […]

In his long and accomplished baseball career, San Francisco Bay Area native Emil “Lefty” Mailho managed over 2,500 hits, yet all but one — a pinch single in a 1936 contest — came in the minor leagues. One writer described Mailho as “arguably the best .056 lifetime hitter the majors (have) ever seen.”1 Mailho, who […]

Few jobs can match the excitement, adulation, and income that come with a spot on a major-league roster.  Some old ballplayers inevitably seal themselves in amber, forever living vicariously through the men they used to be.  The New York Giants’ Al Corwin was different.  For him the game was “more paycheck than passion,” as one […]

If God had not created Hustling Dan O’Leary, Damon Runyon would have. O’Leary is not well known today but he was well appreciated by the sportswriters of his time, as he was usually involved in something that would make an amusing story. He danced on the edge of fame and infamy, and even The National […]

Jim Mutrie managed in the major leagues for nine seasons, two seasons in the American Association (1883-1884, New York Metropolitans) and seven seasons in the National League (1885-1891, New York Giants). As a big-league manager Mutrie achieved a .611 winning percentage, the second highest career percentage among major-league managers, trailing only Hall of Fame inductee […]

Ed Crane was a big, strong guy for his era. He stood only 5 feet 10 inches tall but weighed more than 200 pounds. Much of it was muscle, at least when he was young. His nicknames reflected his stature: Big Ed, Big Ned, and Hercules. He was said to throw harder than any other […]

Although rarely in the everyday lineup for an extended period, George Shoch was a useful member of several late-19th-century major-league teams. In an era of small rosters, Shoch’s versatility – he could play second, shortstop, third, and the outfield competently – was coveted by his managers. His durability, strong work ethic, and temperate habits were […]

“The fascinating thing about baseball is that everyone knows that it is a business and you have to win and you have to draw fans to be successful, but you still have fun along the line doing all that,” Bill Rigney once said. “I don’t think I ever woke up one day in my life […]

Left-hander Ron Perranoski’s sinking fastball, sharp-breaking curve and ability to thrive in critical situations made him one of baseball’s top relievers. Over 13 seasons (1961-1973) with four teams, mostly the Dodgers and Twins as well as the Tigers and Angels, he pitched in five postseasons and three World Series — earning championship rings with Los […]

Player, coach, manager, scout – such was the lot of a baseball lifer in the first half of the twentieth century. Dutch Zwilling, with more than 60 years in baseball, filled all of those roles and many more. From the early days of the nascent American League to the cusp of free agency, Zwilling was […]

A far-from-giant Giant, pitcher Mickey Welch formed a cornerstone of the celebrated National League franchise founded in New York. Generously listed in baseball reference works as 5-feet-8 and 160 pounds, the undersized right-hander pitched and won the Giants’ [then Gothams’] inaugural NL game in 1883. Two years later, he compiled 17 consecutive pitching victories on […]

The St. Louis Cardinals won a World Series championship in 2006, their first season at the new Busch Stadium. (Kevin Ward/Flickr.com. Used by permission: CC BY-SA 2.0.)   Introduction The St. Louis Cardinals have achieved a level of success in Major League Baseball that has been outdone only by the New York Yankees. Through the […]

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the SABR Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 37, in 2008.   When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 1918, it was their fifth triumph in the fifteen years of the modern classic. The club had the best player in baseball, outfielder-pitcher Babe Ruth, another top hitter […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Puerto Rico and Baseball: 60 Biographies” (2017), edited by Bill Nowlin and Edwin Fernández.   Major-League Spring Training in Puerto Rico The 1936 Cincinnati Reds “The Cincinnati Reds put on the first major league baseball game in Puerto Rican history yesterday” was lead of an AP wire story on February […]