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In 1970, Tommy Harper became a member of what was once among the most exclusive “clubs” in baseball. That year, his first with the Milwaukee Brewers, he hit 31 homers and stole 38 bases, thereby joining the “30-30 Club.” At the time, the only other members of the club were Hank Aaron, Bobby Bonds, Willie […]

The stage was the fifth game of the World Series, on October 15, 1970. The Baltimore Orioles had taken a three games to one Series lead over the Cincinnati Reds. Brooks Robinson had already delivered a game-winning home run in the opener, robbed Tony Perez and Johnny Bench of base hits with a pair of […]

John Clapp was a part of so many beginnings in baseball history that his middle name should have been Genesis. He was the second batter that the Cincinnati Red Stockings faced in their Eastern tour of 1869; in the opener of Al Spalding’s groundbreaking tour of the British Isles in 1874, he delivered the game-winning […]

Stout left-hander Ed Zmich won only one big-league game, but for a few weeks in the summer of 1910, the Class-D hurler caught the attention of the baseball world, resulting in an unusually fierce bidding war. Edward Albert Zmich was born on October 1, 1884, in Cleveland. His father, Max, emigrated from Germany in 1873 […]

Picture this: You are standing in a dugout in St Louis. It is the seventh game of the World Series. The team you have managed for most of the year is nursing a 3-2 lead over the home Cardinals as you enter the bottom half of the sixth inning. Your ace pitcher, the eventual Cy […]

Few people have the talent and good fortune to have successful careers in two such diverse fields as professional sports and the film industry. Ernie Orsatti was one of those lucky few. In his nine-year career with the Cardinals (1927-1935), Orsatti hit .300 or better in six seasons, twice hit over .330, and finished with […]

Hawaiian left-hander Fred Kuhaulua pitched in just eight major-league games, coming in a pair of trials four years apart, with the California Angels in 1977 and the San Diego Padres in 1981. He won his only decision at the top level with San Diego, outdueling Fernando Valenzuela as the season wound down. That was his […]

From New England’s Blackstone Valley textile mills sprang Second World War pitcher Lou Lucier, a trim 5-foot-8 right-hander weighing 160 pounds with a brief major-league career for the Red Sox and Phillies in the years 1943-45. Lucier had four brothers and four sisters, born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, on March 23, 1918, to John B. Lucier, […]

Once described as “a stocky mild-mannered man who cut his teeth on a baseball bat,” John Holland spent 30 years in professional baseball as a front office executive for the Chicago Cubs at the minor- and major-league levels.1 He continued the legacy of his father Jack Holland, who had played minor-league baseball from 1896 to […]

More than 30 years after his major-league playing days, one-time journeyman pitcher Alex Ferguson contemplated the questionnaire sent to him by the Hall of Fame librarian. The information sought was matter-of-fact: height, weight, date/place of birth, ancestry, etc. The questionnaire did not ask Ferguson to identify the high point of his career, doubtless membership on […]

In 2004, as the Boston Red Sox won their first world championship in 86 years, right-handed sinkerball pitcher Derek Lowe earned the rare distinction of winning the clinching game in the Division Series, the League Championship Series, and the World Series itself. He won 176 regular-season games pitching for seven different major-league teams, but his […]

In early 1925, the New York Yankees offered to trade Lou Gehrig to the Boston Red Sox for first baseman Phil Todt to repay Boston for the blockbuster Babe Ruth trade a few years earlier. The Red Sox turned the Yankees down. So says the official Gehrig site (www.lougehrig.com). But was it true? Both debuted […]

If the designation “starting pitcher” was ever applicable, it is a description that fits the career of right-hander Gar Finnvold. He pitched in 113 professional baseball games and every single one of them – both in the minor leagues and in the majors – was as a starter. The tall 6-foot-5, 195-pound righty hails from […]

George Boehler is “the ace of the minor leagues.”1 — Nathan E. Jacobs, Omaha News, 1923   Pitcher George “Rube” Boehler had a blazing fastball and a sweeping curve.2 In the minors from 1911 to 1930, he won 249 games3 and was a seven-time 20-game winner. For the 1922 Tulsa Oilers, he won 38 games, […]

In 1942, the Cleveland Indians chose their slow-footed, hard-hitting, slick-fielding 24-year-old shortstop Lou Boudreau to become player-manager of the ballclub. In his seventh season at the helm, he led the Indians to a World Series title. Perhaps the best shortstop of the 1940s and a great defensive player and batting champion, in that glorious season […]

Baldomero Almada — “Melo” or (to Americans) “Mel” — was the first native Mexican ever to play in the majors. Almada was born in Huatabampo in the state of Sonora on February 7, 1913, but he grew up in Los Angeles from an early age. On September 8, 1933, less than two months after a […]

In the first inning of a National League contest on August 8, 1877, Louisville Grays leadoff batter George “Jumbo” Latham fouled off an offering from St. Louis Brown Stockings pitcher Joe Blong. The ball struck catcher John Clapp on the left side of his face.1 His cheekbone was smashed and feared broken, Clapp left the […]

“No one grows up playing baseball pretending that they’re pitching or hitting in Triple-A.” – Chris Schwinden1 Minor-league baseball players dream of the chance to play in the major leagues. Some toil for years and never get the opportunity. Others are there for only a glimpse – a “cup of coffee.”2 Some are destined to […]

St. Louis held its collective breath when reports emerged at the beginning of 1943 season that pitcher Mort Cooper’s right elbow was aching. To call Cooper an integral part of the Redbirds was an understatement. In what was then arguably the best season ever by a Cardinals pitcher, Cooper won the NL MVP award in […]

Not even the oppressive St. Louis heat could break Bob Sykes on the Fourth of July in 1980. With the Busch Stadium on-field temperature a reported 140 degrees,1 the Cardinals left-handed pitcher spun a 10-inning shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies. Center fielder George Hendrick hit a walk-off home run with one out in the bottom […]

Looking back on it now, it was something akin to a 1972 moviegoer watching the final scene of The Godfather and immediately thinking, “I hope they make another one.” Sequels were not commonplace then, but it seemed everyone wanted to see more of Michael Corleone and his trigger-happy family. So it was with the September […]

One of just two Philadelphia Athletics to make the 1934 American League All-Star roster, third baseman Mike “Pinky” Higgins was the subject of gossip that offseason that he might be sold to the New York Yankees for as much as $50,000. Owner-manager Connie Mack was peppered with questions about the proposed deal in January 1935 […]

Many baseball fans consider Branch Rickey the greatest innovator in baseball history. Not only did he break baseball’s color barrier by bringing Jackie Robinson to the majors, he also invented the farm system, which has become the standard means teams use to develop talent. Another great innovator who deserves credit for the changes he brought […]

The Philadelphia Athletics were in the cellar of the eight-team American League on September 27, 1943. The team began the season with a 27-26 record but fell to last place by winning only 20 of its next 94 games. Connie Mack, the Athletics’ 80-year-old owner-manager, acquired some new talent for his faltering club, and on […]