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When the 2001 Seattle Mariners were putting together their magical 116-win fever dream of a season, no Seattle fan could have envisioned what was to unfold over the next two decades, but here the Mariners were in 2022, carrying the longest active playoff drought in North American sports at 21 years. The franchise had gone […]

“Things just kept happening, unexpected things, rare things, exciting things, dramatic things,” wrote John Wilson of the Houston Chronicle after the Astros doubleheader split with the visiting San Diego Padres that involved everything from dramatic home runs, controversial plays at home plate, and game-interrupting disputes to stellar defensive plays and even occasionally good pitching.1 “It […]

As October 1915 approached in the nation’s capital, 20,000 Civil War veterans were marching through Washington city streets as veterans and residents alike reflected upon events from 50 years earlier.1 Across the city, the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics were nearly finished with their disappointing 1915 seasons. The fourth-place Senators (81-65) were 18½ games behind […]

In the 1870s it was Hartford, not New York, that was Boston’s biggest diamond rival. As with the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry of recent vintage, a dislike existed between the Hartford and Boston clubs and charges of buying the pennant were alleged against each. The pinnacle of this rivalry occurred on May 18, 1875, when the […]

While much mystery surrounds the life and career of the first Puerto Rican to play major-league baseball, there’s no question that Hiram “Hi” Bithorn’s entrance into the big leagues raised his island’s self-esteem as well as opened the door for future Puerto Rican baseball players to realize their dreams, too. With the passage of time, […]

The 18-year-old righty dubbed 1925’s “sensation of the [New York-Pennsylvania L]eague”1 seemingly appeared from nowhere. Advanced to the Eastern League four years later, the youngster known as Dick Oliver was “ranked as one of the pitching mainstays of the [Albany Senators]”2 and a bright future beckoned. The problem was that no such pitcher existed. Hints […]

Josefa Antonia Nepomucena Pascuala Estrada’s grandson played for six major-league teams from 1907 through 1917. Her son Manuel Adolfo Wolter was a stable keeper in Monterey, California. He married Lucretia “Lucy” Little and the two had seven children – Charles, Mary Mamie, Lucy Eleanor, Manuel, Milton John, Grace, and Harry. Their youngest, Harry Meiggs Wolter, […]

Perhaps it is Brad Lidge’s fate to be best remembered for two sliders. The first, in 2005, hung over the plate and resulted in an Albert Pujols blast that decided an NLCS game. The second, in 2008, tailed away from Eric Hinske and clinched a world championship. Yet Lidge’s big-game résumé stretches well beyond these […]

Jimmy Ripple battled injuries and struggled with his weight. Doubters said he didn’t have enough power to make it as an outfielder. But his career — just seven major-league seasons, three of them partial — was packed with a disproportionate number of highlights. He led teams on dramatic late-season charges, sparkled in three World Series, […]

How do you work through tragedy? Billy Gilbert, a man often praised for his work ethic,1 likely dealt with it by getting back to what he knew best: putting his nose to the grindstone in the familiar routine of baseball. On April 23, 1904, in front of one of the largest crowds at the Polo […]

Philadelphia A’s star left-hander and future Hall of Famer Eddie Plank had scattered five hits and had not allowed a run as the Boston Braves batted in the top of the ninth in Game Two of the 1914 World Series. Unfortunately for Plank and his mates, Braves starter Bill James was pitching just as well. […]

Throwing sinkerballs with his right-handed, three-quarters delivery, John Flinn pitched a dozen seasons of professional baseball, but only 42 games in the majors. As a big-leaguer, Flinn won five, lost two, posted a respectable 4.17 ERA and held Hall of Fame members to only two hits in 23 at-bats (Carlton Fisk notched both). But it […]

In 1949 left-handed hurler Alexander Raymond Kellner joined his namesake, Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander, among others with a 20-win campaign in his freshman season. The next year Kellner joined a smaller community, losing 20 games in his sophomore year. Through 2015, only 15 pitchers (11 from the 19th century) have won 20 games […]

A utility player is one capable of playing several different positions. Often utility players are not great hitters, yet they are valuable in their ability to fill in for injured regulars, give others in the lineup a much-needed rest, serve as late-inning defensive replacements, and occasionally pinch-hit. In short, they provide teams with a greater […]

Dick Hughes had a memorable rookie season in the big leagues in 1967. He led the world champion St. Louis Cardinals with 16 wins, while losing just 6 and posting a 2.67 ERA. At age 29, Hughes was runner-up to Tom Seaver for 1967 National League Rookie of the Year honors. The bespectacled right-hander, who […]

Charles Richard “Charlie” Maxwell, the popular outfielder of the Tigers from 1955 to 1962, often called “Paw Paw” by fans, writers, and broadcasters, was one of Detroit’s best power hitters. A lefthanded batter who averaged .264 lifetime, Charlie hit 148 home runs and batted in 532 runs in a major league career lasting from 1950 […]

He was equally as adept at coordinating pitchers and throwing out baserunners as he was as a leader and strategist in the dugout. However, Alfonso Ramon Lopez chose to credit his supporting cast of players for his successes rather than himself. Much like his mentor Casey Stengel, Lopez knew that he could not have won […]

Roy Partee’s career as a scout rivaled that of his career as a catcher. He caught for the Boston Red Sox for five seasons, 1943-48, and he scouted (mostly for the Mets) for more than a quarter of a century. He also managed in the minor leagues and helped win World War II. Partee was […]

Best known as the host of the 1960 television series, Home Run Derby, Mark Scott’s career encompassed acting, serving as a television broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds in 1956, and five-seasons (1952-55; 1957) as the radio play-by-play voice of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. Scott was born Samuel Marks Solomon on February […]

Bruno Betzel had a $7,000 contract to manage the Montreal Royals in 1945. He saw only about $3,000 in take-home pay, though. Dissatisfied with the situation, he resigned. At the baseball convention in Columbus, Ohio, he was offered a managerial job for $6,000. As he pondered that offer, he met Carl Hubbell, who offered him […]

He was a hardnosed player whose blue-collar work ethic maximized his talent and inspired his teammates. His red hair and true grit made him the most recognizable Blue Jay as their starting third baseman for nearly four years. Josh Donaldson? No, Roy Howell, whose career included stops with the Texas Rangers and the Milwaukee Brewers […]

\Baseball aficionados know that trades, sales, and waivers are a part of the game. The general manager of the 1951 Chicago White Sox was Frank Lane, who earned the nickname Trader Lane for his propensity to exchange players. His attitude must have filtered down through the organization because minor-league director John Rigney engineered a trade […]

Over a span of 17 years, catcher Harry Chozen played in 1,696 games in the minor leagues and one game in the majors. A lifetime .287 hitter, he had a 49-game hitting streak with Mobile in the Southern Association in 1945 that has been equaled or surpassed by only five of the thousands of players […]

In the 1930s and 1940s famed New York City restaurateur Toots Shor hosted many of the greats of sports and show business. But in the winter of 1947 Shor’s attention focused on a baseball prospect little known outside the environs of New York – Larry Miggins. Informed that the St. Louis Cardinals had snatched the […]