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It was hard work to be a catcher in the Deadball Era. Equipment was not fully developed. The shin guard was a new addition to the tools of ignorance. Ironman catchers like the Giants’ Chief Meyers were few. The Portland Beavers had the ironman of the PCL in Gus Fisher, who spent 8 seasons (1909-10, […]

There have been many famous husband-wife teams who shared a career, each partner making contributions to their success. George Burns and Gracie Allen. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Johnny Cash and June Carter. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Isis and Osiris and the six wives of King Henry VIII to name a few. In a male-dominated […]

Bob Harvey was a menacing hitter, who reliably anchored right field for the Newark, Houston, and New Orleans Eagles from 1943 to 1951. Harvey was a large man, who stood 6-feet tall and weighed 220 pounds but was a capable fielder and possessed a deadly throwing arm.1 He threw right-handed but was a left-handed hitter, […]

Curt Gowdy was the Cowboy behind the mike. Ned Martin quoted Ted Williams and Eudora Welty. Ken Coleman meant the Jimmy Fund. Bob Starr had a gentle lummox William Bendix kind of charm. In evaluating the Red Sox during the mid-to late 20th century, all helped baseball bewitch. Ken Harrelson was the Red Sox’ Southern-fried […]

Since major-league baseball began, no player has ever enjoyed a debut to match Ted Cox’s. In every one of his first six at-bats, he got a base hit. Other players have made a hit in their first time at bat. Some of the greatest hitters of all time took a long time to get established. […]

Here is one of the most moving, human-interest stories in the entire history of the game—a story that exemplifies the spirit of baseball and America . . . It is the . . . dramatic story of the skinny, under-nourished, weak-visioned kid, the son of a poor immigrant family, a product of New York’s tough […]

“(Jim) Hardin is one of those pitchers who doesn’t have an overpowering fastball or an outstanding breaking pitch. But his physical ability is of major-league caliber, make no mistake about it, and he’s the type who squeezes every ounce out of what he has.”1 Jim Hardin began his baseball life as a catcher, but made […]

Pete Gallagher, born in 1860 as Pete Galligan, played one game for the Washington Nationals in 1886, filling in because Jack Farrell was too sick to play. Pulled from the Chicago Whitings of the amateur Chicago City League, he made one hit and scored a run in five at bats that day, and never played […]

Handsome, well educated, and a gifted athlete, pitcher Carl Lundgren led a life blessed with good fortune. He was born into a prosperous, stable household in northern Illinois and raised in comfortable circumstance. Initially as a schoolboy, and thereafter at the University of Illinois, Carl excelled both in the classroom and on the playing field. […]

It would have been fun to see Gene Brabender wrestle with Frank Howard: “a polar bear versus a grizzly,” suggested his old teammate, Jim Bouton. At 6 feet, 5 1/2 inches and 225 to 240 pounds, “Bender” gave away roughly two inches and 30-40 pounds to “Hondo.” Yet the big man from Black Earth, Wisconsin, […]

George Pfister spent 56 years in Organized Baseball. However, he played just once in the majors, with the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers. It came on September 27, in the second to last game of the NL pennant-winners’ season. Pfister, then 23 years old, came in for the last five innings – but there was just one […]

“The Washington public went enthusiastically, almost insanely, baseball mad” on the day of Hack Eibel’s debut. So wrote the Washington Post.  This happened when “Clark Griffith’s ambitious climbers batted the ‘13’ hoodoo all to pieces.”[1]  It was the 13th of the month of June and the Nationals had 13 hits, adding another win to a 13-game winning […]

Standing at 6-feet-1 and weighing only 165 pounds during his playing days, Rafael Santana may not have been a big man but he played big for the New York Mets when they needed him to. Santana did not carry a big bat but he fielded his shortstop position with flair at times. Some of Santana’s […]

The Mick Each scout is typically associated with his top signee, that marquee player no one else took note of but him. For Tom Greenwade that player was Mickey Mantle. How the two became forever linked has been retold many times, but the most accurate recollection can be found in an October 1952 letter from […]

On his third tryout in the spring of 1910, right-handed pitcher Frank Lange finally made the roster of the Chicago White Sox. With Lange just coming off a 29-win season for the Des Moines Boosters of the Class A Western League, White Sox management held high hopes for him. And on occasion Lange would validate […]

Spin rate and rotation are buzz words of 21st century pitching, but they were just as important in the 19th century. Left-hander Toad Ramsey, who began his career in 1885, was renowned for the motion on his drop ball. “Toad Ramsey, beyond all doubt, had a patented drop ball rotating faster than any other, and this […]

Jim Gantner played 17 years in the big leagues, all with the Milwaukee Brewers. In many ways, he was considered the “heart and soul” of the 1982 Brewers, bringing a competitive spirit and hard-nosed approach to the game. The image of Gantner and Charlie Moore embracing each other at home plate in County Stadium after […]

“Toronto will forever hold a special place in my heart. The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude.” — Roy Halladay’s closing statement in his farewell letter to the Toronto fans in December 2009 “My father took me to meet him and we set up lessons. He never took any money. It […]

Two-time Gold Glove winner Mike Matheny began 2004 as the St. Louis Cardinals’ starting catcher,1 his role since the 2000 season. He started 42 of the Cardinals’ first 52 games in 2004 but strained a muscle in his right side on June 2 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.2 The Cardinals placed the 33-year-old Matheny on the […]

Florida Marlins closer Ugueth Urbina, right, and catcher Ivan Rodriguez celebrate winning the National League pennant on October 15, 2003, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (MLB.COM)   The Chicago Cubs had not won a World Series since 1908 and their last appearance was 1945. They upset the Atlanta Braves in the division series, their first postseason-series […]

Ulysses S. Grant said, “I know of no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.”1 His sentiment rang true in major-league baseball after the American Association and National League repealed rules that limited pitching motions in the midst of the 1885 season. The change unleashed pitch […]

From its beginnings in the 1880s, the franchise now known as the Los Angeles Dodgers has provided a parade of well-known players and managers, 23 pennant winners, and six World Series victories. Off the field, it has been associated with some of the most recognized front-office talent in the game’s history. Names such as Charles […]

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in SABR’s “Unions to Royals: The Story of Professional Baseball in Kansas City,” the 1996 SABR convention journal. For a multimedia history of SABR conventions, click here. Long forgotten by most Kansas Citians, the 1915 Federal League gave the city its first real major-league pennant race, and still it […]