Search Results

From 1902 through 1911, Walter Schlichter owned the Philadelphia Giants, the finest African American team of the era. Schlichter was white, the Philadelphia Item’s sporting editor, and had previously managed boxers, not ballplayers. Yet with Sol White he formed a persevering, successful partnership. Competition, alignment with more powerful forces, an ill-advised secondary baseball venture, and finally a break […]

Jesse Jefferson’s nine-year career spent with five teams is best remembered for his being one of the original 1977 Blue Jays. Despite an overall 39-81 won-lost mark, the right-hander holds Toronto’s franchise record for hurling the most innings (12) in a complete game. When he defeated Oakland’s Mike Norris, 1-0, in 11 innings on May […]

If charted, the seven-season American Association career of shortstop Frank Fennelly would present an intriguing picture: a slightly above-average baseline with peaks of circuit-best and valleys of circuit-worst performance. When he broke into the major leagues in 1884, Fennelly had a live bat. His .311 batting average placed him in the AA’s top ten. The […]

When he made his debut in a mid-August 1923 game against the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago left-hander Paul Castner secured a line for himself in the record book of the national pastime. That entry, however, would be a slender one, as Castner made only five more big-league appearances before abandoning the game at the close of […]

Sometimes nice guys finish first. Chuck Tanner, an eternal optimist who was known as baseball’s Mr. Sunshine, managed the Pittsburgh Pirates to a World Series title in 1979. He won more than 1,350 games as a manager of four teams between 1970 and 1988. Tanner also played for eight years in the majors, with the […]

Until his fateful involvement in the plot to fix a World Series, Fred McMullin was known as the Chicago White Sox’ “lucky man.”1 His addition to the starting lineup coincided with late-season surges to win the American League pennant in 1917 and 1919. Today he is mostly thought of as the “forgotten man” – in […]

If somebody claimed that a person could simultaneously throw three baseballs with one hand accurately to three different catchers, or, with one hand could throw two balls, one a curve and one a fastball, accurately to two catchers, it would sound too weird to be believed. How about a claim that a person, suspended upside […]

There have been 36 major leaguers nicknamed Cy, and only one of them had the first name Cyrus (Cy Malis). There were three Cyrils and one Ceylon. The most notable Cy was, of course, Cy Young – and there were four Cy Youngs, though the actual first names of the four Cy Youngs were Denton, […]

He was known as “The Tall Tactician” and was baseball’s grand old gentleman for more than a generation. Statuesque, stately, and slim, he clutched a rolled-up scorecard as he sat or stood ramrod straight in the dugout, attired in a business suit rather than a uniform, a derby or bowler in place of a baseball […]

Joe Battin, a 19th-century infielder, manager and umpire, was 5’ 10” tall, weighed 169 pounds, and possessed an irrepressible personality – popular but scrappy at times. A right-hander, he took pride in two accomplishments: being the highest paid player of his era and (at least by his own account) assisting Connie Mack with his start […]

Over the years, the Boston Red Sox have featured a number of philosophers or other intellectuals among their ranks. They’ve had Aristotle, Archimedes, Beckett, Cicero, Dante, Darwin, Emerson, Euclides, Godwin, Jonson, Hobson, Pascal, and Webster.1 They also had someone who might have been confused with Friedrich Nietzsche, the author of Beyond Good and Evil: an […]

Known for his white-blond hair, Silver King emerged as a star in his rookie season, winning 32 games and helping the St. Louis Browns to the 1887 American Association pennant. He recorded at least 30 victories in his first four big-league seasons, including a league-best 45 in 1888, at a time when the pitching distance […]

From 1978 through 1990, the Atlanta Braves were one of the worst teams in the National League, despite a surprise first-place finish in the NL West Division in 1982 followed by two consecutive seasons with a second-place finish. Within this 13-year span, the Braves finished in sixth (last) place for six seasons, fifth place in […]

Holler “Holy Cow!” in the Eastern United States and people might think of Phil Rizzuto, the New York Yankees’ shortstop-turned-broadcaster, while a cry of “Holy Cow!” in Chicago brings Harry Caray to mind. In the Upper Midwest, though, “Holy Cow!” remains synonymous with Halsey Hall, who, if not the first to use the expression on […]

Throughout baseball history, careers have often been defined by a specific play or events. Joe DiMaggio is recalled for his 56-game hitting streak; Willie Mays for his catch in the 1954 World Series. Likewise, players can be maligned for ineptitude, real or perceived. Fred Merkle’s race-altering baserunning gaffe in 1908 and Bill Buckner’s inability to […]

From left, Sid Mercer of the New York Journal, Al Spink of The Sporting News, and G.W. Axelson of the Chicago Herald. (Photograph by Charles Martin Conlon of the Chicago Herald.)   The irony is clear to anyone who gives it even the slightest thought. At the time that baseball was entering the public consciousness […]

A roly-poly right-hander with a corkscrew motion, Víctor Cruz pitched parts of five seasons for the Blue Jays, Indians, Pirates and Rangers between 1978 and 1983. In his native Dominican Republic, Cruz was known as “El Policía” (The Policeman) for his ability to impose order on opposing hitters. The side-arming reliever saved 37 games in […]

Steve Braun was a semi-regular third baseman and outfielder with the Minnesota Twins from 1971 to 1976. His steady bat and ability to reach base kept him in the lineup more often than not. He was drafted by the expansion Seattle Mariners for the team’s inaugural season, traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1978, […]

A weak-armed washout from two other American League teams, catcher Ira Thomas was purchased by Connie Mack prior to the 1909 season. Thomas immediately prospered with Philadelphia’s “inside” game, and was the Athletics’ primary backstop as they captured World Series victories in 1910 and 1911. He then transitioned to coaching and team captaincy as his […]

For the third straight year, the New York Yankees were not headed to the postseason. According to Jim McCulley of New York’s Daily News, the 1946 Yankees (82-65) were “stoically situated in third place and going no place else.”1 The Philadelphia Athletics (49-97) were finishing in last place for the second consecutive campaign (and sixth […]

Willie Mays hit 20 home runs and won NL Rookie of the Year honors in 1951. Promoted May 24, he batted .274 with 68 RBIs for New York. (1951 Bowman card, courtesy of Topps)   If you begin your National League career going hitless in three road games, you may as well go for broke and […]

The final game of the 1983 Eastern League season completed one chapter in New England baseball history, while serving notice that an exciting new chapter was poised to begin. The story that was ending belonged to the Lynn (Massachusetts) Pirates, Pittsburgh’s Double-A affiliate. The Pirates were successors to the Lynn Sailors, who were created in […]

Over its first five decades, the Kansas City Royals have had only three ownership regimes. Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Ewing Kauffman landed the Royals expansion franchise for the 1969 season and believed that the team could and should be competitive in a previously unprecedented time frame. He was willing to innovate and spend to boost the Royals […]

Located about 15 miles west across the Hudson River from midtown Manhattan, Bloomfield is an older, mostly blue-collar New Jersey town with a rich athletic tradition. To continue this heritage, the municipality maintains more than a dozen greenswards suitable for the play of outdoor sports. One of these is Felton Field, a small, tidy playground […]