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Following a promising rookie year in 1989, pitcher Kevin Ritz found his career on shaky ground after struggling with extreme control problems for the Detroit Tigers over his next couple of seasons. This was exacerbated by a serious elbow injury suffered at the end of his tenure in Detroit that sidelined him for a full […]

His prep school coach almost kicked the youngster off the team, saying he was too hardheaded to ever make it as a ballplayer. The coach was wrong. Dutch Ruether had a long and successful career in professional baseball. He had a number of things in common with his future roommate, Babe Ruth, and outperformed the […]

Many people can go through an entire life without a lifelong friend and even if they have one, at some point they will be separated for many years. The friendship of Jim Frey and Don Zimmer not only has endured for many decades since childhood, but the two spent the bulk of their friendship in […]

Texan lefthander Cliff Hill overcame family tragedy to become a stalwart minor league starter from the late 1910s into the early 1920s. He once won 14 straight games, as well as a 20-inning complete game. Hill pitched in one game in the major leagues, for the cellar-dwelling Philadelphia A’s of 1917. Clifford Joseph Hill was […]

“If you can’t get fundamentals down for Hal Lanier, you cannot play for Hal Lanier,” declared the native Floridian about his managerial philosophy, nearly a half-century since his professional baseball début in 1961.1 Lanier’s emphasis on the foundations of baseball characterized his longevity as a helmsman and, for 10 seasons, a major league ballplayer. To […]

Alex Remneas, mistakenly considered by some to be the first Montanan to make the big leagues, was born in Minneapolis before moving to Watson Township, Montana (Great Falls), as a baby.1 After three career games with the 1912 Detroit Tigers and 1915 St. Louis Browns that amounted to 7.2 innings pitched, the “Iron Duke” returned […]

Daryl Irvine worked in 41 major-league games for the Boston Red Sox in the years 1990-1992. He was a right-handed reliever pursued by both the Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays before signing with Boston. He won four games and lost five in his work in the big leagues. Irvine came from Grottoes, Virginia, […]

In May 1951, a brief Associated Press dispatch noted the death of old-time left-handed pitcher Ezra Lincoln. Curiously left unmentioned was anything about the deceased’s playing days. Rather, the dispatch focused on his mid-season release by the 1890 Cleveland Spiders, which opened up the roster spot that the club then allotted to a baseball immortal […]

“One of the most durable and dependable catchers in the Negro Leagues era, Larry ‘Iron Man’ Brown was a master behind the plate, yielding a quick release and an arm to be envied.”1 Brown never pulled his mask off for a pop fly. Never staggered under foul balls like other catchers. Brown described the art […]

Eddie Yost was a slick-fielding, high-on-base-percentage third baseman, an athlete who continued to make his name at the hot corner after his playing days were over, as the third base coach for the Washington Senators, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox. Known as “The Walking Man” for his propensity at getting bases on balls, […]

Despite not having the longest of careers and being only slightly above average in talent, James Joseph “General” Stafford made more of his baseball-playing mileage than almost any other player who played mostly in the nineteenth century. He loved being on the field and kept at it no matter the number of times he was […]

Gene Garber parlayed a unique wind-up and delivery and an effective sinker into a 19-year career as a major-league reliever. Though he never pitched in the World Series or made an All-Star team, the righty used perseverance and an agrarian work ethic to overcome various setbacks and become one of the best among the first […]

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 […]

He was always Johnny Tobin in St. Louis but is listed in standard reference sources as Jack, which he was occasionally called on the road. Contemporary news coverage and players who knew him invariably called him Johnny. Tobin played his first 11 seasons in the major leagues for hometown teams – first the Federal League’s […]

Gifted with intellect, musical acumen, and athletic ability, Deadball Era pitcher Eddie Higgins deferred a life in dentistry for the opportunity to play professional baseball. Though he pitched in just 18 big-league games in 1909 and 1910, and he was just 22 when he made his final appearance at the top level, he enjoyed an […]

In 1889 the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a human-interest story about Yank Robinson’s entry into professional baseball. The story centers on a “stickily-built lad of about 18 years whose ragged clothing caused much unfavorable comment.” He had just come to an unspecified Massachusetts town that day and asked to be part of practice as the town […]

Was the Federal League of 1914 and 1915 a major league? If you answer “yes” to this question, Art Queisser was a major-league umpire, by virtue of having worked a four-game FL series between the St. Louis Terriers and Kansas City Packers from September 2 through 4, 1914. Queisser’s stint as an umpire capped his […]

Phil McCullough remembered sitting in sleet and freezing rain in the Washington Senators’ bullpen in Griffith Stadium on April 22, 1942. “It was just a terrible day. We tore up chairs and benches and furniture to make a fire in the bullpen to keep warm. It was so cold.”1 The sturdy (six-foot-four, 204 pounds), curly-haired […]

A big-league career is often a product of fate, luck, and timing.  Bob Keely would attest to that.  In 1944 the St. Louis Cardinals signed the 34-year-old sandlot star as a third-string catcher. Six months later, Keely was a world champion. Keely was originally signed by the Redbirds in 1936, but a knee injury ended […]

Best known today as the field manager of the Providence team of the National League that won the inaugural World Series championship in 1884, Frank Bancroft was better known among his contemporaries as a highly proficient businessman. He was “one of the game’s first great promoters,” using his showmanship skills to produce profits for small-market […]

Possessing Hollywood-good looks and a keen sense of humor, Jim Pagliaroni was a beloved teammate and fan favorite who knew how to work a room. “Pag is a 6-4 stack of happiness … [who] seems to have been born with a gift of laughter. He refuses to take either himself or baseball seriously … [and […]

A hit that wasn’t a hit turned an exciting, but hardly unique, pitchers’ duel into baseball history. The scene was Chicago’s South Side Park; the opponents were two Players League teams, the Chicago Pirates and Ward’s Wonders of Brooklyn. Played before a crowd estimated at between 4,000 and 4,500, the game was the first of […]

By the numbers, Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield’s start against the White Sox on June 10, 1996, looks like one of the worst games of his 19-season career. On a foggy night, Wakefield yielded a career-high 16 hits, along with eight runs, as Chicago steamrolled the struggling Red Sox 8-2 before a crowd of […]