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Thanks to Giacomo Girolamo’s lecherous lifestyle, “Casanova” has become shorthand for a lothario prone to incorrigible womanizing. The term, however, literally translates “new house” or “new home” in Italian. This meaning is much more adequate for Raúl Casanova, whose 21-year professional career included stints with nearly 30 teams in the major, minor, Puerto Rican, Dominican, […]

It took a special type of athlete to play for Chicago American Giants manger Rube Foster. He liked to engage in small ball and built his teams around speed and bunting. He wanted only smart competitors on his team. Foster was known to say, “If you haven’t got intelligence enough to fit into this play, […]

Juan Bell’s big league career began under daunting circumstances. The younger brother of an MVP, he was traded for one future Hall of Famer and expected to dislodge another from his position. Bell battled those expectations — and more than one teammate — over seven seasons (1989-1995) with five teams in the majors, but the […]

Foghorn Bradley1 joined the Boston Red Stockings near the end of 1876, the first year of the National League’s existence. Boston was desperate for pitching. Bradley pitched decently, but Boston deemed him expendable at the end of the season. He never made it back to the major leagues as a player, but Bradley had a […]

Kenneth Smith Harrelson was born on September 4, 1941, in Woodruff, South Carolina. In the sixth grade, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he and his older sister would grow up. Harrelson was the youngest child of a single mother, Jessie, who was his biggest supporter, closest confidante, and best friend. Jessie worked hard to […]

The 1923 World Series was tied at two games apiece as the venue moved to Yankee Stadium. The New York Giants were attempting to make it three world championships in a row, the first two at the expense of their neighbors from the Bronx. Perhaps a change of scenery was the medicine the New York […]

Until Rickey Henderson donned New York Yankee pinstripes in 1985, Fritz Maisel’s 74 stolen bases had been the franchise’s single-season record for 71 years. The diminutive Maisel, nicknamed “The Catonsville Flash” for his Maryland hometown, spent all or parts of six seasons (1913-1918) with the Yankees and St. Louis Browns. For 57 years he was […]

Ken Suarez, one of the “can’t-miss” catching prospects of the 1960s and a member of the Rangers’ inaugural squad in 1972, took a roundabout trip to arrive at his Arlington destination. Kenneth Raymond Suarez was born on April 12, 1943, in Tampa, Florida, the son of Joseph R. and Gladys M. (Wadsworth) Suarez, who married […]

Left-handed pitcher Joe Price worked 11 seasons in major league baseball, the first seven of them with the Cincinnati Reds. He appeared in 372 games, starting 84 and closing 84. He relieved in 288 games, winning 45 big league games overall and posting a 3.65 earned run average. Joseph Walter Price was born in Inglewood, […]

Bill “Wee Willie” Sherdel was a durable, rubber-armed starter and reliever who frustrated batters with a mesmerizing slowball during his 15-year big-league career from 1918 through 1932, most notably with the St. Louis Cardinals. Described by a contemporary as “one of the great left-handers” in baseball, Sherdel’s career is defined by a seven-year stretch (1922-1928) […]

At the end of the 1972 season, rookie pitcher Steve Lawson’s stat line looked very promising. The Texas Rangers’ left-hander pitched 16 innings in 13 games, struck out 13, and had an ERA of 2.81. Not bad for a 21-year-old on a last-place team. Unfortunately, fate didn’t smile on Lawson and those numbers would remain […]

In 1922, pitcher Karl Schnell became the first graduate of Palo Alto High – a school with several notable alumni in athletics1 – to make it to the majors in baseball. The son of German immigrants had starred in college for the Saint Mary’s Phoenix ball club. Playing with and against future Hall of Famers, […]

If you were going to make a movie of the life of Claude Alfred Thomas, you’d ask Gary Cooper to play the lead. The lanky cowboy actor and the 6’1″ left-handed pitcher bear a striking resemblance in their photographs. Lefty was a professional pitcher for most of 16 seasons, appearing in 644 games, a remarkable […]

John Kieran stands among the legends of baseball writing with his J.G. Taylor Spink Award and place of honor in the Scribes and Mikemen exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame.1 But baseball and even the broader realm of writing sports per se occupied only a part of Kieran’s career as a newspaperman, and he […]

One wouldn’t expect a ballplayer standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 175 pounds to be fleet of foot, but Harry Niles was known as a speedster on the basepaths and a fielder who covered a lot of territory. He also had a couple of famous roommates during his time in baseball – Branch Rickey and Joe McCarthy. […]

Hall of Famer Red Ruffing’s career is a reminder that you can’t judge a pitcher by his wins and losses. The right-hander lost more than 20 games twice while pitching for the last-place Red Sox and won at least 20 for four straight years with the World Series champion Yankees. Charles Herbert Ruffing was born […]

“Versatility will keep me in the game a long time,” said Eddie Jurak in 1983.1 Indeed, Jurak was a true utility player. Primarily a shortstop, he appeared at every position as a professional save pitcher and catcher. Spring training 1984 summed up his job approach. He carried four different gloves with him, one suited for […]

Over four seasons with a Chicago Cubs club that finished no better than fourth and was once dead last, Tony Kaufmann was a reliable starter and occasional reliever. During that stretch, 1923-1926, the righthander had a 52-41 record with a 3.68 ERA. But it was a turbulent 1927 season that shaped the rest of his […]

Every team goes through it in every season. Untimely injuries test an athlete’s mettle as well as a club’s depth of personnel. Pitchers are hampered by a torn rotator cuff and sore shoulders, as well as the dreaded elbow maladies that may result in Tommy John surgery. Of course, position players are not immune to […]

“Hometown boy makes good” is a classic trope of film, fiction, and sports pages. The dirty-faced boy from the sandlots grows up to be the star of the local nine, the surrogate son or brother, buddy or boyfriend of every fan. When the hometown boy fails to make good — or good enough — the […]

Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Spring 2017. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: The SABR Bookshelf, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. An e-book file will also suffice; please send the e-book in PDF, EPUB […]

For decades, baseball had been played in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on an island in the Susquehanna River known as City Island, until the ballpark there was destroyed by the Flood of 1936.1 Island Park reopened on May 16, 1940, to great fanfare as the minor-league Harrisburg Senators hosted the Wilmington (Delaware) Blue Rocks. It was fitting […]

“He is one batter who always knows what he is doing up at the plate and why.”1 — Tommy Henrich   Johnny Mize, Hall of Fame first baseman, could hit a baseball and he wrote about it in How to Hit.2 The 1953 book, co-authored with Murray Kaufman, is an easy read for those of […]

The Rangers’ May 17 game against the Royals in Kansas City was their 11th consecutive road game and the eighth in eight days. The team was already fatigued from their travels, as was evidenced by their four-game losing streak, and had not planned on playing the equivalent of a doubleheader on this evening, but they […]