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In his April 27, 2014, major-league debut, righty Scott Carroll tied the Chicago White Sox record for the longest initial outing by one of its pitchers: 7⅓ innings, last established by Gerry Janeski in 1970. After a dubious start to his major-league career – four hits and a hit-by-pitch to his first six batters – […]

Played out before the empty seats of Washington’s Griffith and D.C. Stadiums in the early 1960s, the “breath-takingly impressive”1 launch of Ken Retzer’s career was nearly “invisible to the [national sports]writers … [to the point that he was] mistakenly identified as Dick Retzer” in a Sporting News article about the rich crop class of rookie […]

Mike Derrick made the major leagues in 1970, the culmination of a dream he had pursued since he was a young boy growing up in the area of Columbia, South Carolina. A first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder in the minor leagues, his first 14 appearances in the big leagues were as a pinch-hitter for […]

On November 29, 1971, the Cleveland Indians dealt pitcher Sam McDowell to the San Francisco Giants. Sudden Sam had struck out more than 2,000 batters in his 11 years with the Indians, but his career spiraled downward in 1971, when he posted a 13-17 record with a 3.40 ERA. His 192 strikeouts were his fewest […]

Pitcher Chet Kehn (pronounced keen) appeared in just three games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in April and May 1942. He got no decisions and posted a 7.04 ERA. Yet he holds a distinctive position in baseball annals, being one of just 10 big leaguers to hit 1.000 in a career of more than one at-bat.1 […]

Robert Cannon came to love baseball as a boy growing up in Milwaukee. His father, Ray Cannon, represented several of the accused Black Sox in salary disputes and took Charles Comiskey to court in 1924 on behalf of Joe Jackson. Ray Cannon also fought on behalf of all the players as head of a short-lived […]

Fred “Bones” Ely did not become an everyday starter in the major leagues until he was 30 years old, but then he spent nearly a decade as one of the game’s top defensive shortstops. He gained lasting fame, however, for losing his job with the Pittsburgh Pirates to one of the greatest players in baseball […]

Arguably one of the slowest runners in baseball, Edward Frank Burtschy earned the nickname “Molasses Shoe,” or “Moe” for short. The bulky 6’3”, 208-pound hurler may have tarried on the base path but the hard throwing righty, in the vernacular, could bring it. The problem was where. Blessed with a blazing fastball and cursed that […]

College baseball coach Bobby Sprowl’s teams have won more than 1,000 games in the course of a career that’s run 30 years and counting. He’s also run a successful baseball camp for the past 25 years. The left-handed pitcher was a second-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 1977 and made it to […]

A diminutive lefty who was one of baseball’s biggest stars of the rollicking 1890s, Wee Willie Keeler continued to “hit ’em where they ain’t” through the first decade of the Deadball Era. The tiny (5-feet-4½-inches, 140 pounds) right fielder’s career covered 19 big-league campaigns, and in 13 of them – every year from 1894 to 1906 […]

Those Americans who grew up in the Great Depression, went to fight in World War II, returned home, and went to work bringing the country back to life are now called, thanks to Tom Brokaw, the “Greatest Generation.” Such a man was James Bartholomew Prendergast — who also happened to play professional baseball. He worked […]

Jeff Bajenaru achieved the dream of every little boy who has ever played baseball seriously – he made the big leagues. And while his time in the majors was short, derailed by injuries, he not only achieved the ultimate prize – being a part of a World Series champion – but he used his playing […]

A big man with a famous scowl and a name that felt ripped from a James Bond film, Mo Vaughn was a hulking 6-foot-1, 225-pound lefty hitter whose frame dangled over home plate. Baseballs seemed to disintegrate on impact when he exploded out of his crouched stance, extending one arm to the sky on his […]

On August 6, 1912, Bill Hunter made his major-league debut as a ninth-inning pinch-hitter for the Cleveland Naps. Tasked with facing Boston’s Smoky Joe Wood, then in the midst of a celebrated (34-5/1.91 ERA/258 strikeouts) season, Hunter promptly struck out. Onlookers sympathized, with the Cleveland Leader observing, “There’s no disgrace in that. Better hitters than […]

During the Deadball Era, luck and persistence were nearly as important as talent in determining the ultimate success of a young player. In The Glory of Their Times, Al Bridwell spoke about the breaks that helped him reach the major leagues. Others of more modest talent reached the major leagues through persistence. Dale Porter’s career […]

Overshadowed on the diamond by the antics and accomplishments of his younger brother Patsy, George Tebeau was little more than a journeyman late-nineteenth century outfielder-first baseman. The lasting impression that he made on the game came only after his playing days were behind him. For almost two decades, George was arguably the most powerful force […]

Every great city has its own great bar. Elizabethan London had the Mermaid Tavern. Paris has its Deux Magots. In New York City in the 1950s, there was no shortage of options, but for sports fans there was only one choice: Toots Shor’s. Initially located at 51 East 51st Street, across the street from Radio […]

It was April 30, 1957. In his first five innings in the majors, catcher Tom Patton did the following: Threw out one future Hall of Famer (Larry Doby) trying to steal; Exchanged rundown throws with a second Cooperstown-bound player (George Kell) to catch a third (Luis Aparicio); and Reached base against a perennial All-Star (Billy […]

Determined to make the major leagues since he was a young boy, Jim Umbricht paid his way to a minor-league tryout camp and, after making the team, was converted from shortstop to pitcher. After he returned from serving two years in the military, Umbricht worked his way up to the majors and then spent three […]

An intelligent player whom both teammates and opponents respected, 29-year-old first baseman Dick Hoblitzell opened the 1918 season as the Red Sox’ captain and cleanup hitter, but an early-season slump and his June induction into the Army Dental Corps marked an inglorious end to an otherwise distinguished 11-year career in the major leagues. Though he […]

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the December 2020 edition of the SABR Black Sox Scandal Committee Newsletter.   “Cook County what crimes are committed in thy name” — Ernest Hemingway, letter to a friend, August 1921 Things were looking good for aspiring author Ernest Hemingway in the summer of 1921. He had […]

“I can’t be concerned with the fans,” Astros manager Art Howe said after a 1-0 victory in extra innings over the Cincinnati Reds. “I have to worry about [Darryl] Kile’s arm.”1 Howe had received an earful from the 10,869 in the Astrodome when public-address announcer J. Fred Duckett told them Kile had been lifted for […]

1952 Globe Printing Dave Hoskins baseball card   Entering the 1952 season, the Texas League had never seen a player like Dave Hoskins, neither in talent nor complexion. Like Jackie Robinson five years earlier, Hoskins was an experiment. Dallas Eagles owner Richard Burnett wanted a Black man on his team.1 As evidenced by the 200 […]