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Hidden in obscurity after his death more than 130 years ago, A.J. “Jud” Birchall was the starting left fielder and leadoff hitter of the 1883 American Association champion Athletic Club of Philadelphia. A local schoolboy who grew up in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, Birchall had a three-year major-league career with the Athletics that culminated with one […]

Which New York Yankees player had the highest batting average in 1964? Mickey Mantle hit .303 and Elston Howard .313 – but nobody topped Elvio Jiménez’s .333 mark. “Look it up,” he said.1 Despite batting .309 over 13 seasons in the minors, however, Jiménez appeared in just one major-league game, going 2-for-6. Following a 17-year […]

Signed by Boston Red Sox scout Milt Bolling, Mike O’Berry was, by the start of his second year, “considered the best receiver in the organization.”1 The Red Sox catcher at the time was three-time All-Star Carlton Fisk. O’Berry was not a high draft pick. He had been selected in the 22nd round of the June 1975 draft out […]

On October 28, 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals prepared to play Game Seven of the World Series against the Texas Rangers at Busch Stadium. The organization asked Whitey Herzog, the manager of the last Cardinals team to play a World Series Game Seven at home, to throw the ceremonial first pitch. He had fallen ill, […]

“That McKinnis is one of the best pitchers I have ever seen,” said future Hall of Famer Alex Pompez, owner of the New York Cubans, in mid-1943. Pompez had experience dating back to 1916, and the Hall of Fame describes him as an “adroit talent evaluator.”1 Therefore, his was high praise indeed for 29-year-old lefty […]

The small town of Gridley, California, was established five years after the Civil War. It would become known for its agriculture, eventually becoming the “Kiwi Capital of the United States.” The Northern California community would also be successful in growing such other crops as peaches, plums that would become prunes, rice and walnuts. Gridley became […]

Commissioner Ford C. Frick presided over 14 of the most turbulent years in the game’s history: the first franchise moves in half a century, expansion of the major leagues, the near-death of the minors, growing unrest among players, the rise of television, and the exploding popularity of football. With change swirling around him, Frick often […]

James Edward O’Neill, the original “Tip,” was one of the most extraordinary Canadian batsmen in the history of baseball. He was born on May 15, 1860, in the village of Springfield, Ontario, the second eldest of four sons and three daughters of Irish Canadian innkeepers James and Mary O’Neill (nee Jeffrey).1 His parents owned the […]

The cover photo on the Sunday magazine insert of the June 29, 1958, edition of the Columbus (Ohio) Citizen was of a young boy wearing a Little League baseball uniform gazing admiringly at an older, bespectacled gentleman who was squatting, a baseball bat in hand. As the accompanying article explained, the man in the photo […]

Handicapped by attitude and injury problems, Deadball Era outfielder Guy Zinn never achieved the success predicted for him. Nevertheless, his time in the game was not without modest distinction. On Opening Day 1912, New York Highlander Zinn became the first major-league player to enter the batter’s box; the first to reach base; and the first […]

Few individuals in the history of baseball can boast of a career to rival that of Clark Griffith’s. In terms of duration, as a player, manager, and executive, it was one of the longest ever, spanning nearly 70 years. Griffith is the only man in major league history to serve as player, manager, and owner […]

Best known as the player who Cleveland would not trade for the young Ty Cobb or as the man who won the American League batting title with the lowest average prior to 1968, Elmer Flick was more than just an answer to a trivia question. An underrated Hall of Famer whose on-the-field accomplishments are nearly […]

The 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates were one of the greatest teams in baseball history; during the season’s last weekend, they were on the verge of completing the season with an exclamation point. In the midst of a three-year reign atop the National League, the Pirates handily won the 1901 NL pennant with a 90-49 record, the […]