Search Results

Russ Ford’s rookie season of 1910 was one for the ages. The New York Highlanders’ right-hander took the American League by storm, tossing five shutouts in his first 10 major-league starts. He earned his 11th victory of the season on July 14 by outpitching Cy Young, denying the 43-year-old Young his 500th career victory. In […]

The Cincinnati Reds had endured a rough winter. Confessions of game-fixing tarnished their long-coveted championship. Three key players were holdouts. A beloved team executive passed away. But the slings and arrows of baseball’s fortune could not diminish Cincinnati’s celebration of Opening Day. As a record crowd overflowed Redland Field, the Reds opened 1921 by surging […]

One of the more exciting days on the baseball calendar is the trade deadline on July 31.1 Networks and sports talk shows fuel the speculation and rumor mill about who could be on the move. Team officials must determine if their club is a pretender or a contender, a buyer or a seller. With the […]

The 1943 baseball season was winding down and the long ride was pulling into the station. If the season opener is magical and full of hope, then the season finale is a time for farewells and reflection. Throughout the 1943 season, rosters were in a constant state of shuffle and the future of subsequent seasons […]

After Ted Williams belted three home runs in a game for the first time, in the opening game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians on July 14, 1946, Tribe manager Lou Boudreau instituted his famous infield shift in the second game to defend against the left-handed hitter. The second and last time the Splendid […]

Standing only 5-feet-9 and weighing about 165 pounds, Cincinnati Reds hurler Red Lucas might not have given the impression that he was one of the most durable pitchers of his generation. The Nashville Narcissus, so called because of his vanity, belied his physical stature to complete almost 79 percent of his starts (151 of 191) […]

Philadelphia native John “Cub” Stricker began his baseball career amid the amateur ranks as a teenager in 1878. Five years later he was the starting second baseman of his hometown Athletics. And on October 1, 1883, the 5-foot-3, 138-pound Stricker paraded around a euphoric Philadelphia with his teammates; the Athletics were champions of the American […]

When a ballplayer leads the league in multiple offensive categories for only one season, it may be said that he had a “career year.” This term may take on even more significance if the player never comes close to duplicating the statistics he put up in his magical season. One might suggest that Ken Williams […]

Amos Booth started his professional baseball career with the Cincinnati Red Stockings.1 No, not the undefeated touring team from 1869, but the tragically inept 9-56 squad from 1876. Booth was the jack-of-all-trades for Cincinnati. He opened the season as a highly-regarded third baseman, but saw as much action at catcher and shortstop as he did […]

Words cannot contain Mike Burke. A man of boundless courage and matchless charm, by the time he became president of the New York Yankees in 1966, he had already fought the Nazis with the French Resistance, tried to overthrow communist governments for the CIA, served as the model for a movie spy, and run the […]

A typical Al Orth pitch was once described in a poem by W.A. Phelon as a “glistening ball… but little speed, and scarce a curve at all.” During his 15-year major league career, “The Curveless Wonder” won 204 games, yet struck out just 948 batters in more than 3,300 innings pitched. The burly six foot, […]

Hans Lobert’s game was built around speed. Aside from 1912, when an injury caused him to miss more than half the season, the stocky, bowlegged third baseman stole 30 or more bases each year from 1907 to 1914. At a field day in Cincinnati on October 12, 1910, Lobert rounded the bases in 13.8 seconds, […]

Merrill Combs was a graduate of the famed Fremont High School of Los Angeles, which has sent 25 players to the major leagues. He was one of three big leaguers named Combs, including Hall of Famer Earle Combs and pitcher Pat Combs.1 Merrill Combs was an infielder who played shortstop and third base, and three […]

University of Tennessee football and baseball star Hunter “Dodo” Lane darted in and out of professional ball in less than 24 months, yet still ascended to the major leagues. The infielder became a “one-hit wonder” with a 1-for-15 performance for the 1924 Boston Braves, before opening a successful politically-involved law practice in the Memphis area. […]

Samuel B. Sager may just be the most tantalizing man to have played in the first major-league season of 1871. He left a vivid enough impression to be pegged with two nicknames and to figure prominently in Cap Anson’s memoirs. Yet even the most basic biographical information has eluded generations of researchers, until a group […]

He was a star pitcher, one who not only threw a no-hitter — against none other than Rube Foster’s 1915 Chicago American Giants1 — but also tossed a four-hit complete game against the 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates. He was, for parts of two decades, a manager who is credited with at least 196 career wins. He […]

The Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in American professional sports. Through 2025, more than 2,000 players had worn a Phillies uniform, but few left as indelible a mark as Darren “Dutch” Daulton. Phillies lifer John Vukovich declared, “I played with better players. I’ve coached better players. But in 32 years I […]

The 1969 Miracle New York Mets will always have a special place in baseball lore. Not only are the Amazin’ Mets remembered for their stunning upset over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles, but also in the way in which they won, with some of most remarkable defense and pitching ever displayed in World Series history. […]

Today we would call Sherry Magee a five-tool player: he could hit, run, field, throw, and hit with power. For more than a decade he was the Philadelphia Phillies’ clean-up hitter and greatest offensive star, setting the all-time team record in stolen bases (387) and ranking among the top ten in almost every other category. […]

The New York Yankees of 1946 had many of the same stars who made them the dominant team of the pre-World War II years, but they finished in third place, seventeen games behind the Boston Red Sox, under three different managers. After the season, Bucky Harris, an experienced and well-traveled skipper, was brought in to […]

“Red Murray was for years noted as one of the greatest outfielders in the National League,” wrote J.C. Kofoed in the April 1924 issue of Baseball Magazine. “His throwing arm was the best ever, his ground covering ability and sureness of eye were classic. Furthermore, he was remarkably fast as a base runner, and noted […]

San Francisco is known for its stunning views and iconic attractions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, curvy Lombard Street, colorful Victorian homes, the Palace of Fine Arts, and Coit Tower. In 2000, another landmark joined the roster – a ballpark right on San Francisco Bay. Oracle Park’s address is well-known in the Bay […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Baseball’s Biggest Blowout Games” (2020), edited by Bill Nowlin.   There are a number of blowout games in the Negro Leagues. Alan Cohen drew my attention to one such blowout. He wrote: “On May 31, 1943, the Homestead Grays defeated the Baltimore Elite Giants 17-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, […]

With the weather turning crisp in October of 1916, sports fans across North America were looking forward to the World Series. There had been great pennant races in both leagues, and the upcoming battle between Brooklyn and the Boston Red Sox looked like a good one. Though Toronto was still more than sixty years away […]