Search Results

His teammates nicknamed him “Innocent Fred.” Was he really innocent? Fred Waterman’s behavior didn’t seem all that innocent, but maybe he was an innocent participant in others’ machinations. Boss Tweed put him on the New York City payroll although he did no work for the city. Asa Brainard took him cavorting on the streets of […]

During right-hander Lerrin LaGrow’s final year in the majors, he quipped “Hillerich & Bradsby” when asked to identify his toughest opposing hitter.1 By naming the company that manufactures Louisville Sluggers, he perhaps inadvertently referenced the moment for which he’s arguably most remembered – being the target of Bert Campaneris’s thrown bat during the 1972 AL […]

One of the more obscure players in Red Sox history, Eusebio Gonzalez was the first foreign-born Latino to play for the Bosox. Eusebio Miguel Gonzalez Lopez was born in Havana, Cuba on July 13, 1892. Batting right and throwing right, he was an infielder listed as 5’10” with a playing weight of 165 pounds. Gonzalez […]

The Washington Senators were losing badly Tuesday afternoon, September 13, 1921, against the St. Louis Browns. The spitball delivery of Urban Shocker had restricted the Senators to one run on six hits through eight innings. With the score a lopsided 14-1 as the top of the ninth rolled around, the Washington fans had become aggravated, […]

In the New York State League, he came to be known as “Bill Ging with the Wonderful Wing.” William Joseph “Bill” Ging was born in Elmira, New York, on November 7, 1872, the second son of Lawrence and Mary Ging. Lawrence was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1860 before marrying […]

“Frank Killen is certainly a natural born pitcher,” opined sportswriter John M. Roche in Sporting Life in 1892 as the burly 6-foot-1, 200-pound southpaw was preparing for his first full season in the big leagues. “He is well built, young and possessed of all the attributes which go to make up a winning pitcher.”1 That […]

If his only claim to fame had been giving a young pitching prospect named James Bell his nickname, “Cool Papa,” he would have perhaps been the answer to a baseball history trivia question. Had his sole contribution to the story of the game been that of teaching a young Satchel Paige how to throw what […]

While appearing in only 176 major-league games over six seasons, George McConnell split his time among three leagues (American, Federal, and National) and between two positions requiring different skill sets (first base and pitcher). McConnell’s versatility hampered his development, because he could not focus on pitching until after he had passed his athletic peak. A […]

“Ben was a fine hitter. He could have starred on any team in the major [leagues] except the Yankees. He wound up playing behind Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel in the Yankee outfield.” — Hall of Famer Joe Sewell[i] One wonders what might have become of a player like Benjamin Edwin Paschal had he actually […]

Righthander George Stueland won more than 20 games in each of his first two professional seasons in Class D. The Chicago Cubs took notice and brought him to the major leagues at age 22, where he was tutored by teammate Grover Cleveland Alexander. Ahead of the 1922 season, his manager, Bill Killefer, said, “he [Stueland] […]

Martin Flaherty was a major-league owner, player, and umpire during the 1880s – sort of. Mostly, he was a fan. For six innings in 1881, he played outfield as an emergency substitute for the Worcesters, a National League team he partly owned. The following season he umpired a single game: the Worcesters’ final nine innings […]

The four up-and-coming hurlers pictured on card #621 of the 1975 Topps set (1975 Rookie Pitchers) combined for 1,067 major-league appearances. Jim Kern pitched in 416 games, Rawly Eastwick in 326, John Denny in 325, and Juan Veintidos in zero. To collectors, Veintidos remains a mystery face, a “phantom,” one of that limited fraternity of […]

“We’re a relentless, resilient bunch of guys. Today we were down, but we never thought we were out. We stayed in the fight, and guess what — we won the fight.” — Dave Martinez1 Resilience. A contemporary baseball dictionary might define the word as the toughness to overcome a 19-31 record through April and part […]

The 1961 major-league season was barely three weeks old the day 29-year-old Willie Mays produced perhaps the greatest offensive performance of his legendary career. Led by Mays, the San Francisco Giants came to Milwaukee for a three-game series with the hometown Braves. Just a year away from the World Series, the Giants were a team […]

In 2013, eight Boston Red Sox players stopped shaving during the season as a show of team unity. “It’s a bonding element,” manager John Farrell said of his team, which was headed to a World Series title. “You have to have ways to have fun sometimes. It takes the focus off the daily grind.”1 More […]

Mike Corkins is one of many ballplayers with reason to dislike Jim Bouton’s Ball Four — not because it captured his personal indiscretions, but because it chronicled his professional failings. In his entry for September 8, 1969, Bouton summarized Corkins’ unfortunate major-league debut for San Diego against Houston, in which the rookie yielded two triples […]

A promotional poster advertising the September 4, 1916 matchup between Mordecai Brown and Christy Mathewson. This game would be the last of 24 times in which the two future Hall of Famer pitchers would face each other. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   “Great Masters Are Through.”1 On September 4, 1916, famed pitching foes […]

After they were thumped 10-2 by the New York Giants on June 1, 1903, it seemed unlikely that the Pittsburgh Pirates would go on to win their third consecutive National League pennant. Since May 1, Pittsburgh hurlers had surrendered an uncharacteristic 5.2 runs per game, dropping the Pirates into third place, 4½ games behind the […]

“Doesn’t matter if he throws a no-hitter, he’s going back down.” That’s what Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona said when right-hander Clay Buchholz was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket for his major-league debut, a spot start on August 17, 2007, three days after turning 23.1 Buchholz pitched well in that game, allowing three runs […]

Opening Day in 1921 for the Negro National League was a momentous occasion. These were not just Opening Days: these were the first games of the league’s second season. The NNL had survived its first season. And like another league that launched in 1920 — the American Professional Football Association, eventually known as the National […]

More than a decade after the 2005 World Series win, the White Sox play their crosstown rival Cubs on a warm July 25 night in 2016. The Sox went on to win 5-4. (Courtesy of the Chicago White Sox)   The saying “To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in […]

The November 19, 2012, monthly roundtable of the Bob Broeg St. Louis SABR Chapter drew 21 people to the usual location, the Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis. The membership engaged in a lively discussion of a research topic, “Speeding Up the Game,” presented by members Mark Antonacci and Jim Rygelski. The presenters emphasized […]

The Larry Dierker Chapter gathered again for its monthly meeting on Monday, May 16, 2022, continuing in its hybrid format.  A total of 30 SABR members enjoyed a very interesting program. Click here to watch a replay of this meeting on YouTube. President Joe Thompson recapped the April 16 chapter event at Constellation Field.  Twenty-eight […]

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in SABR’s “The National Pastime,” Vol. 6, No. 1, Winter 1987. To read more from the TNP archives, click here. Cincinnati Reds GM Larry MacPhail and manager Chuck Dressen watch a spring training game in the mid-1930s. (AUTHOR’S COLLECTION)   Just over fifty years ago, on March 5, 1936, […]