Search Results

The two bottom-dwellers of the fledgling Federal League took to Gordon and Koppel Field for a midweek clash. Combined, Pittsburgh (3-11) and Kansas City (7-10) had 10 wins, the same number the league-leading Baltimore Terrapins owned (10-4) and one fewer than the second-place St. Louis Terriers (11-6). The visiting Rebels, who had replaced their manager, […]

The Chicago Cubs overcame two ejections and the first-place New York Mets in the opener of a five-game series at Wrigley Field on August 4, 1986. Dennis Eckersley earned his second win over the Mets in six days and Ron Cey drove in two key runs, leading the Cubs to a 4-2 victory. After surging […]

On the morning of September 4, 1935, longtime Chicago Tribune sportswriter Irving Vaughan wrote an article examining the National League pennant race, specifically, how the Cubs’ prospects looked going into the final weeks of the season.1 From his perspective, the odds did not appear promising for the Wrigley Field squad. Chicago was in third place, […]

The year was 1901, the inaugural season of the new American League. The sixth-place Philadelphia Athletics visited the top-spot Boston Americans on a Wednesday afternoon game at the Huntington Avenue Grounds. Boston was riding a seven-game win streak and since June 4 had won an amazing 25 of 29 contests. On the other hand, the […]

After losing the Syracuse, Rochester, and Toledo franchises to the American Association, the International Association opened its 1890 season with only six teams. Five were holdovers from the previous year: Detroit and Buffalo in the US; and Toronto, London, and Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. One was a new Michigan franchise, the humorously named Saginaw-Bay City […]

For teams already eliminated from a pennant race, the last game of a season typically means very little. In many of these instances, managers, players, and umpires might be more concerned about bringing the final game to a swift end to facilitate an expedited trip back to their offseason homes. For bench players and untested […]

The 1934 All-Star Game is remembered for the performance of New York Giants southpaw Carl Hubbell, who struck out five players in a row who are now in the Hall of Fame. Less remembered is the outstanding outing of Cleveland’s Mel Harder, who entered a mess in the fifth inning and went the rest of […]

“If the wheels come off, it’s better they come off all at once” — Giants manager Dusty Baker.1 “A lot of balls were not hit very well, just grounders and balls in the gap. The balls managed to get through.” — Expos manager Felipe Alou.2   Scoring was the name of this game, as about […]

St. Louis had won nine straight games from July 23 to July 29, 1944, and looked to win nine in a row again going into an August 20 doubleheader opener against the visitors from Boston. Although star outfielder Stan Musial “had gone hitless in his last ten times at bat[,]”1 the Cardinals had continued to […]

The Chicago Cubs were clinging to a slim lead atop the National League standings in July 1915 when they hosted the Cincinnati Reds in a two-day, four-game series. Two sets of doubleheaders had been scheduled on consecutive days. The two teams had met the previous week in Cincinnati, where they had faced off for five […]

St. Louis had won nine straight games from July 23 to July 29, 1944, and looked to win nine in a row again going into an August 20 doubleheader opener against the visitors from Boston. Although star outfielder Stan Musial “had gone hitless in his last ten times at bat[,]”1 the Cardinals had continued to […]

According to a well-worn tale, the National League’s Washington Senators held their first-ever Ladies’ Day on September 13, 1897. Thousands of women took advantage of the free admission simply to watch the dashingly handsome 23-year-old Win Mercer pitch. But the day turned ugly when Mercer was ejected by the umpire. After the game, hordes of […]

In the first inning of a National League contest on August 8, 1877, Louisville Grays leadoff batter George “Jumbo” Latham fouled off an offering from St. Louis Brown Stockings pitcher Joe Blong. The ball struck catcher John Clapp on the left side of his face.1 His cheekbone was smashed and feared broken, Clapp left the […]

Members and guests of SABR’s Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter assembled on November 1, 2023, at the Florida State University Baseball Complex, Tallahassee, Florida, for a very special meeting. In attendance were: Matt Keelean, President Matt Hudson, Vice President Renee Watters. Communications Co-Director Brent Kallestad, Communications Co-Director Rick Swain, Treasurer Kent Putnam, Secretary Frank Alarcon Susan […]

On Monday, June 15, 2020, 45 members of Houston’s Larry Dierker Chapter joined in their third Zoom meeting. Chair Bob Dorrill noted that we have 14 new members and 25 of our members live outside of Texas. Credit for much of our member growth can be attributed to the social media presence developed by member […]

On August 29, 2015, a party of 11 Smoky Joe Wood Chapter members watched as Rock Cats Stadium hosted the final night game in New Britain Rock Cats history. It was the penultimate home contest of the 20th and last season of the (AA) Eastern League team at this ballpark. The pregame marketing was all […]

James Creighton was the greatest pitcher of his day. Famous principally for his exploits on behalf of the champion Excelsiors of Brooklyn in the years 1860 to 1862, he possessed an unprecedented combination of speed, spin, and command that virtually defined the position for all those who followed. Prior to Creighton, pitchers had been constrained […]

With a professional playing career that spanned 1987 to 2003, Bill Haselman spent 13 major-league seasons as a backup catcher for four different teams. He first reached the majors in 1990 with the Texas Rangers, a team he had three stints with, and appeared in a career-high 77 games in 1996 with the Red Sox. […]

In all of Major League Baseball history, 119 players originated in the “Tree Planters’ State”1 of Nebraska. Charlie Abbey was the first, arriving during “the mauve decade”2 of the 1890s. Abbey doggedly zig-zagged his way through the loosely knit minor leagues with uneven progression. He was an anomaly as a lefty second baseman early on […]

Patience and power made Ken Singleton one of baseball’s premier switch-hitters. After beginning his 15-year career (1970-1984) with the Mets and Expos, he was a three-time All-Star right fielder for the Orioles and the designated hitter for Baltimore’s 1983 World Series champions. After retiring, Singleton became a popular Yankees broadcaster. Kenneth Wayne Singleton was born […]

The one year he ventured to the East Coast to play, Charlie Graham suffered through one of the worst seasons any Boston baseball team has ever experienced. Graham spent the rest of his lifelong baseball career in the West, and transitioned from player to manager to become a very prominent and successful team owner. Charles […]

Once a coveted young left-handed pitching prospect, Eddie Eayrs was nearly 30 when he finally received some regular major league playing time with the 1920 Boston Braves. Always a good contact hitter, Eayrs promptly capitalized on outfield assignments accorded him by manager George Stallings, and by season’s end he led Braves batsmen in batting average […]

As he had done many times in recent years, Jimmie Foxx chose to spend the afternoon of July 21, 1967, with his younger brother, Sam. The two men lived close by one another in Miami, and often got together to reminisce about the elder Foxx’s legendary baseball career, in which he slugged 534 home runs, […]

An ownership history for Boston’s Players League franchise (1890) and American Association franchise (1891). Competing against the firmly entrenched Boston ballclub in the National League, the Boston Brotherhood/Reds club won consecutive championships, in the Players’ League in 1890 and in the American Association in 1891. The club disbanded when it was bought out in the […]