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Among the classic baseball records, Ty Cobb’s 4,191 hits and Babe Ruth’s 714 home runs have fallen, but Cy Young’s 511 victories remain ingrained in the pantheon. And yet, many modern-day fans have shed their fascination with pitchers’ wins, understanding that the sport is a team-wide effort, rather than an individual competition. However, when a […]

William Orange Forman, who pitched briefly for Washington in 1909 and 1910, was born on October 10, 1886, in Venango, Pennsylvania, the youngest of William (Billy) and Almira (Myra) Forman’s three children. The elder Forman came to northwestern Pennsylvania during its oil rush, and made a living drilling wells and refining their product. Young Will […]

For decades, professional baseball players surnamed Weaver were routinely dubbed Buck by the sporting press. The game’s two most prominent Buck Weavers – the Black Sox third baseman and the late-19th-century outfielder also called Farmer Weaver – are already the subject of excellent BioProject portraits. The following is a biography of a lesser-known Buck Weaver, […]

Ramón Hernández pitched in 337 big league contests, but he was born in the wrong age. His relatively short nine-season career in the majors (1967-68; 1971-1977) could have been extended had he started playing in the 1990s, when specialized bullpen roles had become more commonplace. Modern strategists would have likely found a way to maximize […]

After postponing his wedding when he was unexpectedly called up to the Boston Red Sox in June of 1967, Ken Poulsen collected one base hit in five at-bats during his brief two-week major-league career. That lone base hit by Poulsen was witnessed by the author, then 13 years old, who was at Fenway Park that […]

John Shea’s parents came to the United States from Ireland and met in the Boston area. John J. Shea immigrated in 1890 and his future wife, Bridget Kearney, did so in 1894, marrying John shortly afterward. They had five children—Annie, Mary, James, John, and Roger. John J. Shea worked as a letter carrier for the […]

The caption beneath Bill Bergen’s image in a 1908 issue of The Sporting News stated that he “ranks with the best receivers in modern baseball. He is an intelligent student of the points of a batsman, a true and fast thrower and is without a peer in judging and capturing foul flies.” Alas, if the […]

The Boston Red Sox have fielded four Bakers over the course of their history: Al, Floyd, Jack, and Tracy. Tracy Baker appeared in one game in 1911. Floyd Baker got into 102 games in 1953 and 1954. Jack appeared in 14 games, an even dozen in 1976 and two in 1977. Right-handed pitcher Al Baker […]

Around the beginning of the 20th century, there was a fair amount of metal being polished around Montague, in western Massachusetts, by Nolan Maynard. He’s listed in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 US censuses as a steel polisher or a metal polisher in a machine shop. Nolan and his wife, Eva, were both New Englanders […]

Left-handed pitcher Duane Wilson was born during the Depression in Wichita, Kansas, and made it to the major leagues, albeit only briefly, facing 34 batters over two games in July 1958. Duane Lewis Wilson was born on June 29, 1934, the son of Lewis and Bessie Wilson, their fourth child. Lewis worked as an automobile […]

As the Cincinnati Reds hosted the San Diego Padres in a Thursday afternoon matinee, the two teams’ seasons were heading in opposite directions. The Reds were entrenched in first place in the National League Central Division. The Reds had taken over first place on July 13 and won the division championship before losing in the […]

While playing for the Oakland A’s in 1976, Reggie Jackson once commented that if he played in New York, they would name a candy bar after him.1 Jackson must have been prescient because that is exactly what happened, and that confectionery treat would make a big contribution to the dramatic lore of Yankee Stadium. A […]

On June 15, 2000, the Seattle Mariners played the first of a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins, in Minneapolis at the Metrodome. They entered the game having won four of six games on their road trip and were a half-game behind first-place Oakland in the competitive American League West Division. For the Mariners, this […]

In June of 1954, Phillies fans had a good idea of what they were going to see when Robin Roberts was on the mound. Although Roberts and his remaining Whiz Kids teammates had been unable to repeat their team success in the years after 1950, Roberts was at the top of his game individually. Between […]

Before the Yankees-Athletics doubleheader on September 27, 1919, New York pitcher Bob Shawkey had won 20 games in a season once. In 1916, his first full season with the Yankees, the man known as Sailor won a league-leading 24 games. Shawkey was 24-14 and retrospectively had a league-leading eight saves. Entering the doubleheader, the third-place […]

Bert Blyleven was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 1969 free-agent Draft (number 55 overall)1 as an 18-year-old graduate of Santiago High School in Garden Grove, California. Born in the Netherlands (April 6, 1951), the right-hander advanced quickly through the minor leagues, making his debut as a 19-year-old on June […]

It was the next-to-last game of the 1947 season, played on a Saturday afternoon in Washington. The Senators were in seventh place and neither a win nor a loss would alter their place in the American League standings, but the Red Sox were in third place and just one game behind the Detroit Tigers. They […]

After having been traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Cincinnati Reds in late May 1952 and making nine appearances in June with disappointing results, Bubba Church was looking for a positive turnaround in his season. He needed a good outing to boost his confidence. With two fine seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies under his […]

This was a battle between two ballclubs that both played deep into the postseason in 2003. In June the Florida Marlins faced the Boston Red Sox for three interleague games. The Marlins were in fourth place in the NL East, already 12 games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Red Sox were second in the AL […]

If a team’s success is attributed to how many world championships it has won, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies would be on even ground since 1995. As of 2018, each club had raised the Commissioner’s Trophy exactly once. The Braves won the whole enchilada in ’95, and the Phillies in 2008.  Atlanta by far […]

Except for World Series appearances in 1973 and 1979, John Milner’s career was relatively quiet. However, he seemed to have a propensity for hitting grand slams, collecting a total of 10 during his 12-year career (tied for 64th on the all-time list). One of those slams occurred on June 26, 1976, when he helped the […]

The moment had been coming for a while. No one wanted it to arrive, but when it did, it became much more about the man who had done so much for the game, than the game itself. It became official back in June, when Cal Ripken Jr. announced he would retire from professional baseball at […]

The Baltimore Orioles were beginning their 11th season since relocating from St. Louis before the 1954 season. Because the Orioles inherited the Browns players, maturing into a competitive club after so many down years in St. Louis had been a slow process. This was not going to be an overnight success story. Not by any […]

John McGraw, the third baseman-manager of the Baltimore Orioles, led a team that included future Hall of Famers Wilbert Robinson, Roger Bresnahan, and Joe McGinnity as well as himself. Also a member of the team was Turkey Mike Donlin. Donlin got his nickname because of his strutting walk and red neck.1 Donlin had played for […]