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The 1985 World Series featured two franchises and teams that had each enjoyed a great deal of success, one over a very lengthy time span and the other over a relatively short one. The St. Louis Cardinals were one of the flagship franchises of the National League. They’d just finished their 104th season with the […]

It was the 10th game of the 2013 season, with the Tampa Bay Rays (4-5) visiting Fenway Park to play the Boston Red Sox (5-4) on a Saturday afternoon. Friday’s series opener had been rained out, turning a scheduled four-game series into a three-game set. In a battle of left-handers, the starting pitcher for manager […]

There wasn’t a lot on the line when the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers met on August 24, 1973, at Cleveland Stadium. The Rangers had relocated from Washington ­a season earlier and were in the midst of one of what journalist Mike Shropshire, who covered the team for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, referred to in […]

The Blue Jays entered Game Six of the 1992 ALCS just one win away from winning their first-ever playoff series and advancing to the first World Series in Canadian history. The team had 10 consecutive winning seasons, winning the American League East in 1985, 1989, and 1991, but had always fallen short in the playoffs. […]

In the summer of 1993, the American League’s West Division was a competitive race between the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners. On July 25, the divisional leaders had emerged:   Team Wins Losses Percent Games Behind Chicago 52 45 .536 — Kansas City 50 47 .515 2.0 Texas 49 […]

Patriots Day commemorates the Revolutionary War Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Massachusetts and a handful of other states recognize it as a holiday on the third Monday in April. Greater Boston celebrates Patriots Day with several annual events.1 In Lexington, there is a parade and reenactment of the first skirmish on […]

The 1893 season for the Boston Beaneaters began in a mediocre manner, but after 20 games the team’s wins consistently outnumbered its losses. By the time of the summer solstice, the team was battling for the lead in the National League. A road trip begun in late June achieved only mixed results through most of […]

Hugh Duffy strode to home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. His Bostons trailed 12-11 but Bobby Lowe stood on third and Herman Long was on second after his clutch double. It was another roller-coaster thrill ride for the 2,100 fans in attendance but this was special, as it would be the last […]

Bunker Hill Day, commemorating the Revolutionary War battle, arrived in Boston on Monday, June 18, 1894. For those in search of sporting entertainment as the calendar crept toward the first day of summer, two National League contenders would play a morning-afternoon doubleheader at the Congress Street Grounds. The host Boston Beaneaters, winners of the previous […]

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was the geographic center of Boston Red Sox catcher Howie Storie’s life. He was born in the Western Massachusetts city, grew up there, worked there after baseball, died there, and is buried there. He played six games for the Red Sox in 1931 and six in 1932. That was it, Storie’s major-league career. […]

Brad Woodall was a left-handed pitcher who pitched in five major-league seasons. He played for the Atlanta Braves (1994-1996), the Milwaukee Brewers (1998), and the Chicago Cubs (1999). Woodall made 55 career appearances, 27 as a starter and 28 as a reliever. For his career, Woodall posted a 10-14 record with a 5.31 ERA. He […]

Praised for his outfield defense and savvy base running skills, Matty McIntyre was the starting left fielder and leadoff hitter on two Detroit Tiger pennant winning teams. Although a broken ankle in 1907 somewhat diminished his defensive abilities, McIntyre was still able to contribute with the bat upon his return and was considered to be […]

Catcher Bill Moore played in five games near the end of the 1926 Boston Red Sox season and 44 games in 1927. It was an era of last-place finishes for the Red Sox. They were 46-107 in 1925 and 51-103 in 1926. Last-place finishes were nothing new for Bill Moore. Not a lot is known […]

A few years ago, baseball fans were amazed by the story of Jim Morris, a thirty-something father of three who arrived at a tryout camp with a baby carriage, lit up the radar gun and subsequently made his major league debut at age 35. The story was so quirkily implausible that a book deal and […]

“Centerfielder George Orme Scores Three Runs Without Time at Bat and Sends Bay City Home Crazy” – so read the headline in the Flint Journal of June 30, 1919. Orme had begun his professional baseball career in 1912 and was about halfway through his tenure when he played for the Flint Halligans in 1919. He […]

Kenneth Lowther Ash pitched in the minor leagues from 1924 to 1940 with trips to the majors for 49 games over four seasons. He compiled a none-too-impressive major league record of six wins against eight losses with a 4.96 ERA, mostly with Cincinnati between 1928 and 1930. As a minor league pitcher he notched over […]

Though his reign as one of the National League’s top pitchers was short-lived, Howie Camnitz was the undisputed ace of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff during their World Championship season of 1909. That season Camnitz, a right-handed curveball specialist, tied for the NL lead in winning percentage (25-6, .806) and ranked fourth in ERA (1.62). […]

The son of a carpenter, Jim Henry appeared set for life as a textile worker in the cotton mill in Danville, Virginia. James Francis Henry was born there on June 26, 1910. His parents were James E. and Blanche Henry, both native Virginians. He was one of at least four children – Phyllis first, then […]

He was perhaps named after one of the German emperors named Friedrich Wilhelm, or after German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Frederick William Muller was born on December 21, 1907, a son of German immigrants George and Mary Muller. George Muller worked as a laborer in a varnish factory at the time of the 1920 US […]

Frank Elmer Smith, known during his playing days as the “Piano Mover” because he used to boast that he could “carry a baby grand up four flights of stairs without a rest,” was a mainstay of the Chicago White Sox pitching staff between 1904 and 1909, winning 104 games for the club during that span. […]

Several years before his younger brother Stanley embarked on a Hall of Fame career, Harry Coveleski established the family name as the “Giant Killer” who, as an unheralded rookie with the Philadelphia Phillies, defeated the New York Giants three times in five days to deny John McGraw‘s squad the 1908 NL pennant. A few years […]

Dentist – baseball catcher – dentist. It was an unusual career path for Louis Legett of New Orleans. Louis Alfred Legett was born on June 1, 1901. His father, Albert Legett, worked as a clerk of court in New Orleans. The family – his mother Rosetta (Gingham), older brothers Albert Jr. and Benjamin, and younger […]

Ken Hogan, whose first game as a professional came in the major leagues, but who played in only three more games thereafter, was probably the fastest, most instinctive outfielder ever to roam the amateur and semipro ballfields of Cleveland. He drew raves for his ability to cover ground in center field. The Cincinnati Post said, […]

The first thing one notices when looking at the statistical record of left-handed pitcher Rudy Sommers is the 11-year gap between big-league appearances. And if you don’t count the Federal League as a major league, there were 13 years between stints in the majors. Sommers began with the Cubs in 1912 (just one game), then […]