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Venezuela versus Puerto Rico appeared to be the most compelling matchup in the opening round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic’s Pool D in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico.1 The rosters of both teams included established major leaguers, All-Stars, and even potential Hall of Famers. Managed by Omar Vizquel, Venezuela had Salvador […]

Almost 90 games into the 1890 season, the National League had a tight pennant race on its hands. On August 5, the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Beaneaters were both within two games of the leader, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, and the Cincinnati Reds were in fourth place, six games back. At the other end of the […]

In the 1890s, Paterson, New Jersey, was a thriving city of 100,000 people. It was known as the Silk City, because its mills produced large quantities of the fashionable fabric. Its minor-league baseball team was nicknamed the Silk Weavers. In the spring of 1896, co-owners Ed Barrow and Charles McKee entered the team in the […]

It was just past the midpoint of the 1901 season.1 Pittsburgh had been in first place in the National League since June 11. At the close of play on July 22, the Pirates held a slim, two-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals. The next day, Pittsburgh began a three-game series against the seventh-place Cincinnati […]

The Minnesota Twins (92-60) were ready to party. All that stood between them and clinching the American League West title was one win over the second-place Oakland A’s, who were 8½ games back at 84-69. Given the standings and the Monday night game, perhaps it wasn’t surprising that only 4,284 fans were in attendance. Starting […]

Of the nine game-winning homers Ted Williams hit in his rookie year, three were hit in Cleveland, all in a 45-day span. The Cleveland Indians had two home fields in the late 1930s — the smaller League Park and (for larger games, such as weekend affairs) the larger-capacity Cleveland Stadium. Williams had homered at Cleveland […]

Go to any ballgame and you might see something you’ve never seen before. This 1996 game lived up to that promise and more. The Texas Rangers were off to the second best start in team history at 10-4, putting them a game behind Seattle in the AL West. On Thursday night the Rangers players and […]

Sandlot sages suggest that April games mean little in the context of long baseball seasons. Campaigns resemble marathons more than sprints. But an early game can matter a great deal if an injury strikes a critical player. Such a game took place in 2014 when the home catcher had a career-best day at the dish […]

“I was surprised (manager Herman Franks) called on me, but I would do it again, if needed. My best pitch was the home run ball.” – Cubs first baseman-outfielder Larry Biittner after yielding three homers in his major-league pitching debut.1   In the first game of a Fourth of July doubleheader at Wrigley Field that […]

The New York Giants were once again in their familiar position of first place in the National League. John McGraw’s bunch were a dynasty in the early 1920s, winning back-to-back World Series titles against their crosstown rival New York Yankees in 1921 and 1922. In 1923 they saw the Yankees finally have the upper hand […]

The New York Mets trailed the Washington Nationals in the National League East for the entire month of July in 2015. When the Mets were down by two games as the trade deadline approached at the end of the month, they made several deals to improve the team in hopes of catching the Nationals over […]

The game was the shortest official game in Boston Red Sox history, albeit a scoreless tie. It lasted only 50 minutes, called after five innings because of rain. It was just the fourth game of the new season. Fans probably weren’t expecting much; the Red Sox had finished in last place five of the previous […]

William Rumler and Eddie Plank roomed together when the 1917 St. Louis Browns traveled for road games.1 It seems like an odd pairing. Rumler was 26 years old, nearly anonymous, and a bench warmer; Plank was 41, well known to sports fans across the country, and – although past his prime – one of the […]

The 1950 season still stands out in Red Sox history as the season in which they scored more runs than any other – in the 154-game season, they scored 1,027 runs. Another Boston team – the 1894 National League Boston Beaneaters – still holds the major-league record, with 1,220 runs scored. The 1931 New York […]

The potent Red Sox lineup of 1940 hadn’t been enough to overcome their own weak pitching. In between four second-place finishes (1938-39 and 1941-42), the Red Sox were mired in fifth place when the team began its final homestand on September 26. At the plate, the Red Sox were the equal of the first-place Tigers, […]

With four games left in the 2000 season, the only role available to the Baltimore Orioles was that of spoiler. The Toronto Blue Jays were trying to make the playoffs, and the Orioles stood in their way. With four games left to play, Toronto (83-75) was 4½ games behind the American League East Division-leading New […]

The Houston Astros rolled into Baltimore on August 9, 2019, riding a six-game winning streak during which they had put up double-digit run totals in three games, including 14 runs against the Colorado Rockies two days earlier. After eking out a 3-2 victory over the Orioles in the first game of a three-game set, the […]

“I’m Willie Mays,” one might imagine a kid in New York City in 1955 calling out as he came to the plate in a midsummer day’s game of stickball. For kids growing up in Kansas City in the late 1980s, maybe it was Bo Jackson. There are players who occupy a certain time and place […]

An adept base stealer known for taking unusually large leads from first base, Wid Conroy used his raw speed and acrobatic skills to earn a reputation as one of the most versatile defensive players of the Deadball Era. During his eleven-year major league career, Conroy played a significant number of games at third base, shortstop, […]

It would probably take a true trivia champion to come up with the answer to this question: What player on two world championship teams played in the fewest games during the regular season? The clubs were the 1915 and 1916 Red Sox. Catcher Raymond Haley appeared in five games during the season for the 1915 […]

The Boston Red Sox have had two Kelletts play for them, ten years apart. Al Kellett had more success as a professional basketball player, turning to that sport after his brief baseball career was done. Red Kellett had an extremely brief baseball career as well, later making more of a mark in football. Though the […]

Rather uncouth? Bill Mundy had a relatively short baseball career. He was a left-handed first baseman who played 16 games in the major leagues, all in 1913 for the Boston Red Sox. Though first base is a position that requires a lot of active fielding, it still was no doubt dismaying to manager Bill Carrigan […]

Sandusky or Terre Haute? 1888 or 1890, or maybe 1891? Tracing the birthplace of outfielder Elmer Miller, who played seven seasons in the major leagues for the Cardinals, Yankees, and Red Sox, is not the easiest of tasks. Standard sources consulted in 2012 claim he was born on July 28, 1890 in Sandusky, Ohio. That […]

The son of a stone cutter from Ireland, Charley Smith pitched ten years in the major league, enjoying his best year mid-career with the Boston Red Sox. He was born in Cleveland on April 20, 1880 and was signed off the sandlots, playing for the Cleveland Wheel Club.i He first played pro ball in 1902 […]