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SABR Salute: Art Schott Editor’s note: The SABR Salute, first bestowed upon writer Fred Lieb in 1976, was designed as a manner of recognizing the contributions of some of the older members of the Society. Subsequent SABR Salutes appeared in the SABR Membership Directory and honored members who had made great contributions to baseball historical […]

SABR Salute: Ralph LinWeber Editor’s note: The SABR Salute, first bestowed upon writer Fred Lieb in 1976, was designed as a manner of recognizing the contributions of some of the older members of the Society. Subsequent SABR Salutes appeared in the SABR Membership Directory and honored members who had made great contributions to baseball historical […]

SABR Salute: Frank Williams Editor’s note: The SABR Salute, first bestowed upon writer Fred Lieb in 1976, was designed as a manner of recognizing the contributions of some of the older members of the Society. Subsequent SABR Salutes appeared in the SABR Membership Directory and honored members who had made great contributions to baseball historical […]

SABR Salute: Norman Macht Editor’s note: The SABR Salute, first bestowed upon writer Fred Lieb in 1976, was designed as a manner of recognizing the contributions of some of the older members of the Society. Subsequent SABR Salutes appeared in the SABR Membership Directory and honored members who had made great contributions to baseball historical […]

A crowd heads toward Braves Field. The ticket and administration building (shown at left) still stands and today serves as the headquarters for the Boston University police. Note the trolley tracks in the foreground, indicating the path of transit vehicles exiting from within the ballpark itself. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   The best stories […]

Click here to read Part I of this article on Roberto Clemente’s Puerto Rico winter league career. Roberto Clemente with San Juan in 1959. (Courtesy of Thomas Van Hyning.)   In August 1959, Roberto Clemente was traded from Caguas of the Puerto Rico Winter League to San Juan, with Canenita Allen and José “Palillo” Santiago […]

Opening Day in Toronto, April 7, 1977, as a snowstorm blankets the field at Exhibition Stadium. (Courtesy of Elliott and Helene Wahle)   The date was September 4, 1967. As Canada’s centennial summer drew to a close, a sparse crowd of 802 gathered at Maple Leaf Stadium to watch the hometown Leafs of the International […]

As tensions between owners, general managers, and players mounted, the winter meetings of 1993 featured battles over the commissioner’s chair, the free-agent process, revenue sharing, and the salary cap. These points of contention collided over four months of meetings that began in early November, when the general managers met in Naples, Florida. The National Association […]

The odds on the Boston Red Sox winning the 1967 American League pennant were 100-1 at the beginning of the season. But when they completed the Impossible Dream, it was “Pandemonium on the field!”The Boston Red Sox embarked on their 1967 season with a five-man rotation that had collectively won only 25 major league games […]

In 1878 a triple play by Providence’s Paul Hines didn’t attract any extraordinary attention other than the excitement of a triple play that saved the day for Providence. The Hines play gained notoriety in baseball folklore when it was labeled by some as the first unassisted triple play in National League history. The rules of […]

Although calculations have been made, computer simulations have been analyzed, and the coefficients of restitution and drag of baseballs in flight have been measured in laboratories, the actual relationship between number of home runs hit and stadium elevation has not been empirically observed over a wide range of elevations in order to compare with predicted […]

Here is supporting evidence for the correction of errors in the official RBI record of Lou Gehrig.

“Production,” (PRO), usually expressed as on-base percentage (OBP) plus Slugging Average (SA) has caught on as a common measurement of offensive capability since it was published in John Thorn and Pete Palmer’s Total Baseball in 1989. On-base percentage measures the percentage of times a batter reaches bases per plate appearance (PA). Slugging measures the number […]

Editor’s note: This article is a fictional press release from our special issue of The National Pastime looking ahead to the future of baseball in the 21st century.  TRANSGENDER PLAYER SIGNS WITH OAKLAND (OAKLAND, California)—The Oakland Athletics carved the team’s name into the record books Friday by signing Alejandra Gallardo to a minor league deal. […]

Editor’s note: This article is a fictional press release from our special issue of The National Pastime looking ahead to the future of baseball in the 21st century.  LONDON ROUNDERS ACCUSED OF HACKING STADIUM ROBOT UMPIRE (LONDON, U.K.)—In their second season as an organization, the London Rounders are being accused of cheating following allegations they […]

   Of all the former players who went into business or industry, none quite “made it” like Franklin W. Olin. This may not have been reflected in the moderate way he lived, but he was a real American industrial giant who affected the lives of many people.     Olin was born January 9, 1860 in […]

SABR honors two individuals with one of the nine inaugural Henry Chadwick Awards because their accomplishments in baseball history were indivisible. Although plaudits were directed solely to Harold Seymour (1910–92) in his lifetime, it has since become clear that his wife, now Dorothy Jane Mills (1928-2019), did a great deal more than offer behind-the-scenes support. […]

Lon Goldstein, who performed for some of baseball’s top managers including Bill McKechnie at Cincinnati in 1943 and ’46, does not hold back praise for Texas diamond legend Jimmy Adair. “Jimmy Adair was thorough and the best manager I ever played for,” Goldstein noted. “He knew the game inside and out and gave a reason […]

Before King George took over the Bronx, Before the Dodgers and Giants flew west; Baseball stars sparkled in New York During seasons that ranked with the best. Terry Cashman recited many of their names While singing Willie, Mickey and the Duke; Players who excelled on lustrous green grass, Gaining glory, but few piles of loot. […]

FRANCIS C. RICHTER was born in Philadelphia in 1854 and was later a noted amateur player in that city. He began his journalistic career with the Philadelphia Day in 1872, before moving on to the Public Ledger, Philadelphia’s highest circulation newspaper. While at the Public Ledger, Richter started the nation’s first newspaper sports department. In […]

The day, though rather cloudy, was not chilly, and not stormy, and thus there was no reasonable cause for failure to make the most of the religious and social privileges provided as part of the day’s enjoyment,” wrote the Boston Globe. “In nearly all the churches, elaborate preparations were made and appropriate services held—all being […]

Tony Pena sat alone on the top of the dugout steps, his legs sprawled in front of him. He tucked the gold chains around his neck under his jersey and fastened the clasps on his shinguards. After staring at the dirt for a moment, Pena snapped to his feet. Peering into the dugout, he smiled […]