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Most major-league teams have retired one or more numbers worn by the best players in franchise history. The New York Yankees have retired 19 numbers, the Cardinals 12, and the White Sox, Braves, and Dodgers have each retired 10. Only the Seattle Mariners are yet to retire a number. The Marlins retired the “number” of […]

During a playoff broadcast in 2002, Tim McCarver made a comment to the effect that there are more multi-run innings that begin with a walk. McCarver also asserted,“The one thing I would tell a young pitcher is never walk the leadoff man. He always scores; he always scores.” I examined the second of these comments […]

Washington is the only city to have lost two major-league teams. In its last twenty-five years as an American League franchise, the nation’s Capital never even reached the first division. But its greatest single misfortune may have taken place on October 26, 1934, when owner Clark Griffith sent Joe Cronin to the Red Sox for […]

The date was July 22, 1968: a hot summer day in Cooperstown, New York, the day lumbering, amiable Leon Allen “Goose” Goslin, age 68, finally made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Goose Goslin had begun his big-league career with the Washington Senators in 1921. He ended it with the same team 17 years […]

Nolan Ryan led the majors in giving up bases on balls in 1974 for the third consecutive year. His total was a near record, 202, and one might think that with the other young throwers on the Angels’ staff, there might be a new team record for issuing passes. But no, Andy Hassler gave up […]

On May 3, 1897, the ministers of Atlanta announced their determination to stop Sunday baseball. They weren’t alone in their campaign: Protestant clerics all over the country were involved in a cultural war to protect the sanctity of the Sabbath not only from baseball but also from other secular threats as well. The Atlanta Constitution […]

The use of nicknames in baseball has diminished greatly since the heyday of the practice in the first half of this century. Sacramento ball clubs shared in this rich American tradition. where telling honesty required a heavyset guy like George Lial to be called “Tubby” and another with a lousy disposition on the mound, “Grumpy” […]

“A Card Collection is a magic carpet that takes you away from work-a-day cares to havens of relaxing quietude where you can relive the pleasures and adventures of a past day—brought to life in vivid picture and prose.” — Jefferson R. Burdick, from the introduction to his American Card Catalog (1960 edition)   Jefferson R. […]

Editor’s note: All statistics presented below were believed to be correct and up-to-date at the time. Last year’s Journal presented material on batters hit by pitch dating back to 1909. This year we present the other side of the picture, the hurlers who have hit the most batters since 1900. Much of this information is […]

Four well-known and widely respected baseball reference books provide the information that, in the 1906 National League season, 126 home runs were hit: The SABR Home Run Encyclopedia The 2005 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia Total Baseball Encyclopedia, Sixth Ed. The Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia, Seventh Ed. All four of these baseball reference books are in agreement about […]

Summers in Minnesota are short but wonderfully pleasant. During the short season Minnesotans spend much of their time outside, and baseball has long been an important part of their summer schedule. Even before the inception of statehood in 1858, Minnesota’s residents played and watched baseball. In this volume of The National Pastime you will find […]

The Iron River Singers outside Fenway Park on August 6, 2025. (Bill Nowlin photograph)   FENWAY PARK NATIVE AMERICAN AND AMERICAN INDIAN CELEBRATION On August 6, 2025, for the second year in a row, the Boston Red Sox welcomed all to what they called “our Native American and American Indian Celebration, where we recognize the […]

Japanese star slugger Sadaharu Oh of the Yomiuri Giants. (Robert Fitts Collection)   During 1968, with the United States and much of the world in turmoil, the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals traveled to Japan to play baseball and sightsee. Sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun, they played 18 games over 33 days from October […]

This article was originally published in SABR’s The National Pastime, Winter 1987 (Vol. 6, No. 1). During the summer of 1895, John Peter Wagner — not yet known as “Honus” or “Hans,” nor yet as a shortstop — played at least 79 games for teams at Steubenville, Akron, and Mansfield, Ohio; Adrian, Michigan; and Warren, […]

The 1936 Winter Meetings were not the most exciting session. At the time, it seemed as though little history was made during those three days, but some of the changes made did have an important impact on the game, and some of the smaller changes are still in use. The 1936 meetings gave us innovations […]

Albert Spalding lived an extraordinary life as one of baseball’s most important figures. This article focuses on his San Diego years, during which he helped develop San Diego into the city it is today, as well as key connections in his early life that set up his grand finale. The Rockford Files Rockford, Illinois, is […]

Abstract 2014 was a record year for pitchers, but it was followed by an abrupt reversal in trends, with offensive numbers increasing steadily in 2015 and 2016, culminating in a record-setting year for hitters in 2017. This article explores similar offensive explosions throughout the history of major-league baseball in order to draw parallels to the […]

I was inspired to write this article by Jonah Gardner’s Sports-Reference.com post “Remembering Mike Piazza’s 8 Amazing Days with the Florida Marlins,” about Hall-of-Famer Piazza’s short 1998 Florida Marlins stint before getting traded to the New York Mets.1 New York City’s major league teams have a storied history but I was curious: how many Hall-of-Famers […]

Jimmy Rattlesnake (courtesy Wetaskiwin & County Sports Hall of Fame)   His pitches offered enough venom to rattle the most seasoned of hitters. And he did it all with a grin that was as warm in welcoming opponents to the batter’s box as it was in sending them back to the dugout after another futile […]

November 26, 1958 cover of Shukan Baseball depicting Stan Musial and Shigeo Nagashima (Robert Fitts Collection)   Game Seven of the 1958 Japan Series featured a winner-take-all finish to a classic contest between two storied franchises. In the bottom of the ninth, with a six-run lead, 21-year-old Kazuhisa Inao stared down at Shigeo Nagashima, ready […]

SABR Salute: John Tattersall 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 […]