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On a cold September day in 1914, Richard Luther Crutcher Jr. pitched the most significant game of his brief major-league career. The stands of the ancient South End Grounds were sparsely populated with a thousand hardy souls for whom the warmth of the pennant race outweighed the discomfort of the November-like weather.1 The Boston Nationals […]

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to contribute to a team like this. I see how hard these guys work, and when I come up here from Triple A it’s not a vacation.” — Andy Dominique, after his first major-league hit with the 2004 Red Sox1   Andy Dominique played nine games in the […]

There is nothing quite like one’s first view of a big-league ballpark. From a distance you see the light standards rising high into the sky and as you get closer the rest of the building comes into focus. The car ride that Gordon Tillett took his grandson on in 1962 was to a relatively new […]

One of the most dependable relief pitchers for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros during a 13-year major-league career that spanned 1961-1973, Fred Gladding was a 6-foot 1-inch, 220-pound, glasses-wearing right-hander. Given a variety of nicknames by teammates that characterized his demeanor on the field and physical appearance, Gladding was a strong-willed competitor with a […]

Since 1931, Earl Webb has held the major-league record for the most doubles hit in a single season – 67. It is one of the longest-lasting records in baseball, despite the fact that when it was set, the season was eight games shorter than today’s 162-game schedule. As it happens, Earl’s team that year – […]

Hancock, New York, has made numerous contributions to baseball history. A mill operated there by the Hillerich & Bradsby Co. for more than eight decades provided Louisville Slugger bats to Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and other hitting stars.1 Hancock was also the hometown of John “Honest Eddie” Murphy. Murphy was a […]

George Washington Bradley1 of the St. Louis Brown Stockings shut out (or, in the baseball parlance of the time, “Chicagoed”) the Hartford Dark Blues by a score of 2-0 on July 15, 1876. Aside from their being Chicagoed, the Blues also failed to get any hits in the process (although Bradley did walk two) establishing […]

He was known among his colleagues and sports scribes as “The Silencer,” a name he acquired from a Pacific Coast League sports writer in 1962 while playing for Portland. The nickname followed him through his professional baseball career. Dan Osinski, who would later pitch for the Boston Red Sox, was an original “fireman,” as the […]

John Henry Johnson — the lefty pitcher, not the Pro Football Hall of Famer or the baseball executive1 — pitched in eight big-league seasons from 1978 to 1987. He enjoyed his greatest success as a 21-year-old rookie. Primarily a starter in his early years, Johnson moved to the bullpen and was effective at times, though […]

Most people who have become baseball fans since 1990 have never heard of Cot Deal. If they look hard, they will find his major league career summarized in six lines of print in the baseball encyclopedias. If they look harder, they will find something about him as a minor league manager or major league coach […]

First baseman Billy Jo Robidoux tore up the Texas League in 1985. At age 21, he was in his fourth year of pro baseball, playing for the Double-A El Paso Diablos in the Milwaukee Brewers system. He led the league in batting average (.342), base hits (176), runs batted in (132), and runs scored (111).1 […]

James Arthur Willoughby was a right-handed pitcher perhaps best known for his contributions to the 1975 Boston Red Sox (including being pinch-hit for in Game Seven of the World Series). Willoughby also pitched for the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago White Sox. “Willow,” as he was often called, was born in Salinas, California, on […]

The only St. Louis Cardinal to play on the first five National League pennant winners in franchise history (1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934), Jesse “Pop” Haines was a 26-year-old “rookie” when he debuted for the Redbirds in 1920. He was a three-time 20-game winner and pitched for the Cardinals for 18 consecutive seasons before retiring […]

Luis Eleuterio Tiant (1906-1976) was one of the finest pitchers that Cuba has ever produced. So was his son, Luis Clemente Tiant, who won 229 games in the major leagues from 1964 through 1982 – more than any of his countrymen. When asked about his namesake, Luis C. said in 1974, “He was a better […]

The Chicago Cubs are the oldest pillar in big-league sports. They have played for the pennant every year since 1874. Originally known as the White Stockings, the club played for two years in the National Association before being a founding member of the National League in 1876. Over time they have suffered more than 10,000 […]

The pitching matchup scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 1962, certainly was appealing since two teams that had battled for the 1961 National League pennant were to square off at Crosley Field. The probable starters were a pair of “tried and tested” southpaws – Johnny Podres for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Jim O’Toole for the […]

A Rebel without a glove of glue allowed the Chicago Whales to eke out the second and final title in the truncated two-year history of the Federal League. By rebuffing the Pittsburgh Rebels 3-0 in the second game of a doubleheader halted by darkness after 6½ innings on the last day of the season, the […]

Beginning on March 18, 1981, Comiskey Park was the new ballpark where Carlton Fisk would work to hone his craft. The catcher known as “Pudge” signed on the dotted line of a five-year $3 million contract with the Chicago White Sox. It would seem unlikely that the Boston Red Sox, Fisk’s former team, would have […]

Among MLB’s storied rivalries, none has been more heated than that of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The stakes do not have to be high – though they often have been – for bad blood to boil over between the two teams. One of the most vicious brawls between the two franchises […]

Heavy rain falling over the city convinced Gordon Cobbledick that the afternoon ballgame at League Park was awash. The hometown Cleveland Indians were scheduled to play their series finale with the Boston Red Sox, but strong storms threatened the contest. Instead of driving to the Lexington Avenue ballpark to cover the game, Cobbledick, the Cleveland […]

The eyes of the baseball world were focused on the National League pennant race as the 1959 regular season ended on Sunday, September 27. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves, tied for first place, each won their final game, forcing a best-of-three tiebreaker series.1 But there was also a down-to-the-wire contest in the American […]

Baseball is different. Among the worldwide variety of “stick and ball” games, baseball (along with its cousins cricket and rounders) is different in that it is the player, and not the ball, which does the scoring—and the ball is often far away when the scoring is done. In field hockey, hurling, lacrosse, shinty, et. al., […]

Each team had one big inning in Game Four of the 2007 American League Championship Series, but the Cleveland Indians’ seven-run fifth-inning explosion outshined the Boston Red Sox’ back-to-back-to-back homer barrage in the sixth. With their 7-3 win in Game Four, the Indians took a three-games-to-one lead in the ALCS, putting themselves one win from […]

It was built on the site of a former theological seminary (of all places). It is one of the most renowned addresses in baseball history, nestled in a vibrant urban neighborhood that takes on the atmosphere of a block party on game days. It has seen the Babe’s called shot, Gabby’s Homer in the Gloamin’, […]