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For 50 years, from 1889 to 1940, Walter Barnes was a sportswriter and editor in Boston, where he covered the city’s two major-league baseball teams, the Red Sox and Braves. Barnes is best known as the sports editor of the Boston Globe from 1910 to 1933. Walter Saunders Barnes Jr. was born on November 26, […]

When Johnny Wittig was two years old, his father, Karl, renounced his allegiance to German emperor Wilhelm II. A native of Munich, he had come to the United States, arriving in Baltimore on December 21, 1912, with his wife, Francesca “Fannie” (Wimmer). Their first-born was John Carl Wittig, born in Baltimore on June 16, 1914. […]

Francisco Estrada, a Mexican catcher, played just one game in the major leagues. U.S. fans may recall him as a throw-in when the New York Mets traded away Nolan Ryan. In his homeland, however, he was a baseball institution. “Paquín” — Spanish for “Frankie” — played 26 summers in the Mexican League. He added an […]

Baseball is a game full of statistics; however, they rarely tell the whole story. Such is the case with Roger Holt, an infielder who grew up in a small town in rural Florida and made it to the major leagues with the New York Yankees late in the 1980 season. Holt – a contact hitter […]

Steady-hitting James Henry “Jim” Delsing, known as a fleet outfielder and a first-class person, lived his baseball dream through almost two decades, the turbulent Forties and the prosperous Fifties. During that time he adjusted to the many highs and lows of a 10-year major league career. A lefthanded batter who threw righthanded, Delsing experienced his […]

For a player so significant in Red Sox history, surprisingly little is known about Samuel Pond “Sad Sam” Jones. Despite his incredible contributions to the Red Sox World Series victory in 1918, the most often discussed thing about Jones is his curious nickname. Born July 26, 1892, to Delbert and Margaret Clingan Jones, in Woodsfield, […]

For decades after they last played together, the Boston Red Sox’ outfield of Duffy Lewis, Tris Speaker, and Harry Hooper, who toiled next to each other for six years in the Deadball Era, was often considered the greatest in baseball history. Although all three, especially Speaker, were fine hitters, their reputation was due largely to […]

Dave Magadan was an artist with the bat. He lacked power. He lacked speed. He wasn’t known for his glove at either first or third base. But his deft spray hitting and patience at the plate — .390 lifetime on-base percentage — kept him in the majors from September 1986 through 2001. This skill also […]

Six-foot-three right-hander Oral Hildebrand was a .500 pitcher for the Indians and Browns for eight years (1931-38) before landing with the World Champion Yankees and starting Game Four of the 1939 World Series. Oral Clyde Hildebrand was born on April 13, 1907, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Asked one time about his unique first name, Oral replied, […]

Ray Chapman, star shortstop for nine seasons with the Cleveland Indians, might have ended up in the Hall of Fame had he not been fatally injured by a Carl Mays fastball on August 16, 1920, at the Polo Grounds. An ideal number two hitter who crowded the plate, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Chapman led the league in […]

Eddie Foster’s father was a Johns Hopkins-trained doctor, but Eddie eschewed a college education and turned to baseball instead, later running his own metal-welding shop in Washington, D.C. Eight of his 13 years in the majors were spent playing third base and some second base for the Washington Senators. Foster was born in Chicago on […]

On a team composed of several leading men and future Hall of Famers, Ángel Mangual was, at most, a minor actor in a supporting role on the great Oakland A’s teams of the early 1970s, good for an occasional walk-on or cameo appearance. He was dubbed the “Little Clemente,” but it was a billing he […]

“To encounter Walter Johnson even one time during a series is considered misfortune for any ball club,” lamented the New York Times, “but to inflict him on an opposing ball club twice in the same afternoon verges on downright cruelty.”1 The Big Train, the Washington Senators’ hard-throwing right-hander, proved to be the hero of the […]

After nearly eight seasons in the minors, Willis Otáñez finally got the call to join a major-league roster in 1998. On August 25, the Baltimore Orioles prospect wore a big smile to the plate and experienced an exhilarating moment by poking a single to center in his first big-league at-bat. Two days later, Otáñez’s vibrant […]

Willie Mays recorded 141 career triples and led the National League three times in that category. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   The Giants were in the middle of a 21-game road trip when they took on the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia (formerly Shibe Park) on Thursday, September 15, 1960. The […]

The Mets were playing poorly in July 1973. They arrived in Atlanta with a 6-10 record and their struggles continued when they lost the first game of the series, 8-6. The loss had led to speculation that Mets management might make some changes. Guido Cribari wrote in the White Plains Journal News, “One thing is […]

The Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins might have been trying to make up for the 18 regular-season games removed from the schedule because of the players strike when they endured a 17-inning game at Jacobs Field on May 7, 1995. In their 10th game into the shortened season that began on April 27, the Indians […]

The 1967 pennant race in the American League was shaping up to be quite a doozy. With roughly five weeks left in the season, five teams were within striking distance of bringing home the flag. On August 24 Chicago (69-54) and Boston (70-55) were in a virtual tie for first place. They were followed by […]

The managerial move was finally made during the All-Star break. By most accounts, it was not a surprise. Baltimore’s record in the first half of the 1968 season was 43-37, but the Orioles did not appear to be headed to the World Series. So, Orioles personnel director Harry Dalton promoted Earl Weaver to take the […]

As they navigated the 1921 season, the New York Yankees club that was positioning itself to become an American League juggernaut had never won a pennant. But by late September, they were getting close. When the St. Louis Browns arrived in New York on Tuesday, September 27, for a makeup game scheduled due to rainouts, […]

July 29, 2014, began as a normal day for the rebuilding Chicago Cubs. With a 43-61 record, the North Siders were in fifth and last place in the National League Central Division, 14½ games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs were playing the Colorado Rockies, who with a 43-63 record were in last place […]

When the Baltimore Orioles hosted the Louisville Colonels for an American Association doubleheader at Oriole Park on June 17, 1889, the visitors hadn’t won a game in almost four weeks. After defeating Baltimore on May 21, the Colonels had lost 20 straight, more than any other Association or National League team. Louisville’s 19th and 20th […]

The magic number was one. A Minnesota win or Baltimore loss would assure the 1965 Twins of the American League pennant. Baltimore was in no mood to cooperate. They had swept a doubleheader on Saturday night and they were looking for their seventh consecutive win as they took the field on Sunday, September 26, against […]

The Asheville (North Carolina) Tourists were in their ninth season as a member of the Class B Tri-State League in 1954.1 They’d won the pennant in 1948, their third season in the league, then lost in the playoffs. But they had the 1954 pennant wrapped up by late August. After play on September 4, manager […]