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Babe Ruth made history on May 21, 1930, when, in the first game of a doubleheader, he became the first player to hit three home runs in a game at Shibe Park.1 Oddly enough, that’s not the primary reason why Babe is remembered for this game. Instead, he is incorrectly remembered, thanks to erroneous information […]

Baseball comebacks are even more remarkable and unique when compared to other sports. In timed sports, there is always a moment when the game is over, even if it “ain’t over.” In baseball, a team can be down five runs in the final inning, have no one on base, two outs, and two strikes on […]

When the Baltimore Orioles dropped their 20th straight game to open the 1988 season, they broke the post-1900 American/National League record for fewest wins before losing 20. That mark had been held by a ghost from the Orioles’ past, the 1936 St. Louis Browns. (The Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 and renamed themselves Orioles.) […]

Someone forgot to tell Dennis Martinez that he should be winding down his major-league career at his age of 41. Instead, it was as if he had found a fountain of youth and become invincible since the start of the 1995 season, as he remained undefeated in nine decisions after his complete-game win against Oakland […]

On September 23, 1942 – a little more than nine months after the United States’ entry into the Second World War – the Brooklyn Dodgers offered free admission to anyone bringing 10 pounds of scrap metal to its afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies.1 The patriotic promotion was a success: About 150 tons of metal […]

When Dodgers player-manager Leo Durocher had Frenchy Bordagaray pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the fifth, the 5,010 paying fans at Ebbets Field witnessed the Lip’s final game as a player. During the offseason, Durocher signed a player-manager contract under which he not only managed Dem Bums for the 1945 season, but promised to […]

At the close of the 1908 baseball season, Cleveland pitcher Addie Joss in a syndicated newspaper column called Honus Wagner “one of the greatest players baseball has ever produced.” It was a commonly held belief in and around baseball that the 34-year-old was the game’s best player. Joss talked about Wagner’s “size and build,” his […]

A utility player is one capable of playing several different positions. Often utility players are not great hitters, yet they are valuable in their ability to fill in for injured regulars, give others in the lineup a much-needed rest, serve as late-inning defensive replacements, and occasionally pinch-hit. In short, they provide teams with a greater […]

Hard-throwing right-hander Clay Bryant went 32-20 in parts of six seasons for the Chicago Cubs before chronic elbow and shoulder pain ended his career at the age of 28 in 1940. But for one summer, the affable Alabaman caught lightning in a bottle. En route to winning 19 games and leading the National League in […]

The Saskatoon Quakers welcomed a new catcher in 1913, 20-year-old Roxy Walters. He was never a large man; his listed playing height when he reached the majors was 5-feet-8 and he weighed 160 pounds, a stature at which he might have proved a target for a baserunner who confronted him blocking the plate. But he […]

Even professional athletes sometimes die suddenly and at quite young ages in ways that one might not expect. After his career in professional baseball ended, Ray Francis joined the Atlanta Police Department on July 14, 1932. He was on the beat on July 6, 1934 – his first day as a motorcycle policeman – and […]

On July 27, 1917, Cliff Brady was involved in an automobile accident that could have ended his career. Two cars smashed into each other shortly after 11 PM at the intersection of Third and Cheyenne in Tulsa. Ticket seller Eddie Quigley’s leg was broken; Brady’s knee was hurt but not to the point he required […]

There are many stories of famous pitchers, like Satchel Paige or Bob Feller, who began in their youth by throwing rocks or other objects at targets. George Korince’s path to becoming a big-league baseball pitcher began the same way. “I was about 9 or 10 years old. I happened to be throwing stones in a […]

Few Major League players were traded as often as pitcher Louis Norman “Bobo” Newsom. The name Bobo came about because Newsom never could or would remember anybody’s name, so he called everyone Bobo and thus earned that nickname for himself. Barrel-chested, standing six-foot-three and weighing more than 200 pounds, the colorful right-hander was talkative and […]

Four decades after being banned from Organized Baseball for life, Chicago White Sox great Eddie Cicotte said, “Nobody can hurt me anymore. … I’ve tried to be a good father, a good grandfather and a good husband.”1 He could easily have added a good uncle. In 1953, when his great-nephew Al Cicotte was making an […]

Curly Onis’s major-league career batting line read: “1 game. 1 at-bat. 1 hit.” A perfect batting average. A total of 22 major-league players have stroked a hit in their sole plate appearance, and Onis, a catcher, is one of that elite group. Further, according to Baseball-Reference.com, 127 catchers had a single hit in their careers […]

Mid-1880s outfielder Ed Glenn had various skills needed for an extended stay at the major league level. In the field, he was an exceptional defender, a ground-covering, sure-handed flycatcher with an excellent throwing arm. On the base paths, he was a fleet-footed, intelligent runner. And in the clubhouse, he was a positive presence, a quiet […]

Sal Campisi grew up in the Bensonhurst area of Brooklyn, New York, loving his hometown Dodgers while hating the St. Louis Cardinals and dreading the sight of their star, Stan Musial, at the plate. Campisi recalled, “When I was only a few years old, my folks would take me to Ebbets Field for critical games […]

When Susie Finney Narron, wife of Sam Narron, would say, “God picked Sam up and set him in baseball,” Sam would respond, “I would have played for nothing.”1 It did not hurt that Sam became a protégé of Branch Rickey, a “Rickey man.”2 Narron was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals during Rickey’s tenure and […]

At the tender age of 20 he was playing in the major leagues. At 24 he helped the Cincinnati Red Stockings win their first pennant. Harry Wheeler appeared to be a happy-go-lucky, free-spirited young man. He was said to be one of the best harmonica players in the country and enjoyed joining his colleagues in […]

A self-made success in the rough-and-tumble world of Cincinnati politics, Garry Herrmann was the gregarious president of the Cincinnati Reds from 1902 to 1927 and chairman of the three-man National Commission that ruled major league baseball from 1903 to 1920. A flashy dresser who favored checked suits and pinky rings, Herrmann was a larger-than-life character […]

For Alec Distaso, pitching was a prelude to helping his fellow man. The righty made only two major-league appearances with the Chicago Cubs in April 1969, but he spent over 30 years providing two basic human needs. As a policeman, he offered safety; as a public housing administrator, he gave shelter. He also served his […]

A potential championship baseball team should possess both a strong cleanup hitter and catcher to provide stability for the long season. One player left his mark on the 1984 Detroit Tigers by demonstrating to the blue-collar Detroit faithful that he had the strength and versatility to put on the so-called tools of ignorance and swing […]

This article was originally published in “From Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium: Great Games in Philadelphia’s Lost Ballpark” (SABR, 2022), edited by Gregory H. Wolf. “You see, Mr. Gaffney, in 1794, when this law was passed, the communities were very small, consisting of little towns and villages where they had cock-fighting, dog-fighting, and other […]