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Cardinals general manager Frank Lane nearly traded Stan Musial to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1956. (SABR-Rucker Archive) It seems almost unfathomable to think of Stan Musial as anything but a St. Louis Cardinal. Few players are as completely intertwined with the history and identity of a team as Musial is with the Cardinals. A […]
In reading accounts of the 1903 World Series, I so often came across the team name “Boston Pilgrims” that I accepted this on faith as one of the names by which the team was known. I even used it myself, presenting it as fact (see page 1 of Tales from the Red Sox Dugout). I […]
This article was originally published in SABR’s Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 31 (2002). John McGraw was one of the most successful baseball managers ever, leading the New York Giants to ten pennants in his 30 years with the club. His arrival in mid-1902 marked the turning point in the fortunes of the Giants, a […]
Although he was known as “Mr. Golf,” Fred Corcoran served as agent to Ted Williams and other players. For a time, he and Frank Scott were the only agents working with baseball players. (COURTESY OF JUDY CORCORAN) Fred Corcoran was the go-to guy in golf circles, starting in the late 1930s. He had successfully […]
Both Chicago and Troy fielded strong baseball nines in the baseball’s post-Civil War pioneer days. With the advent of professional baseball after the 1868 season, the fortunes of Chicago and Troy became intertwined by happenstance and the loosely-knit structure and highly unstable nature of nineteenth century baseball. Both cities played a major part in the […]
Editor’s note: This article is a sidebar to John Cronin’s “When a Dream Plays Reality in Baseball: Roberto Maduro and the Inter-American League”, from the Spring 2011 edition of the Baseball Research Journal. Wayne Tyrone, who played for the Miami Amigos and led the IAL with eight homers, was a contestant on “The Price Is […]
Clyde Sukeforth as Dodgers manager, 1947. (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY) I met Clyde Sukeforth three times altogether. On the first occasion, Howard V. Doyle, an old Mainer, friend, and former boss who knew I’d be interested, invited me to join him on a trip to Waldoboro, Maine, specifically to meet Clyde, with […]
The New York Yankees’ Babe Ruth gazes towards the right field stands after hitting a ball in front of an unknown Boston Red Sox catcher and unknown umpire at Fenway Park. 1933-34. (Leslie Jones photo, courtesy of the Boston Public Library.) The ultimate comparison of sluggers in baseball occurs when a player is linked […]
Judge Emil Fuchs’ 12 seasons of stewardship over the Boston Braves concluded in 1935 after a valiant but futile last-gasp attempt to achieve solvency by luring an aged and ailing Babe Ruth back to Boston. At the direction of the National League, the team undertook a corporate reorganization at the end of the year. The […]
The Boston Beaneaters were coming off a disappointing third-place finish in 1894 at 78-54. If that doesn’t sound disappointing, take into account that the team had won three straight National League pennants (1891-1893) and set the bar and the expectations of Boston fans high. In 1894 the Beaneaters didn’t have a losing month or even […]
Hall of Fame second baseman Johnny Evers, left, and manager George Stallings helped lead the 1914 Boston Braves to their first World Series championship. (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS) This year marks a century since the historic run of the 1914 Boston “Miracle” Braves. They were dead last in the National League on July 4, 15 […]
On November 9, 1953, the United States Supreme Court issued a one paragraph opinion in Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc.1 The decision affirmed three lower federal court decisions that turned aside lawsuits challenging the Court’s 1922 ruling regarding the application of the nation’s antitrust laws to Organized Baseball.2 The concluding sentence succinctly declared that […]
Major League Baseball marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Cy Young Award in 2006. The award was established in 1956 by Commissioner Ford Frick to honor the best pitcher in major league baseball. The award was named for all-time wins-leader Denton True “Cy” Young, who had died the year before, in 1955. Members of the […]
Major league baseball parks have changed considerably since 1884. The introduction of the lively ball in 1920 changed the status of parks in relation to home runs. In this article is a listing of the leading home run hitters in the major league parks through 1971.Fans have speculated about how many home runs Ted Williams […]
How did the 2012 World Series end? It was Game Four in Detroit. The San Francisco Giants, up three games to none, scored a run in the top of the tenth on a single by Marco Scutaro to take a 4–3 lead. In the bottom of the tenth, closer Sergio Romo entered the game to […]
The National League winter meetings of 1897-1898 were conducted during a period of good feeling among club owners, with Cincinnati Reds boss John T. Brush at the height of his influence. The gatherings were highly productive in terms of the adoption of new legislation and policy, although some initiatives, particularly the player-conduct commandments known as […]
Al Kermisch, who joined SABR in 1971, was a baseball researcher for over 60 years. His paper, “Walter Johnson: King of the 1-0 Hurlers,” appeared in the first SABR Baseball Research Journal in 1972, and in 1975 he debuted “From a Researcher’s Notebook”: seven small stories covering 4½ pages. This became a regular feature and […]
This article was selected for inclusion in SABR 50 at 50: The Society for American Baseball Research’s Fifty Most Essential Contributions to the Game. Twelve managers have won more games than Bill McKechnie. None has won more respect. Deacon Bill McKechnie was the first to lead three different teams to the World Series and the […]
John McGraw, seen with Philadelphia Phillies manager Pat Moran, led the New York Giants to a record-setting 26-game winning streak in 1916. (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, BAIN COLLECTION) On a dreary Friday afternoon, September 29, 1916, 43-year-old John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants, stood in the third base coaching box at the Polo […]
Frazee kicked off the new year making another move, again with Connie Mack’s Athletics, trading players to be named later for first baseman Stuffy McInnis. Mack termed the deal a “near-gift,” letting McInnis go to the team where he wanted to play even though he could have sold him for more than $25,000. Mack later […]
This article details my research and summation of 1899 National League batter strikeouts. Batter strikeouts from this period are not documented and summarized in any common source by individual batters. The team totals of batter strikeouts do exist in season totals as well as in the era’s box scores. I was able to document individual […]
Dummy Hoy taught his teammates sign language, which they began to use in game situations and even off the field. Initially, Hoy when at bat had to turn around to look at the umpire’s hand signal in order to see the call, ball or strike. Opposing pitchers would rush him. In 1887, after adopting the […]
Ten Keys to Good Research 1. Break new ground Make an original contribution to knowledge about a particular subject. If a lot has already been written about it, you have a lot to read in order to determine whether what you intend to do has already been done by someone else. Do not merely repeat, […]
SABR Salute: Fred Ivor-Campbell 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 […]