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The 1978 Baltimore Orioles already had a stable full of thoroughbreds as far as their starting pitching corps was concerned. Jim Palmer (21–12, 2.46 ERA) led a talented group of pitchers who could stack up against any club in the major leagues. Mike Flanagan (19–15, 4.03 ERA), Dennis Martinez (16–11, 3.52 ERA) and Scott McGregor […]
William “Judy” Johnson was one of the slickest fielding third basemen in the history of black baseball — or any other baseball. Old-timers who saw him cavort with the old Philadelphia Hilldales or Pittsburgh Crawfords in the 1920s and `30s inevitably link his name with that of Brooks Robinson. Connie Mack, the sweet-natured owner of […]
Even though Minneapolis had been home to a professional club for most of the previous 20 years, it would not be until 1896 that it won its first pennant. The closest any club had been to a flag was in the 1890 Western Association, when Minneapolis finished a game back of Kansas City. After not […]
The telegram was brash and a bit disrespectful. Simply stated, it read “DEAR MOOSE: TOLD YOU SO. JOE PEP”. 1 The New York Yankees needed pitching help—specifically a boost to their rotation—following the 1962 season. They set their sights on Stan Williams, a right-handed twirler for the Los Angeles Dodgers who had won 14, 15, […]
It’s hard to believe but the ML official averages show that 40-year old Willie Mays had the beat base stealing percentage in 1971. He was thrown out only 3 times in 26 tries. This marks the fifth tine that Mays has led his league in this department since the ML started “caught stealing” records on […]
For baseball, 1857 had been a momentous year in its development into an organized sport for adults. The meetings of 14 Greater New York clubs in January and February introduced standardized rules that still form the game’s backbone: nine innings, nine players, 90 feet between bases. Furthermore, the list of rules was extensively modified: What […]
The final performance of Stealin’ Home, featuring Bobby Bradford (cornet), Chuck Manning (tenor saxophone) and Vinny Golia (bass saxophone). (Courtesy of Jon Leonoudakis) Jazz and baseball are two distinctly American forms of entertainment which have close ancestors that originally began in Europe, but were probably not recognizable as either jazz music or the game […]
Bobby Layne is the only Longhorns pitcher to throw two nine-inning no-hitters, both in 1946—versus the Southwestern University Pirates (March 26) and the Texas A&M Aggies (May 4). (Texas Student Media/The Cactus) During the 1944 and 1946-48 baseball seasons, while playing for the University of Texas Longhorns, Bobby Layne compiled an amazing 28-0 won-lost […]
On-Base Performance is very important — it is the absolute prerequisite for the most critical aspect of playing winning baseball — scoring runs. In order for a team to score a run, at least one of its players must get on base. The conventional metric for On Base Performance is On Base Average (OBA), oftentimes called On Base Percentage […]
In Philadelphia, Mundell’s Solar Tips moved back and forth among the various levels of baseball during the 1880s and 1890s. Their history is illustrative of the more open and entrepreneurial baseball world that ended long ago. John Mundell Jr. founded the Solar Tips baseball team in 1879. The first players were workers in the factory […]
The batting out-of-turn (BOOT) rule has been a continuing source of confusion to players, managers, and umpires. Even a league president had trouble with it on one occasion after the May 24, 1945, Tigers at Athletics game, which was notable in other respects.1 The current BOOT rule (6.07), which has been in place since 1957, […]
Many SABR members have dreamed of starting up and running a baseball team. Their fantasies have run the gamut from building a ballpark, to recruiting a manager and his coaching staff, to attracting a talented group of players with the potential to play professional baseball. Bruce Adams has accomplished just that, and this article is […]
Read the Fall 2013 BRJ on your computer or e-reader! SABR members, you can now download the Baseball Research Journal to your computer or e-reader! Click a link below to download the PDF, EPUB or MOBI version of the Fall 2013 Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 42, No. 2, to your computer. PDF: To download the […]
Read the Spring 2013 BRJ on your computer or e-reader! SABR members, you can now download the Baseball Research Journal to your computer or e-reader! Click a link below to download the PDF, EPUB or MOBI version of the Spring 2013 Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 42, No. 1, to your computer. PDF: To download the […]
Roberto Clemente speaks with reporters. (Les Banos photograph courtesy of The Clemente Museum.) In what turned out to be the last book of his illustrious career, Jimmy Breslin wrote a biography of Branch Rickey, focusing on his signing of Jackie Robinson and integration of baseball. Breslin was himself a former sportswriter, most notably covering […]
You sat so close to the field you could almost touch the players. After the last out, you could run the bases. The stands, usually wooden, were rickety, and monstrosities in construction; the distances to the fences were eccentric. But the quaint old ballparks (not stadiums) had a warmth and charm, a different smell from […]
A note from the editor of the Fall 2015 BRJ.
Barack Obama’s election last fall to the presidency of the United States is generally regarded as a culmination of the civil-rights movement in this country. Looking backward toward the beginnings of that movement, the eye falls on events in New York City just after the end of World War II and particularly on the career […]
Hall of Fame baseball owner Bill Veeck is remembered for many things, including winning American League pennants as owner of the Cleveland Indians in 1948 and the Chicago White Sox in 1959; suffering injuries as a Marine in WWII that required him to use a wooden leg the rest of his life; signing Larry Doby […]
Jean Faut, a child of the mid-1920s, was destined to become one of two All-American Girls Base Ball League players to earn MVP honors twice. She noted that during the Depression and the beginning of World War II, there wasn’t much for kids to do in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, except play ball or go swimming […]
Baseball fans know that games behind (GB), the number that appears in the last column of each day’s standings, is not always an accurate measure of the distance between two teams. GB is the average of the number of games a team trails the percentage leader in the win column and the number of games […]
A variety of sources have indicated the existence of a Home Run Derby curse. For example, Alex Rodriguez has been quoted as saying about the Derby, “I try to stay away from that” and “My responsibility is to the New York Yankees. I need my swing to be at its best.”1 The implication is that […]
SABR Salute: Fred Lieb 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 […]