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1950 Cotton Bowl ticket. (Courtesy of C. Paul Rogers III)   The Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas dates to 1930, when it was known as Fair Park Stadium, since it was built on the State Fairgrounds. Its fame was originally from its hosting of the annual Cotton Bowl football game, which was played there from […]

This veteran observer saw his first big league game at old Columbia Park, Philadelphia, in 1904, and saw the Philadelphia Athletics win the game, 3-0, from the Detroit Tigers. It was the season before the immortal Ty Cobb played his first game in Detroit. But I saw Hall of Famer San Crawford and lesser Tigers […]

In my 40 years working at the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore, my primary focus has been preserving and celebrating the life and legacy of George Herman “Babe” Ruth. But during my tenure, the museum also expanded its mission to chronicle the rich heritage of area sports, including serving as the official archives of […]

Radio broadcasts of Yankees games in the 1920s were sparse, but Graham McNamee (shown here with Babe Ruth) often called the few that did make the air. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   For New York Yankees fans, Wednesday, April 18, 1923, was a momentous occasion: That was the day the brand-new Yankee Stadium […]

We baseball fans want the truth. Some of us want to know how well Duke Snider hit in 1957. We want to look it up. And some of us, once we’ve answered that question, begin to wonder if the Duke could hit lefties as well as righties, or not. Then we wonder, perhaps, how much […]

A third of a century has passed since the Dodgers commemorated their centennial – 100 years since joining the National League in 1890, the year they consider their founding. The anniversary was highlighted by a midsummer Old-Timers Weekend held at Dodger Stadium, which included a private luncheon for former players and coaches on Saturday, June […]

Babe Ruth famously stumbled on it. Outfielders regularly cursed it. Fans sat on it. And Houston Astros executive Tal Smith mimicked it. That compilation is only part of the legacy of the Crosley Field terrace, the infamous slope that extended from the left-field wall toward the infield. The terrace also extended into center and right […]

One could make a case that, between 1941 and 1953, the Montréal Royals were the gold standard for minor-league teams in North America. After becoming part of the Brooklyn Dodgers chain in 1939,1 they followed much the same path as their parent club, going from perpetual also-rans to perennial contenders. In those 13 seasons, they […]

“I don’t know how else to feel,” Hideo Nomo said – almost sarcastically – to Japanese reporters following Game 2 of the 1996 Sun Super Major Series.1 A blue Dodgers cap adorned Nomo’s head, the intertwined letters “L” and “A” announcing the pitcher’s allegiance to the American powerhouse team. Japanese by birth and citizenship, Nomo […]

This article was selected as a winner of the 2010 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award.   Al Niemiec looked forward to returning to baseball after his discharge from the U.S. Navy in January 1946. In the three seasons, 1940–42, before his call to duty, he played for a Seattle Rainiers team that won three consecutive Pacific […]

Since the 1967 season Reading, Pennsylvania, has been the home of the AA minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.1 Now entering its 55th year, this affiliation between the major league Phillies and the “Reading Phillies” or “R-Phils” (changed a few years ago to the “Reading Fightin’ Phils,” but now commonly referred to as either […]

IN 1954, the Washington Senators were an abominable team They finished the season ensconced in sixth place in the American League, with a 66—88 record. The previous year, they were a fifth-place ballclub, completing the campaign at 76—76. In 1952, they also ended up in fifth place, with a 78—76 mark. In mid-decade, Ernest Barcella, […]

When quintessential baseball buff Douglas Heeren first approached me about a player named Ducky Holmes, I failed to grasp the depth of the subject. Pointing out my misidentification of Ducky in a team photo in my book about baseball in Northwest Iowa, Heeren simply wanted to set the record straight.1 A young man from rural […]

This article was published in SABR’s Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 34 (2005).   As a baseball artifact, it’s pretty special as it is. It’s a scorecard from August 5, 1891 — a day when Buck Ewing drove in four runs off Cy Young and the New York Giants managed to hold off the Cleveland Spiders, […]

Ottawa Rapidz center fielder Jared Lemieux watches the ball after a hit. (Courtesy of Jared Lemieux)   The word “rapids” refers to stretches of river that are fast-flowing, rocky, and turbulent. They’re a test of endurance, but some people enjoy them. “Rapidz” made a good name, then, for the Ottawa baseball team that lasted one […]

New York Giants owner Andrew Freedman fired 13 managers between 1895 and 1902. He wasn’t the first to second-guess the actions of a manager, though he did help establish a time-honored tradition. In the years since, more than a few reputations and careers have suffered the ill-effects of the practice. Fans, owners, and journalists rightly […]

The mentor-mentee relationship is a bedrock of Hollywood storytelling: Dr. David Zorba and Dr. Ben Casey. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. Mr. Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso. Mickey Goldmill and Rocky Balboa. Three movies and one TV-movie set in baseball’s minor leagues exemplify the dynamic.   Stud Cantrell (William Petersen) and Dixie Lee Boxx (Virginia Madsen) […]

Click here to read Part II of this article on Roberto Clemente’s Puerto Rico winter league career. Jim “Junior” Gilliam and Roberto Clemente with Santurce. (Photograph courtesy of Jorge Fidel López Vélez.)   In 1952 Pedrín Zorrilla, a native of Manatí, one of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities and the owner of the Santurce Crabbers, a […]

The National League Expansion Committee visited Denver Mile High Stadium after a tour of the metropolitan area in several helicopters. Here, they huddle on the infield grass to exchange information. (Courtesy of Roger Kinney)   The year 1959 was a good one– a very important year for baseball in Colorado. It was the first time […]

When eternal Dodgers hero Johnny Podres threw the first pitch to Cincinnati Reds shortstop Eddie Kasko on April 10, 1962, it marked the official opening of Dodger Stadium as the new home of the Los Angeles Dodgers.1 Less recognized and certainly less celebrated was how it represented the definitive end of what has come to […]

Of the major American sports, baseball is the only one that continues to enforce a segregation so complete that girls are directed to an “equivalent” sport. Yet generation after generation of women, from the late eighteenth century when baseball first arrived in the United States, to the USA Baseball National Team today, have refused to […]

Milwaukee County Stadium was in its third season as home of the National League’s Braves when it hosted the inaugural Global World Series in 1955. (Courtesy of the Milwaukee Brewers)   Half a century before there was a World Baseball Classic, there was the Global World Series. The scars of World War II had not […]

An industrial lot on the eastern edge of downtown Greenville, Texas, covered with heavy equipment, gives no sign of its grand history, except for one feature: a brick and concrete arch still stands with the welded metal inscription “Majors Stadium,” coated with a layer of primer paint, across the top. It takes an excellent imagination […]

1. THE INTERNATIONAL RETURNS In the case of Ottawa’s return to the International (née Eastern) League, as has so often been the case in Organized Ball, one town’s misfortune proved to be another city’s gain, however briefly. The New York Giants’ Triple-A club in Jersey City, affectionately or derisively known as the Little Giants, struggled […]