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Sam Jones was an intimidating pitcher. He was big (6 feet 4 and 200 pounds), threw hard, had a massive sweeping curveball, and could be quite wild. Three times he led the National League in both strikeouts and walks (1955, 1956, and 1958). He narrowly missed this feat a fourth time in his finest season, […]

Back when being a character could keep you locked in the minor leagues and being a reliever was considered a career demotion, Tug McGraw excelled in both roles like few before or since. As a rookie starter for Casey Stengel, McGraw ended the Mets’ long losing streak against Sandy Koufax; converted to a reliever by […]

It would have been a great story, a former minor-league hurler and Army veteran who signs on as a batting practice pitcher with his hometown team. Then he gets put on the active roster due to injuries and gets a chance to live his dream and pitch in the major leagues. While it all sounds […]

“Jiquí” Moreno was not big (5’8” and 165 pounds) — but he threw hard. How hard is jiquí wood? In Cuba, Moreno’s native land, linemen could not sink their spurs into telephone poles made from this tree — they had to use ladders. Brick stair steps wore down, yet their jiquí binding was simply polished. […]

Ozzie Virgil was the first Dominican to play in the major leagues, as well as the first player of color for the Detroit Tigers. Spending parts of nine seasons in the major leagues as a utility player, Virgil forged a lifelong career in baseball by transitioning to coaching. “Virgil should be for my country as […]

Arturo (Art) López had 49 at-bats with seven hits for the 1965 New York Yankees. He was the first player born in Puerto Rico to be originally signed by the Yankees and play for them.1 The outfielder was also the first boricua to play for a Japanese professional baseball team. During a professional career that […]

“Ray Mack’s Lunging Play Ends Classic” read the sub-headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on April 17, 1940. The “Classic” was Bob Feller’s no-hit mastery of the Chicago White Sox on a cold, raw Opening Day at Comiskey Park. Through 2019, it was still the only Major League no-hitter pitched on Opening Day. Although Feller […]

James Thomas “Jim” Northrup, who was born and raised in a small town in Michigan, starred in several sports, including baseball and football, at Alma College, also in Michigan. Later, he made it to the major leagues and enjoyed a fine career as an outfielder with the Detroit Tigers. Highlighting his fourth full season with […]

David Palmer was an example of local boy makes good. Sort of.  Palmer, who played for the Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Detroit Tigers, used to make the 3½-hour drive to Montreal from his hometown of Glens Falls, New York — which is halfway between Montreal and New York — to watch the […]

He could be considered one of the most reluctant, or perhaps contradictory, players to have ever walked on to a ball field. In July 1942 Buddy Rosar wore out his welcome with the New York Yankees after bolting the team to sit for a police department entrance exam (anticipating postcareer employment) and to visit his […]

When the 2015 season opened, Dominicans made up nearly 10 percent of the major leagues’ talent pool.1 They weren’t so common in 1971, though, when Frank Taveras made it to the majors for the first time. He was just the 28th of his countrymen to reach the top level — this list has now grown […]

On a road trip in 1954 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Stan Lopata, called “Big Stash” in the press and Lop by his teammates, was having trouble making contact with the ball. He and his roommate on the Phillies, outfielder Johnny Wyrostek, had just finished eating breakfast at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. While Lopata […]

When manager John McGraw needed a clutch win for his New York Giants during their four-year run as National League champions (1921-1924), he often relied on ace southpaw Art Nehf, winner of 184 games for four teams in his 15-year career (1915-1929). Described as a “money pitcher” by sportswriter Frederick G. Lieb, Nehf won the […]

Buddy Myer was the “cocky little second baseman” of the Washington Senators when they won their last American League pennant in 1933. In 17 seasons in the majors, he won a batting title and was a two-time All-Star. Myer was often cited as one of the few Jewish baseball stars and was chosen for the […]

After three uncharacteristic second-place finishes in 1933, ’34, and ’35, the New York Yankees responded in decisive fashion. Changes were in order, as reported by Dan Daniel in The Sporting News: “Joe McCarthy is making every effort to win this year.”1 Significant personnel moves prior to the start of the1936 season included the signing of […]

Matt Murray spent seven seasons working his way up through the minor leagues, finally making it to the majors in 1995 — when he pitched briefly for two first-place teams, the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were swept in the Division Series by the Cleveland Indians, who went on to […]

Who was the last Yankee player to wear Babe Ruth’s uniform number 3 before it was retired by the New York Yankees? It was Arthur Beauregard “Bud” Metheny, a wartime outfielder (1943-46). Metheny was born on June 1, 1915, in St. Louis. He was of Scotch-Irish-English-Indian descent. On his mother’s side his great-grandmother was a […]

November 1976 was a difficult month for fans of the Baltimore Orioles. After an 88-win, second-place finish in the just-completed season, the advent of free agency during the offseason stood to dramatically alter the team’s chemistry, and within a ten-day period the worst-case scenario was realized: On the 19th of November, 20-game winner Wayne Garland […]

Eddie Yost was a slick-fielding, high-on-base-percentage third baseman, an athlete who continued to make his name at the hot corner after his playing days were over, as the third base coach for the Washington Senators, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox. Known as “The Walking Man” for his propensity at getting bases on balls, […]

In 1973, Jason Miller’s angst-enabled play That Championship Season won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. The drama, set in Scranton, Pennsylvania, focused on the 25th-anniversary reunion of the players and the coach of a high-school basketball team that won the state championship. Full of booze, brooding, bigotry, bitterness, betrayal, and bruised feelings, […]

“The best defensive centerfielder I have seen here in a long time. I think one of the highest compliments you can pay him is that he’s as good as Garry Maddox.” — Richie Ashburn1   On the evening of July 20, 1969, families across the globe gathered in front of their television sets to watch […]

In a pitching career that lasted 10 years in professional baseball, and considerably longer in adult-league competition, all 22 of Dan Morogiello’s major league appearances came in 1983. The lefty was an unsung hero for the Baltimore Orioles team that won that season’s World Series. Daniel Joseph Morogiello was born on March 26, 1955, in […]

The Washington Nationals had seen their season go south after a 50-31 start propelled them to first place in the NL East, where they remained as late as July 25. About to send John Halama, a reclamation project, to face 23-year-old Dontrelle Willis on a Wednesday night, the Nats were five games over .500 at […]

On the next-to-last day of the 1948 season, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees had identical 94-58 records. They were tied for second place, both only one game behind the league-leading Cleveland Indians. If the Indians won on October 2 – which they did, beating the Detroit Tigers, 8-0 – whichever team […]