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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 […]

Flamboyance, like flakiness, is in short supply in 21st-century major league baseball. José Lima, the Dominican who pitched for five teams in the majors from 1994 to 2006, was one of the last distinct “characters.” Zany and irrepressible, extreme and exasperating, Lima was a born showman who loved being the center of attention. He was […]

It simply should not have taken six years for Gary Carter to get into the Hall of Fame. He was one of the best catchers of his era, and many observers put him in the top ten in major-league history. He was an outstanding defender with a strong arm who did all the other things […]

Mike Paul, a veteran of a half-century in professional baseball, was born on April 18, 1945, in Detroit. Michael George Paul was the oldest of seven children born to George and Theresa Paul. George Paul was a police officer in Detroit, but thought it was becoming too dangerous there and moved the family to Compton, […]

One of the most popular players ever to play for the Boston Red Sox, Rico Petrocelli will always be remembered for his familiar “Fenway Stroke” that sent many an opposing hurler’s offerings into the net atop the left field wall. Although he was not physically imposing at 6-feet and 175 pounds, he hit 210 home […]

Pedro Cepeda, better known as Perucho, was the first player considered a superstar in Puerto Rican professional baseball. He began playing baseball when there was no formal professional baseball league on the island. About 5-feet-11-inches tall, he could play in various positions, both in the infield and the outfield, and was a consistent hitter who […]

John Henry Johnson — the lefty pitcher, not the Pro Football Hall of Famer or the baseball executive1 — pitched in eight big-league seasons from 1978 to 1987. He enjoyed his greatest success as a 21-year-old rookie. Primarily a starter in his early years, Johnson moved to the bullpen and was effective at times, though […]

The young prospect was having a hard time adjusting to the backstop position in the major leagues. Offensively, he was a threat from the beginning of his career.   He was a classic bad-ball hitter who could get wood on the ball no matter where the pitch was: high, low, outside.   He hit them […]

In 1964 the Philadelphia Phillies found themselves mired in the throes of one of the greatest collapses known to our national pastime. Many fans blamed manager Gene Mauch for over-using starting pitchers Jim Bunning and Chris Short down the stretch. Others blamed the loss of Frank Thomas to injury. In addition, there were rumors of […]

Buddy Hassett was a New York boy who played for two of his hometown teams and almost made the trifecta. The first baseman had two distinctions: his ability to put the bat on the ball and his tenor voice. “The Bronx Thrush” would sing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” at the drop of a leprechaun. […]

Life was hard for an Appalachian coal miner and his family in the 1920s and 1930s. So it was for Lloyd “Whitey” Moore. His father died when the lad was 13. He and his older brother Lester dropped out of school and found employment to support their mother and younger brother. Lloyd Albert Moore was […]

When baseball’s stars convened in Pittsburgh for the 1994 All-Star Game, emerging pennant races and milestone quests shared headlines with labor-management discord. A strike shuttered the majors a month later, relegating the unfinished campaign to an ignominious place in the game’s history, but the National League’s 8-7 win over the American League in 10 innings […]

Joaquín Andújar was running out of time. Bruce Sutter was, too. When the St. Louis Cardinals opened a season-ending three-game series against the National League East Division champion Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 28, 1984, Andújar was making his fourth attempt to win his 20th game. Sutter, meanwhile, needed one save to tie […]

Pete Rose’s 24-season career, spent entirely in the National League, included 17 All-Star Game appearances and three batting titles. He won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1963 and the Most Valuable Player Award in 1973. Rose played on three World Series champions and was the World Series MVP in 1975, when his […]

Montreal Expos manager Tom Runnells raised more than a few eyebrows during spring training in 1992 when he proclaimed his squad was “the team to beat” in the National League East.1 Although they had a promising group of young ballplayers, Montreal had finished dead last in the division in 1991 and a worst-to-first turnaround defied […]

The inside-the-park home run is not only a gift to the swift. The hefty Prince Fielder hit two of them.1 Slow-footed catcher Gus Triandos, bulky first baseman Dick Stuart, and 40-year-old Bill Buckner did it too.2 The Toronto Blue Jays’ first inside-the-park home run came off the bat of Doug Rader, a 33-year-old veteran known […]

They called James Edward Dwyer “Pig Pen,”1 but the well-traveled outfielder also could have gone by “Dwyer for Hire.” With hustle, pinch-hitting talent, and a willingness to role-play as his calling cards, Dwyer divided his 18-year major-league career between seven teams. Three of them – St. Louis, Montreal and Minnesota – employed him twice. Dwyer’s […]

By the time Corky Miller had been three weeks in the major leagues, observers had him pretty well pegged: solid catcher, excellent handler of pitchers, “and a great guy to have in the clubhouse.”1 Also, because of his limitations as a hitter, a guy “more likely to play out his career in Chattanooga and Indianapolis” […]

Lew Burdette had been close twice before. He had hurled two one-hitters — in 1954 and 1957 — but the third time proved to be charmed as he no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 the night of August 18, 1960, in front of 16,338 fans. The day of the game had been a difficult one for […]

“Getting the American league franchise formerly held by Philadelphia was a glorious triumph for the Kansas City spirit. … [H]undreds of thousands of supporters are atingle for the opening of the big league era the A’s now bring.” — Kansas City Star, April 11, 19551   Philadelphia had been home to Connie Mack’s Athletics since […]

On a day when a sparse crowd was hoping to see its home team sweep its first series of the season, Atlanta Braves fans left the game with a shocking surprise. With a 5-0 lead in the ninth inning, a Braves victory seemed a sure thing. Even after their reliable closer gave up two singles […]

For 20-year-old Jerry Walker, only two years removed from high school in Ada, Oklahoma, it was a fairytale ending to his third season with the Baltimore Orioles. Starting against the league-leading Chicago White Sox on September 11, 1959, Walker threw 16 shutout innings in the second game of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium. in Baltimore. […]

It was the “best pitching in my career,” exclaimed an elated Johnny Kucks after the struggling pitcher’s improbable three-hit shutout in Game Seven of the 1956 World Series.1 After losing the first two games of the Series, the New York Yankees’ 9-0 thrashing of the reigning title-holding Dodgers in Brooklyn was a “loud and emphatic […]

When the regular season ends on a Sunday afternoon in late September or early October, baseball fans are of two minds. Some try to relax their nerves readying for the postseason baseball of their favorite team. Others just go home, anticipating the “hot stove league”1 that helps alleviate the anxiety or boredom of the long […]