A Proper Frame for Stephen Strasburg
Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson left southern California in 1907 a shy young man who was uncertain why the Washington Senators thought he was going to be a star. Manager Cantillon had heard from...
View ArticleMeet the New Park Factors – Part I
“It’s a park that could make you a hero or a bum.” – Stan Musial on the Polo Grounds, 1957 Stan Musial was truly one of the most consistently great hitters baseball has ever seen. With a lifetime...
View ArticlePsst… Wanna know a secret?
“Wanna know a secret? A lot of your heroes weren’t the men you thought they were. The reality of the game they played differs from your ideal picture too. OK, I guess that’s not really a surprise. But...
View ArticleThe Curse of the Virtual Bambino
Even in the world of virtual reality, Babe Ruth is king. It seems that I’m always working on serious research for my next book or article, spending almost all of my free time on it, that I almost...
View ArticleAll-Decade Single-Season Wins Above Replacement Team: A.L. 1901-1909
On July 1 I unveiled the All-Decade Single-Season Wins Above Replacement National League squad for the first decade of the modern era, so now it’s time to unveil the junior circuit’s team. Below is a...
View ArticleLazzari’s Baseball Roundup
In search of some great, late-summer reading? Check out A Bitter Cup Of Coffee by author Doug Gladstone. This terrific publication references the plights of 874 MLB players who were active between 1947...
View ArticleSABR 40 Convention Report
By all accounts, SABR 40 in Atlanta was a big success although registration was below the total in recent years. I know I sure had a good time. SABR is clearly in a time of transition. Executive...
View ArticleHistorian and Memorabilia Collector Uncovers Truth About Ty Cobb Artifacts...
Ron Cobb, SABR member, historian and memorabilia collector, has penned a fantastic article that recently appeared in The National Pastime: Baseball In the Peach State, titled “The Georgia Peach:...
View ArticlePete Rose: Justice Delivered, But Only Temporarily And Only In Theory
Twenty five years ago today one of the most hallowed records in baseball history was broken when Pete Rose singled to left field against San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show (who’s tumultuous life and...
View ArticleThe Sweet Swing of a Slugger
Nowadays, it’s difficult to think of baseball players without talk of steroids, performance enhancers, or at least strength training. More than a century ago, however, raw skill and equipment formed a...
View ArticleThe Beacon of Birmingham
In the midst of a dark and all-too predictable world, Rickwood Field became a beacon. Birthed out of a conversation with Connie Mack, the ballpark started with a handful of rivals but outlasted each of...
View ArticleMarvelous Mack
Connie Mack, “The Tall Tactician”, Major League Baseball’s longest-tenured manager for 50 seasons with the Philadelphia A’s, employer of the $100,000 infield. If ever you wanted to discover something...
View ArticleFrom Bicycle Spokes to Back Rooms
Only days before Thanksgiving this year, a news story hit the wire that a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner card brought in big money at auction. That the Wagner card went for $262,900 is, of course, no...
View ArticleSpeaker Spoke Plenty Loud
Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle. All four men bring to mind ideals you want in an outfielder. How about Tris Speaker? Speaker joined Cobb and Ruth on the membership roll when the Hall...
View ArticleTalk about a Gathering!
We’ve all seen the photo. It’s the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Opening Day in 1939. Naturally, “The Sultan of Swat” sits in the center. Nine men, who may or may not have been Ruth’s equals but were without...
View ArticleGibson and Paige Set to Battle “Teddy Ballgame” and “Joltin’ Joe” in Bragging...
Some guys still sit at a table with cards, dice and charts and roll the bones for hours at a time, keeping score along the way and imagining in their head the action that’s taking place on the table in...
View Article“Gorgeous George,” a Beauty
Doling out compliments is not one of the first qualities that springs to mind when one thinks of Ty Cobb. Yet Cobb went way beyond that when he lauded George Sisler. Cobb called Sisler the “œnearest...
View ArticleForerunner Foster
Long before Muhammad Ali asserted that he was the greatest, Rube Foster staked that claim for himself and his teams. Foster, author Robert Charles Cottrell says, could be considered more influential...
View ArticleHunter or Hunted?
Long before Pete Rose, there was Hal Chase. In “The Black Prince of Baseball: Hal Chase and the Mythology of the Game,” authors Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella examine whether Chase left an...
View ArticleNegro Leagues Database Update: American Series in Cuba, 1904-1915
In the 1900s and 1910s, with Cuba newly independent from Spain but under heavy U.S. influence (and sometimes occupation), a baseball exchange formed between the two countries. In the summers teams of...
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