From the Archives: Remembering Denny Galehouse

The following was originally published on October 18, 2007. Tuesday night’s game reminded me of another tough decision a Red Sox manager had to make about who to pitch in a crucial game. Terry Francona chose rested, but still not completely healthy veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to face the Indians in Game 4 of the […]

Visiting Aging Lefty Warren Spahn in 1989

Warren Spahn was tending to his southeast Oklahoma cattle ranch or, more accurately, relaxing at the Broken Arrow country club near the ranch when journalist David Lamb met him while traveling cross-country in his RV in 1989. (A couple years later, Lamb published a book, Stolen Season, about his journey and the minor-league baseball he […]

Hardly a Miracle

Even before the Boston Braves completed their historic comeback from a 15-game deficit on July 4 to overtake the New York Giants, win the National League pennant going away and sweep the heavily-favored Philadelphia Athletics in the 1914 World Series, manager George Stallings was being called the “Miracle Man.” After only 13 games, 10 of […]

The Original Iron Man

Generally, the term “Iron man” in baseball is reserved for the player who has played in the most consecutive games in major league history.  Currently, Cal Ripken holds that title by playing in 2,632 consecutive games.  Breaking the record of 2,130 games formally held by Lou “The Iron Horse” Gehrig.  Wiley Piatt was the first […]

Remembering Paul LaPalme

This past winter baseball lost one of its treasures in Paul LaPalme. He was never a star, nor did he have great accomplishments in the game, but he was a great ambassador for baseball. He passed away in February, 2010 at the age of 86, and left behind a strong connection with baseball, the game […]

Mantle In Milwaukee: Sixty Years Ago

Milwaukee commuters wrestling their way down highway 43 may not know that the pavement between Locust and Burleigh Streets is hallowed ground, the former site of Borchert Field, home of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers for much of the first half of last century. Borchert Field was an old, rickety ballpark with crazy dimensions: the […]

Bob Stephens: Minor League Pitcher and WWII Fighter Ace

Bob Stephens’ baseball career was interrupted by military service after just one season, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him from reaching for the sky. As a P-51 Mustang pilot, Stephens shot down 13 enemy fighters, attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel before his 24th birthday and served with the Air Force for 18 […]

Stanley “Doc” Glenn Fondly Remembered in Quebec

Word came down the other day that 84-year old Stanley “Doc” Glenn had passed away on April 16. Glenn, a rangy 6’ 2” son of a Virginia fisherman who once described himself as a journeyman catcher, was in fact a superior defensive rearguard with a great arm. During the 1940s he made his mark with […]

“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 thing to a perfect ballplayer.” (5, Sizzler). Cobb didn’t exude praise, so there had to be a reason for […]

Ty Cobb Returns to Georgia!

Tyrus Raymond (The Georgia Peach) Cobb returned to his old stomping grounds of Atlanta, Augusta, Georgia and Aiken, South Carolina in the guise of Cobb impersonator and re-inactor, Norm Coleman of Half Moon Bay, California. Coleman was invited by SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, to perform his one-man show, “Ty Cobb: The Greatest […]

Con una basta (One run is enough)

Los juegos que se deciden con marcador 1-0 guardan una intensidad emocional, tras cada jugada que crece a través de los innings, el esfuerzo de los lanzadores es más notorio y en cada jugada al campo reverbera la posibilidad de que alguna marfilada pueda estropear la magia de los pitchers.

An All-Star Team of ex-Major Leaguers in Their 90s

A recent quick visit to Wikipedia produced a list of the ex-major leaguers who are 90 and up, and from there it was an easy process to put together an All-Star lineup for these guys, practically all of whom starred in the ’40s. I’m offering it for consideration and debate: Catcher: Mike Sandlock, who spent […]

Buying A Manager

“I came here with $100,000 to get a new manager and two new players for the Chicago club.” said Chicago Cubs President Charles H. Weeghman as he arrived in New York City for the annual National League baseball meetings of 1916. “I have in mind for a leader two men who have attained national prominence […]

Remembering Gene Conley

Yes, the current NBA campaign continues to progress while baseball players now filter into spring training; this overlapping of seasons reminds us of a unique, special individual who once graced both the hardcourt AND the diamond professionally: Donald Eugene Conley. Gene Conley loved sports as a kid–partaking in every athletic event one could imagine while […]

Hall of Famers at War – Warren Spahn

Warren Spahn, the winningest left-handed pitcher in major league history, received a battlefield commission in 1945. Warren Spahn was born in Buffalo, New York on April 23, 1921. He played first base for the Buffalo City Athletic Club and pitched for South Park High School in Buffalo where he led the team to a series […]