Rollie Hemsley: How a Hard Drinking Catcher Made Alcoholics Anonymous an International Phenomenon

Particularly in the earlier days of the game, baseball had a well-earned reputation for hard drinking and living players. Because the players often socially mingled with the press, and because the writers depended on access to teams to sell their papers, the vast majority of the more salacious happenings failed to make it to the […]

Negro 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 the best Cuban players toured the U.S. as the “All-Cubans” or the “Cuban Stars”; in the fall American teams traveled to Havana to […]

Many Indy Players in Running Two Weeks Before Openers

     The axe started dropping this week, sometimes unexpectedly, dashing the hopes of several former Independent Baseball players of being on Opening Day rosters with their parent major league clubs.  It does not have to be a forever disappointment, but a reality check at least for right now and their names will appear in minor […]

Marvin Miller Again Denied Hall of Fame Induction

From the MLBPA: New York, NY, Monday, December 06, 2010 … The following statement was issued today by Major League Baseball Players Association founding Executive Director Marvin Miller regarding the Hall of Fame Expansion Era Committee election results. “The Baseball Hall of Fame’s vote (or non-vote) of December 5, hardly qualifies as a news story. […]

The National League Expansion of 1886

In January of 1886, the National League was still looking for the seventh and eighth members to fill their field of teams for the upcoming season. After the 1885 season, both the Buffalo Bisons and Providence Greys had been disbanded, and their players bought out by other National League clubs. On January 16th, a committee […]

Pitchers Not Always the Priority for Major League Clubs; Stavisky Retires While Phelps Is Out

It often seems like pitchers are the top priority when major league teams go shopping in the Atlantic League or any of the seven other Independent leagues for talent.  As a prime example, only four of the 16 former Indy players currently active or on disabled lists with any of the 30 teams are position […]

One Season Hitting Wonder, But Major League Lumber Man: Otto Schomberg

Otto H. Schomberg was born in Milwaukee on November 15, 1864. His father, Henry, (listed as Schoemberg in the 1865 City of Milwaukee Directory) was a cooper, working and living at 710 West Lloyd Street.1 Otto Schomberg first appeared in a City of Milwaukee Directory in 1880 as a laborer, living at 721 7th Street […]