5,000 days ago, baseball entered the replay era. Okay, so it didn’t intend to do so, but nevertheless that’s what happened. League offices had issued no directives or orders to umpires to use replay. However, they hadn’t strictly banned umps from doing so. And that’s all one umpire needed when he decided to do things […]

At every level of every organization, baseball teams have a group of players they call “organizational players,” or more accurately, “non-prospects.” At best, they exist to provide depth for the team, and at worst, they exist to put a team on the field so the prospects can get plate appearances and innings pitched. However, when […]

40,000 days ago, Rube Waddell pitched eight-ninths of a no-hitter—but boy, oh boy, did he ever miss on that nine-ninths. No, this isn’t a tale of a pitcher losing a no-hitter in the ninth inning. That happens rather frequently. What happened on Aug. 1, 1903 was far stranger. Waddell was the hurler for Connie Mack’s […]

The early days of 2013 have been tough for baseball. First, we lost Hall of Famers Earl Weaver and Stan Musial within 24 hours of one another. Then last weekend, former big leaguer and noted major league alums Chuck Hinton passed away. And now we are hearing about the death of former big league catcher […]

Today, a Hall of Famer celebrates a birthday. It’s a birthday we all hope to make it to, though few of us will. Today, Red Schoendienst turns 90. He’s an interesting Hall of Famer in that he’s more an overall career accomplishment person than someone in for a specific achievement. Officially, that isn’t true. He’s […]

I hear a lot of talk about how Lou Brock doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. The critics say that he didn’t walk enough. That he struck out too much. That he wasn’t a good enough defender in left field. Those critics say that those weaknesses counteract the 3,023 hits and the […]

Ten years ago today, the White Sox got a new place to play. No wait, check that—they played in the same place, but they just started calling it something different. On Jan. 31, 2003, the White Sox sold the naming rights to their stadium to U.S. Cellular phone company. From this day forward, what had […]

Today, one of baseball’s best managers has a birthday—Davey Johnson of the Nationals. In fact, he’s not only one of the best—he’s also the oldest. Today Davey Johnson turns 70. That seems surprising to me; the image in mind of Johnson is quite a bit younger. I always think of him as Mets manager in […]

In preparation for its analytic conference to be held in early March, SABR is asking you to vote for your favorite articles of 2012. There are five nominated articles in three different categories: Historical Analysis/Commentary, Contemporary Baseball Commentary and Contemporary Baseball Analysis. Nominees include articles from the best baseball sites on the Internet, including Baseball […]

Chuck Hinton was a lost opportunity for me. Several years ago, he visited Cooperstown to play in a celebrity golf tournament at the Leatherstocking Golf Course. I saw him near the first hole, wearing his trademark black hat that made him look like something out of The Big Valley, but I was there to secure […]