Another Indy Milestone Achieved With 150th Major Leaguer
    Independent Baseball reached another impressive milestone shortly after the major league season opened.           Appearances by rookies Tom Wilhelmsen and Aaron Crow plus a...
View ArticleMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION REACH...
My friend Doug Gladstone, author of A Bitter Cup of Coffee: How MLB and The Players Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve, has been championing the cause of MLB players who retired between 1947 and...
View ArticleAudio Interview With Dodgers Prospect Scott Van Slyke
On May 6th, I had an opportunity to interview Chattanooga Lookouts first baseman/outfielder Scott Van Slyke. He was recently selected Southern League Hitter of the Week (April 18th-24th). Scott...
View ArticleThe Memorial Day Brawl of 1932
Administrative duties have kept me from writing much lately, so I thought I’d dust off an article I wrote for Memorial Day 2009. Enjoy! Twelve years after the Black Sox scandal decimated the White Sox...
View ArticleAll Phillies…All the Time — The Catchers
Herewith is the first installment of the All-Time Greatest Phillies Team. Before undertaking this endeavor, some ground rules… This is one version of the “Greatest Phillies of All Time.” The key word...
View ArticleAll Phillies…All the Time — Who’s on First?
The Phillies have had several outstanding first basemen over the years… it’s just that very few of them, for various reasons, bothered to hang around for very long. Most notable among this group are...
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 ArticleThe Hall of Famers: The 5 Levels of Greatness – Part 4
In this article (the last in this series), I will present the Level 5 players who posted Hall of Fame numbers during the 20th century. In Levels 1 through 4, there were eighty-eight (88) position...
View ArticleKimbrel, Hosmer, Hellickson Selected Top Rookies By BBA
Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves easily won the Baseball Bloggers Alliance‘s Willie Mays Award for top rookie in the National League. The American League award, though, was a much different story....
View ArticleDon’t Let Albert Pujols Fool You
Game 3 of the 2011 World Series was a signature moment in the career of Albert Pujols. The three home runs he hit placed him in elite company with Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson, as the only other...
View ArticleKemp Unanimous Pick For NL Stan Musial Award
Bautista holds off Ellsbury in American League There were some outstanding performances this year in Major League Baseball. However, one clearly stood out from the pack. Los Angeles Dodger outfielder...
View ArticleWorld Series 2011 Observations
The 2011 World Series will be remembered as a great one despite an anti-climactic Game 7. Before that there were 4 nail-biters plus Albert Pujols epic game and an unforgettable game 6. If ever there...
View ArticleA New York View of the 1913 Merkle Play
For those who read the accounts of Fred Merkle’s handling the ball hit to him in the third inning of the final game of the 1913 World Series—from the Philadelphia sport writers’ view—I have some follow...
View ArticleHow Hack Wilson’s Historic 1930 Season Avoided Knockout Punch
Lewis “Hack” Wilson enjoyed one of the most inspired seasons in baseball history in 1930. Playing outfield for the Chicago Cubs, he hit .356 with 56 home runs and a major league record 191 RBI. He had...
View ArticleThere Are Things That “Go Bad”
A few days ago, almost the entire Media declared a “national holiday with extension to the Caribbean” because a game is decided by Alex Rodriguez. But, when Albert Pujol hits his first home run of this...
View ArticleIndependent Baseball Season Fires Up Next Week With Three More Leagues...
Joe Calfapietra is one of the real veterans among the 32 Independent Baseball managers preparing teams to open the season in one week (May 17) when the Can-Am League, American Association and Frontier...
View ArticleA Four Course Feast of Baseball Ignorance
The past couple of weeks have brought an even greater parade of baseball ignorance than usual from the professionals who play and report on the game. I started to write about one of them, but before I...
View ArticleAll For Paul
May 27, 2012 Jimi Hendrix, Albert Einstein, Prince Planet, Julie Christie, Harper Lee and Joan of Arc. What do they all have in common? They’re about half as cool as Paul Konerko. Konerko, the...
View ArticleWillie Upshaw Already Has a Significant Major League Resume, But Bridgeport...
Willie Upshaw’s post-playing-days reputation as both a major and minor league hitting guru seems unchallenged and he enjoys the opportunity to be near his home in Fairfield, CT, but he is much like...
View ArticleWhite Sox Rising
May 31, 2012 When the Chicago White Sox swept the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field two weeks ago it was fun but, really, can’t an old person with a fly swatter beat the Cubs? The Sox, however, were...
View ArticleThe Glory Days: First NL Expansion Draft
The New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s stocked their rosters with players selected in the expansion draft held by the National League on October 10 of 1961 at the Netherland-Hilton Hotel in...
View ArticleNew Grip Helps Brock Peterson Slug Eight Homers in Nine Games And Climb to...
Brock Peterson remembers one time when he banged out something like 17 consecutive hits. But that was as an American Legion player, and he was using a metal bat. His latest streak was much more vital...
View ArticleIndy Domination? It Was in This Eastern League Game With Mates Getting Win,...
Independent Baseball players who have had their contracts purchased by major league organizations seem to understand what a neat little fraternity they have. They are in the minority on affiliated...
View ArticleJury Is Out On John Grisham’s Baseball Novel
“At long last,” it says on the back cover of John Grisham’s new novel,Calico Joe, “America’s favorite storyteller takes on America’s favorite pastime.” Calico Joe is a good story, smoothly and movingly...
View ArticleCole Frenzel: Seeking His Opportunity with the New York Mets
The New York Mets face a bleak situation with their offense as the 2013 season nears. Other than third baseman David Wright and first baseman Ike Davis, they lack any above-average bats, but hope that...
View ArticleWhat Irony If Chris Colabello and Curt Smith End Up Competing for Same Job...
It was only a week ago in this space that I found myself praising the WBC performances of Chris Colabello and Curt Smith. I hope that cruel irony does not step in for this pair. Minnesota gave...
View ArticleClearing The Bases
Baltimore Orioles: Tough news for 2B Brian Roberts. He ruptured a tendon in the back of his knee and will miss most of, if not all of April. The problem for Roberts is this, even if he does return...
View ArticleClearing The Bases
Arizona Diamondbacks: Pretty tough week for the DBacks as they lose 2B Aaron Hill until June with a broken hand. Hill suffered the injury when he was hit by an Edwin Jackson pitch. Tried to play with...
View Article“The Greatest Game Ever Pitched” At 50
Today is the 50th anniversary of a pitching duel I chronicled in a book called “The Greatest Game Ever Pitched.” On July 2-3, 1963, 42-year-old Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves and 25-year-old Juan...
View ArticleThe Baseball Historian’s Notes for July 15, 2013: Is it Time to Change the...
Despite making his major league debut on June 3rd and only playing in 37 games, 23-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig received a huge surge of support to make this year’s...
View ArticleCan Washington Continue to Compete Without Major International Signings?
As an organization the Washington Nationals have eschewed big international signings. The few forays they have made have been disappointing at best. They announced today that they are pursuing legal...
View ArticleWith Talent and Motivation, Kevin Hooper ‘Without Concern’ As Wichita...
“To be honest, there is no concern.” How often does a manager talk in such confident terms? Never might be too soon, right? Yet, that was exactly what Wichita (KS) Wingnuts Manager Kevin Hooper said...
View ArticleChris Colabello: Time Can’t Stop Rookie From Reaching Major Leagues with...
Dreams can be hard to achieve, but fortunately there is no expiration date on their fulfillment. Professional baseball player Chris Colabello learned that this year, as years of hard work finally paid...
View ArticleWhich Independent Players Will Make It to Opening Day? 51 Have Been in Major...
One year it was Chris Coste, another Jon Weber and last season Scott Rice and Chris Colabello. The names change, but the stories are similar. Players who have devoted years of determination and grit...
View ArticleThe Big Rude
Hey baseball fans! The team that represented the American League in my favorite World Series (1993: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Philadelphia Phillies) was filled to the brim with All Stars like Joe Carter...
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