Jimmie Foxx Pitching in 1945: A Surprising Story

Back in July 1980, the Boston Globe recalled that Jimmie Foxx’s “final appearance in the majors was as a pitcher. “In 1945, when he was 37, Foxx had slipped badly and was hanging on by his fingertips with the Phillies. One day, Ben Chapman, Phils’ manager, came to Jimmie.” Chapman told Foxx, “We’re desperate. Would [...]

Looking Back at the 1990 Lockout

The spring training lockout of 1990 is one of the most obscure disputes in the long stretch of sharp bitterness between MLB players and management from the early ’70s through 1995. As Thomas Boswell wrote just after the lockout ended, “Can anyone remember the details of the baseball strike of 1985, which lasted two days? [...]

Ron Luciano on Life as an Umpire in the 1970s

A few months ago, the memory of devouring Ron Luciano’s four collections of tales and anecdotes from his umpiring days when I was a kid led me to look up the story of his suicide in 1995, 15 years and one month ago today. In the process, I discovered a long interview he gave back [...]

The Looie (Aparicio) Curse

The news that Luis Aparicio has let the White Sox unretire his jersey, number 11, to let Omar Vizquel wear it in tribute to his Venezuelan predecessor called to mind the story of the Looie Curse, said to have been pronounced on the Sox by Aparicio in revenge for being traded to Baltimore in January [...]

Babe Ruth, Movie Actor

Many baseball fans already know about how Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season, apparently to fund his production of the play My Lady Friends in 1920, which became Frazee’s musical hit, No, No, Nanette, in 1925. But the superstar he sold did some acting of his [...]

Memories of Billy Martin From Mike Pagliarulo, Rod Carew, and Rickey Henderson

Billy Martin’s death on Christmas evening 1989 provided the troubled finish to a melancholy year for baseball. As a way to look back on that day and Martin’s career, as well as the reasons why he had such an impact on baseball and the players he managed, here are some memories of the man. In [...]

Alabama, the Cradle of Baseball Greatness

A little while ago I started to realize that Alabama has produced some of the greatest players in baseball history. I remembered reading Bill James making a point somewhere in his Historical Baseball Abstract from the ’80s about sports players tending to come from poor areas. I thought about Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, and [...]

Lena Blackburne’s Playing Days

I first remember hearing of Lena Blackburne several years ago, when Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs went over to New Jersey to gather some river mud with Jim Bintliff, the head of Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud.

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