General

Jack Spradlin: Lefty Pitcher Recalls His Professional Baseball Journey

December 1, 2019 by Andrew Martin

Jack Spradlin was a left-handed pitcher who played at just about every possible level of professional baseball except for the big leagues. By no means was that a failure, as he had a long and interesting career playing the game that he loves. On the radar of major league teams since high school, Spradlin was a 50th-round selection of the New York Mets... Read more of this article

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THE 1941 MEXICAN LEAGUE SEASON

November 17, 2019 by Kevin Johnson

Before the 1941 season began, the Mexican League consolidated, going from 7 teams down to only 6 teams. Although the number of Negro Leaguers decreased from 67 to 58, in percentage terms they increased from around 33% to 40% of the total player population. But this understates their impact, as in terms of At Bats, Negro League position players had... Read more of this article

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No Way to Honor #42’s Memory

November 14, 2019 by Doug Gladstone

There are 626 retired men and their families who played Major League Baseball who are being denied pensions by both the league and the union representing the current players, the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA), because of an error the union committed 39 years ago. In order to avert a threatened 1980 walkout by the players,... Read more of this article

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Dale Scott: The Umpire Experience

November 2, 2019 by Andrew Martin

Umpires are truly overlooked for their contributions to baseball. Their ability to arbitrate games and interpret rules is done at an amazingly high success rate. Even their humanity during times when they make mistakes, or at a minimum, decisions that not all agree with, can bring an exciting and unexpected element to the game. One of the best umpires... Read more of this article

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Negro Leagues DB Update: 1930 Negro National League

October 25, 2019 by Gary Ashwill

Check out the latest addition to the database, the 1930 Negro National League, based on the work of Larry Lester, Wayne Stivers, and the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group. Also part of this addition are games between NNL and eastern teams, especially the Homestead Grays, which gives a much fuller picture of the Grays’ 1930 season than we... Read more of this article

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On Becoming National League Champions in 2019

October 17, 2019 by Ted Leavengood

Victor Robles squeezes the ball into his glove as the man next to me shouts, “It’s an out, baby, it’s an out,” and the stadium erupts into pure animal joy. As the fireworks erupt and the fans explode, the center field gate swings open and a makeshift stage begins to move toward the infield as though it is a leaf being carried... Read more of this article

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Is 2019 the Post Season of the Pitcher?

October 13, 2019 by Ted Leavengood

Whoever said it, the old mantra that pitching wins the World Series has an early lead in 2019, even in the modern game where the home run is the attention grabber, the defining moment that lifts everyone from their seats to track the flight of the ball as it heads toward the light standard. But as the days grow shorter and sunset comes earlier, the... Read more of this article

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The Mexican Leagues are Here!

October 11, 2019 by Kevin Johnson

From its inception in 1924, thru the 1939 season, the Mexican League was basically a league of native Mexican semi-pro players, playing for their local teams. There were a few foreign imports that played in the league during those seasons, most notably Martin Dihigo, who left the New York Cubans after the 1936 season to spend his summers in Mexico.... Read more of this article

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Negro Leagues DB Update: 1929 NNL

October 8, 2019 by Gary Ashwill

This week we’ve added the 1929 Negro National League to the database, where it joins the 1929 American Negro League (the east coast league) for a complete view of the black majors in that year. This update also includes the 1923 Harrisburg Giants and 1924–1925 Homestead Grays, both courtesy of Scott Simkus, along with new games for several other... Read more of this article

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Boston Red Sox 2019: What Went Right

October 5, 2019 by Mike Lynch

Thanks to social media and endless emails I receive from the Boston Globe, NESN, WEEI, and The Athletic Daily it’s clear everyone is still bewildered by what happened to a team that won a franchise-best 108 games last year, then steamrolled through the postseason only to follow it up with a third-place finish that found them 19 games behind the... Read more of this article

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