The Man with as Many Career Hits as Career Aches

Hey baseball fans! Like I’ve mentioned many times before, some Hall of Famers never won a World Series ring, or even got a taste of playoff baseball. Naturally, a couple of teams with Hall of Famers without rings come to my mind when I hear this statement. For example, the Expos, Cubs, Padres, Rangers, Angels, […]

Baseball History Comes to Life at Unique Baseball Museums

Once the baseball playoffs come to a conclusion, baseball fans are forced to sit around and count the days until spring training arrives. Predicting who will go in the next Marlins’ fire sale is just not as exciting as watching live game action. However, late fall and winter don’t have to be periods devoid of meaningful […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1934 Negro National League

The latest addition to the Negro Leagues DB includes the 1934 Negro National League plus four important independent clubs from that year.  The league enjoyed more stability this year.  Once again pursuing a split-season format, the NNL started the first half with six clubs: the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Chicago American Giants, and Nashville Elite Giants were […]

Matt Nadel’s 2013 MLB Awards Predictions

Hey baseball fans! As you all know, I’ve started doing some vlog posts where I make different predictions.  Well, since the MLB regular season is now over, I have to make my predictions on who will win all the major MLB awards.  So, without further ado, please click here for a link to my latest vlog post, where […]

Onetime Independent Reliever Leaves Emphatic Message In Confidence on Way to American League Championship Series

The latest lesson in the confidence needed for an Independent player to succeed on baseball’s greatest stage was delivered emphatically this week when Boston’s Craig Breslow marched out of the Red Sox bullpen and struck out four consecutive Tampa Bay hitters to keep the Beantowners’ deficit at a single run, 1-0, until their offense could […]

NJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: Ozzie Smith

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine. This one is about Ozzie Smith, one of the greatest defensive shortstops ever and a Hall of Famer. If you want to read more about Ozzie, just click here.   Thanks for reading the article. I hope you […]

Kyle Martin: Versatile Pitching Prospect Making a Name for Himself with the Boston Red Sox

These days, the Boston Red Sox seem to collect pitching prospects like someone from high society might accumulate bottles of fine Chardonnay.  With enough impressive young hurlers to conceivably fill several pitching staffs of the future, competition is tight in the Boston system. One of the young arms working hard to earn his chance is […]

Astros Finish Worst Year in Club History

The Astros finished the season with a 15-game losing streak, capping off the worst year in their 52-year history.  The 51-111 record continues a streak of three straight years with the worst record in the team’s history and also the worst record in the major leagues. Can it get any worse?  Astro fans, or what’s left of […]

Swing Time

Chris Davis was one tired looking hitter coming down the stretch. So was Manny Machado. Both have a reputation for being hard workers. No doubt fans of every team could name a hitter or two (or eight) who despite the hard work, slumped in September. I am starting to believe that it was because of […]

Ottawa and Montreal Buoy Can-Am Spirits For Two Years From Now

Barring any stunning surprises at league meetings in the next two weeks, the American Association and Can-Am League appear headed for their third consecutive season with some form of inter-league play, but two Canadian developments have Miles Wolff feeling optimistic the Can-Am is getting some traction to build beyond its current five-team landscape. The commissioner […]

ML”what would”B: What if Orta’s Dribbler in ’85 was Called Out?

Hey baseball fans! I just put up another ML”what would”B post on More Than a Fan. In every ML”what would”B alternative history post, I discuss what would have happened if a famous event in baseball history had gone differently than it did in reality. For my latest post, I wrote what would have happened if Jorge […]

1916 All-Star Series: National League Takes Two of Three

JUNIORS DOMINATE SENIOR CIRCUIT IN FIRST BATTLE OF STARS Johnson, Ruth Nearly Unhittable Extra Base Hits Prove Fatal CHICAGO, July 14.—Never in the history of the game have so many stars gathered on one field to put their talents on display as was seen here today.  It was nearly five years ago that several stars […]

News of Baseball’s Demise Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

Baseball is big news these days. It made the holy grail of journalism, the Sunday edition of the New York Times, where Jonathan Mahler asked the question “Is the Game Over?” Mahler’s symphony of woe is reminiscent of the premature reporting of Mark Twain’s passing by the New York Journal in 1897. News of baseball’s […]

Boston Red Sox: Teddy Stankiewicz is Great Addition to Team’s Stocked Farm System

Through effective drafting and the stockpiling of prospects, the Boston Red Sox currently have one of the best and deepest farm systems in all baseball. The team has found value at all levels of the draft and international signings, with right-handed pitcher Teddy Stankiewicz being one of the most recent prized additions to the organization. […]

The Winner of the 2013 World Series Will Be…….

Hey baseball fans! As you all know, I normally blog about baseball history, but back on September 9th, after getting a lot of questions from readers, I decided to put up a vlog post on who I thought would make the playoffs.  Well, since the playoff picture is now pretty much set, I have to […]

Final Rosters Set For 1916 Mid-Summer Exhibition!

Voting has concluded for the upcoming three-game series that will pit the best of the National League against the best of the American League as selected by you, the fans!  Both rosters are loaded with talent and competition to prove which circuit is superior will be fierce. Since the loops began meeting in the world’s […]

Touring the Bases With…Gates Brown

This was originally posted almost four years ago and is being re-posted in honor of Gates Brown, who died yesterday at the age of 74. My good friend Bob Lazzari, award-winning sports writer with the Connecticut Valley Times and NY Sports Day, has offered us fantastic material featured at his web sites, Bob Lazzari On […]

Coaches, Players Who Came Through Independent Leagues Will Have Roles in American League’s Postseason

The constant search this column undertakes to find meaningful stories on current or former Independent Baseball personnel has once again resulted in some nice nuggets heading into major league baseball’s postseason with the further tip that every fan of the unaffiliated game should lean heavily to the American League starting next week. It is a […]

The Little Steam Engine with a Huge Legacy

Hey baseball fans! I’m sure you all know about who Cy Young is, the winningest pitcher in baseball history in a time when Major League Baseball was in its infancy. But there was a pitcher who might have been just as good and pitched even earlier than Cy did. He is in the Hall of Fame with […]

Strasburg Redux

Washington has many fine sportswriters. Atop the list are Tom Boswell, Tim Kurkjian, and until recently John Feinstein. Last season Feinstein was one of the louder voices calling for the Nationals to keep sending Strasburg out every five days in September. And now he is using the failure of the Nationals to make the playoffs […]

My Top Five Most Notorious Records in Baseball History

Hey baseball fans! There are some records in baseball history that everyone strives to break: Rickey Henderson‘s stolen bases and runs scored records, Nolan Ryan‘s strikeout record, or Cy Young‘s wins record. However, there are some records that no one would ever want to break. With that, I give you my top five most notorious records in baseball […]

Motor City Mickey

Hey baseball fans! A little over a week ago, someone who is very important to baseball history celebrated his 73rd birthday. He is not in the Hall of Fame currently, but was a key contributor to his teams. If you didn’t guess who I’m talking about, let me just tell you: Mickey Lolich! Lolich pitched for […]

Salvi Family Claims the Independent Game’s First Double With Championships in Both Gary and Schaumburg

The last time I wrote extensively about Chicago attorney Pat Salvi was at the end of last season’s college football season when this proud father—plus wife and business partner Lindy—were rightfully popping their parent buttons because they had two sons on the Notre Dame football team. They have two more reasons to be more than […]

The King of Baseball

Hey baseball fans! As some of you know, Masahiro Tanaka won his 25th consecutive game pitched a couple days ago for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese professional baseball league, breaking the 75-year-old record that was held by Carl Hubbell, the Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Giants. Some of you might be asking […]

Keeping Navy Yard Neighbors in Our Thoughts and Prayers

Events like those that transpired in DC yesterday, just down M Street, SE from Nationals Park, seem to plague our country with disturbing frequency. It is unfortunate that they happen at all, or that they happen in any neighborhood, or any work place. But they came home yesterday to the Navy Yard that is an […]

Feliz Cumpleaños a Gaylord Perry

Hey baseball fans! As some of you know, I share a birthday with no Hall of Famers. The only person who is close to becoming one is Alan Trammell. However, the people celebrating a birthday tomorrow do have a Hall of Fame birthday buddy: Gaylord Perry! Perry played with the Giants, Indians, Rangers, Padres, Yankees, Braves, Mariners, […]

106 Major League Victories This Season; You Bet, and That Is Just for Independent Leaguers

Twenty-one years ago when Kash Beauchamp was signed off the St. Paul (MN) Saints’ roster in the Northern League and assigned to Class AA the naysayers were continuing to pooh-pooh the future of this new thing called Independent Baseball.  Those who believed it could succeed likely were in the minority. We have pointed out the […]

My Top Five Most Underrated Hall of Famers in Baseball History

Hey baseball fans! With 205 baseball players in the Hall of Fame, not all of them are recognizable to baseball fans. Whether it’s because of the team they played for, the era in which they competed or another reason, some of the best baseball players of all time are not very prominent. With that being […]

The Golden Glove

Source: Sports Management Degree Hub

Remembering Pittsburgh from the “We Are Family” Era

Back when Fisher Bodies were made of steel that was cooked in blast furnaces in Pittsburgh, there was a great baseball team that played along the Allegheny River called the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite the fact that cars are made of plastic now and the city of Pittsburgh is a high-tech center supported by three top-of-the-line […]

2013 MLB Playoff Predictions

Hey baseball fans! While I normally blog about baseball history, since I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately asking me which teams do I think will make the playoffs this year, I decided to do a vlog post of my 2013 MLB playoff predictions. If you’d like to watch it, just click here. If you don’t […]

More About Ted Kluszewski and Me

“Earl’s not gonna like that mustache.”  Earl was Earl Smith, head baseball coach at East Carolina University.  The mustache was mine.  Tim Bayless was a starting pitcher for the ECU Pirates and he knew I soon was headed to the school with the intention of becoming a Pirate.  On this particular day, however, Tim picked […]

Stephen Peterson: Adversity Just Another Obstacle for Milwaukee Brewers’ Prospect

Left-handed pitcher Stephen Peterson has been a scrapper throughout his baseball career. It has served him well so far, and with any luck it will help him one day make the major leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers. Out of high school, the southpaw opted to attend Marist University, but transferred to the University of Rhode […]

Triple Milestone Targets 2013

With four weeks to go, only two players are on target for triple milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBIs but six others are close.  Only one pitcher is on target for the milestones of 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an ERA less than 3.00.  No other pitchers are close. […]

Visiting Aging Lefty Warren Spahn in 1989

Warren Spahn was tending to his southeast Oklahoma cattle ranch or, more accurately, relaxing at the Broken Arrow country club near the ranch when journalist David Lamb met him while traveling cross-country in his RV in 1989. (A couple years later, Lamb published a book, Stolen Season, about his journey and the minor-league baseball he […]

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