Amid all the media hoopla given to the recent reinstatements of Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, it’s easy to overlook that a total of seventeen players were given a reprieve by Commissioner Rob Manfred. One of the players reinstated was Sufflin’ Phil Douglas, a long forgotten ace pitcher from the early decades of the twentieth century…
I’ve Uncovered the Rarest Baseball Feat Of All! (Read on to find out what it is!)
I always enjoy trying to uncover rarities that occur on the baseball field. In the past, I’ve written about perfect games, unassisted triple plays, four home runs in a game, natural and reverse natural cycles, and the extremely rare “immaculate inning.” These are some of the rarest feats in the game…
“Schoolboy” Johnnie Taylor No-Hits the Satchel Paige All-Stars!
Ron Christensen returns today with an interesting essay about one of the unsung heroes from the Negro Leagues, Johnnie Taylor, shown in the featured photo with Satchel Paige. In one memorable matchup with the acclaimed Hall of Famer, he out-dueled Paige and even pitched a no-hitter! I always welcome the opportunity to enhance our knowledge of the Negro Leagues and it’s many stars, so I think you’ll enjoy reading what Ron has for us today…
The Sad Passing of Lee Elia: Always Be Careful About What You Say – Your Words May Come Back to Haunt You!
A very poignant lesson can be learned from the life of Lee Elia: One bad moment – usually involving a loss of self-control – can stay with us forever and sully our reputation. How many of us would like to have the worst moment of our lives serve as our epitaph? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Lee Elia…
Let’s Remeber Bucky Harris: Grandfather/Godfather/Inventor of the Modern Relief Pitcher!
Vince Jankoski returns with another installmetn in his series on the evolution of relief pitchers. Today, he highlights the role that HOF manager “Boy Wonder” Bucky Harris played in the development of the modern relief pitcher…
The Ferrell Brothers Involved in a Unique Game in Baseball History!
Ninety two years ago yesterday, brothers Wes and Rick Ferrell were involved in a game played at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and the Indians in which something unique occurred. To my knowledge, it had never happened before and may never happen again.
Tim Raines – A HOFer Whose Career Stats Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Mark Kolier returns today with a deep dive into the career of Tim “Rock” Raines. Mark views Raines as an underrated HOFer, and after you read Mark’s essay, you’ll understand why!…
A Possible Contributory Factor To the Offensive Explosion in 1930!
Over the years, I’ve written numerous times about the offensive explosion that occurred in 1930. There has never been a season in modern baseball history to match the offensive bombardment of this year…
Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: Larry French
“He’s destined to become one of the greatest hurlers in the National League.” – Lefty Grove, speaking of a young Larry French…
Steve Blass: One Kid’s Home-State Hero!
Ron Christensen returns today with a detailed account of his youthful hobby of collecting baseball cards…and his discovery that pitcher Steve Blass was from his home state of Connecticut. Even though a Yankee fan, this started Ron off on a lifelong connection to the Pirates’ ace. Ron shares an interesting story to which – in many ways – we can all relate. -GL
A Sad Baseball Milestone: Last Two Surviving Members of the St. Louis Browns Pass Away
The last two surviving members of the St. Louis Browns have recently passed away: Ed Mickelson, on June 27, 2025, age 98; and Billy Hunter, on July 3, 2025, age 97. This brings down a sad final curtain on one of the original American League franchises…
A Look Back At The First All-Star Game!
Ninety-two years ago today, July 6, 1933, the first All-Star game was played in front of 49,200 fans at Comiskey Park. The American League won the game 4-2,..
THE EVOLUTION OF THE RELIEF PITCHER
Today we welcome back Vince Jankoski with an interesting essay about the early evolution of the relief pitcher from Firpo Marbeerry in the 1920s to Jim Konstanty in the 1950…
Let’s Recall Baseball’s Most Eloquent Moment: The Lou Gehrig “Luckiest Man” Speech, July 4, 1939
Amidst all the Fourth of July celebrations today, all baseball history fans (like us!) should take a few minutes to reflect upon the anniversary of one of the most memorable – yet saddest – days in baseball history. It occurred 83 years ago today on “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day,” at Yankee Stadium between games of a Yankees-Senators doubleheader: Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” Speech…
The Heart-Warming Story of Hall of Fame Slugger Roger Connor and a Little Orphan Named Cecilia
With all the “heavy writing” we do around here on Baseball History Comes Alive, it’s nice every once in a while to step back and simply enjoy a story that, while it has a baseball connection, has nothing to do with anything that happened between the white lines. And so we will today…
Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: Frank ‘Noodles’ Hahn
Many of you may have heard of the early twentieth century ball player, Noodles Hahn. Besides having one of the greatest baseball nicknames of all-time, Noodles Hahn was quite a pitcher over his injury shortened career, as Mike Janacek tells us today…
