“The worst decision I made in all my years in baseball was hiring Rogers Hornsby to manage the Cubs” – Cub President William Veeck Sr….
Who Else Besides Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson Were Reinstated on May 13th? The Case For Shufflin’ Phil Douglas!
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…
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…
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…
The Cubs and Pete Crow-Armstrong Flirt with Baseball History!
It’s not often that I comment here on the Baseball History Comes Alive website about what’s happening in the modern game. As I’ve said many times, anything after about 1970 is a bit too modern for my taste!…
Fun With Baseball Cycles: Carson Kelly Hits First Cub Cycle Since 1993!
On Monday night, March 31, 2025, Cub catcher Carson Kelly hit the first Cub cycle since Mark Grace accomplished the feat back in 1992, 32 years ago. As usual, accompanying almost every cycle, there are some interesting facts to go with it. And certainly, this one was no exception…
Another Edition of “Baseball’s Forgotten Stars!” Phil Cavarretta
“You can’t handle the truth!” I think there’s a real good chance the former 1930s-’40s baseball star Phil Cavarretta saw the classic 1992 movie A Few Good Men sometime during his long life. If so, we can be fairly certain he felt a sense of vindication as he heard the famous line.…
Let’s Recall Baseball’s Highly Successful 1934 Barnstorming Tour to Japan!
Amidst all the hoopla and hype of the Cubs and Dodgers opening the 2025 baseball season in Japan – with superstar Shohei Ohtani as the biggest attraction – it might be fun to recall an earlier trip to Japan: the highly successful 1934 barnstorming tour…
Cubs Spring Training on Catalina Island!
How many baseball fans are aware that for 30 years the Cubs held Spring training on their own private paradise, Santa Catalina Island? “The Isle with a Smile” was located in the Pacific Ocean, 25 miles off the coast of Los Angeles…
Spring Training Is Upon Us! Let’s Play Ball!
The snow is deep in Chicago. The air is cold. The Super Bowl is over. And now the players have all packed their bags and headed south for warmer climes! That wonderful phrase we all love to hear, “Pitchers and Catchers Report,” is now a reality. Spring games start this week…
The Cubs’ “College Of Coaches” Mercifully Ends 62 Years Ago Today!
As a longtime Cub fan, I painfully remember P.K. Wrigley’s hare-brained scheme that had only one lasting result: It made the Cubs the laughingstock of the baseball world. It was an idea so far-fetched, it’s never been tried before or since in the entire 149-year history of baseball…
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“Tinker to Evers to Chance”- But What About Harry Steinfeldt??
Whenever I think about the Cubs’ fabled Cubs’ infield of “Tinker to Evers to Chance,” I also wonder about third baseman, Harry Steinfeldt, who became, in my opinion, baseball’s version of “odd man out”…
Teenage Talent: Tommy Brown, Holder of Some Unusual Major League Records!
As I’ve said many times, any player who makes it to the major leagues is special in our eyes – sub or star, it makes no difference – and I’m always glad to shine our baseball spotlight on little-known players for a brief moment or two. I’ve also said that whenever you look deeply into the career of any major leaguer, you’ll always find something of interest. Today, Vince Jankoski proves my point. He’s written an interesting essay on a player I had never heard of: World War II teenager Tommy Brown.
Annual Tribute To Ernie Banks (January 31, 1931-January 23, 2015)
Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the death of the great Hall of Famer, Ernie Banks, who happens to be my favorite player from my youth. I’d like to re-post my tribute to Ernie which I wrote at the time of his death…
Our (Very Little!) Contribution to Baseball History: A Discovery in Two 1908 Cubs Team Photos!
Recently, Tom Ford and I worked on the player identifications in two team photos of the 1908 World Series champion Cubs. Over the course of our investigations, we made a discovery which I think has a bit of historical significance…
The Infamous “Billy Goat Curse” Is Put On the Cubs, 79 Years Ago Today!
“Them’a Cubs…they ain’t ‘a gonna’ winna’ no more! They are now and a’ forever cursed! –Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, while being escorted out of Wrigley Field during the 1945 World Series…
Hack Wilson Sets RBI Record 94 years ago Today!
“Hung over, yes, many times…drunk, no.” -Hack Wilson, when asked if he ever played drunk.
“He was built like a beer keg…and was not unfamiliar with its contents!” -Unknown sportswriter, describing Hack Wilson’s physique…
The 116th Anniversary of the “Merkle Game”: The Day Fred Merkle’s Life Changed Forever
I think all fair-minded baseball fans would never want to see anyone’s life negatively altered by what happens in a baseball game (think: Steve Bartman). Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to a young 19-year-old rookie named Fred Merkle 116 years ago today…
How Bad Can a Baseball Season Get? White Sox Challenge Post-1900 Record of 1916 Philadelphia A’s For Futility
Here in Chicago, we’re in the midst of a stunningly bad baseball season…
We Know Andre Dawson Was A Great Player, But Did You Know That…
“I always thought that Andre was a renaissance man, but this is taking it to a different level!” – Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson
Norman Rockwell and Baseball, Part II: “The Dugout”
Three weeks ago, I posted an essay featuring Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting, “The Three Umpires.” Today, I’ll repost an essay I wrote four years ago about another classic Rockwell baseball painting and a companion to the “Three Umpires”: “The Dugout.”…
Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: The “Mayor of Wrigley Field,” Hank Sauer!
In doing a recent search through the content on my Baseball History Comes Alive website, I realized that I had never even mentioned one of the true stars of the early 1950s, Hank Sauer…
Joe Pepitone, Rest In Peace
There may have been more troubled souls in baseball’s long history than Joe Pepitone, but you’d be hard-pressed to name one…
We’re Contacted By Son of Former 1930s Cub Star, Stan Hack!
As I’ve mentioned many times, we always love it when we’re contacted by a relative of a former major leaguer. It makes no difference if the player was a star or a sub…
Johnny Evers and Joe Tinker End 33-Year Feud!
With the opening of Spring training this week, here’s something that will warm your heart—and may even bring a tear to your eye!…
Frank Chance Takes the Yankees’ Managerial Helm, January 8, 1913
“There is one thing I will never believe, and that is that the Sox are better than the Cubs” -Frank Chance, after the Cubs lost to the “HItless Wonder” White Sox in the 1906 World Series…
The Sad Demise of Hack Wilson
“Hung over, yes, many times…drunk, no.” -Hack Wilson’s response when asked if he ever played drunk…
Reflections on Chicago Baseball in the 1950s
To those of us who cut our baseball “teeth” in the 1950s in Chicago, we initially had very little awareness that we were living in the Golden Age of baseball—The Fifties—and that New York, with its great three teams was the center of the baseball universe…
The Original Mr. Cub: “Jolly Cholly” Grimm
Today we welcome back to the fold Michael Keedy with an interesting essay covering the long career of Charlie Grimm, calling him the original “Mr. Cub.”…
Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins Gets His Statue!
Here’s one we can file under: Most Lopsided Trades of All Time! It doesn’t get much worse than this!
Another Edition of Lopsided Trades: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown Goes to the Cubs!
Brock for Broglio? Yeah, that wasn’t a bad deal…But how about getting Mordecai “Three Finger ” Brown almost for free?? Now that’s a deal!…
Let’s Revisit the 1910 World Series: Cubs vs. A’s!
The 1910 Fall Classic featured the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs, with the Athletics winning in five games…
Baseball “Goats,” Part Three: Heine Zimmerman and the 1917 World Series
“Who the hell was I supposed to throw to, Bill Klem?”…
The Tragedy of Fred Merkle, Part Two: The Warren Gill Game
The game isn’t over until that man touches second base! Why don’t you wait until the game is over, you big fathead!…
Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars! Bill “Swish” Nicholson!
Let’s shine the spotlight on Bill “Swish” Nicholson…and remember the unusual “gift” he received in 1944…
Another Baseball “Babe”: Babe Herman!
Dubbed “The Headless Horseman of Ebbets Field” by Dazzy Vance for his various base running misadventures, Herman was one of the great power hitters of the 1930s..
The Cubs’ Recent “Combined No-Hitter” Calls to Mind 1917!
I’m sure most of you heard that the Cubs recently threw a combined no-hitter. When I heard about it, my baseball history antenna immediately went off…
“SCIENCE” AND BASEBALL
All baseball history fans, especially old Cub fans like me who suffered through decades of mismanagement during the P.K. Wrigley years, will enjoy Paul Doyle’s interesting essay today…
Ballplayers and Their Children, Part Three: Hack Wilson and Son Bobby.
The diminutive Hack Wilson was one of the most accomplished power hitters in the game during the late 1920s and early 1930s…
The Original Wrigley Field Scoreboard, October 4, 1935
The featured photo above was taken during the 1935 World Series between the Tigers and Cubs.
