Mike Janacek returns today with an interesting essay on the long-forgotten Deadball Era star, Doc White. I was familiar with him as a standout pitcher for the 1906 World Series champion White Sox, but, as I discovered, he possessed many other talents not normally associated with ball players. I always find it enlightening to learn more about the game’s forgotten stars, so I think you’ll enjoy what Mike has for us today.
Deadball Era Match-up For the Ages: “Smoky” Joe Wood vs. Walter “Big Train” Johnson!
On September 6, 1912 Smoky, Joe Wood faced Walter “Big Train” Johnson in a memorable pitching duel at Fenway Park. Matched pitch-for-pitch, Wood eventually bested Johnson 1-0 for a two-hit complete game shutout, his 30th of the year…
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…
“WILD BILL” DONOVAN: THE MOST SUPERSTITIOUS MAN IN BASEBALL!
We all know ball players are superstitious, but today, Ron Christensen tells us about possibly the most superstitious player of all, “Wild Bill Donovan. He’s off the “superstition charts”! It’s a great story that all baseball history fans will enjoy…
Let’s Remember Hall of Famer, “Gettsburg” Eddie Plank!
Today, we welcome Mike Janacek with his first guest submission: an interesting look at the career of the A’s Hall of Famer, Eddie Plank, one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in baseball history. I think you’ll enjoy what Mike shares with us today…
Fenway Park Opens 113 Years Ago Today, April 20, 1912!
As we prepare to enjoy Easter Sunday festivities with family and friends, it’s also a good time to recall that today, April 20, 2025, is the 113th anniversary of the first game played at Fenway Park…
Spring Training, 1912 Style in Marlin, Texas!
With spring training finally starting to heat up this year, here’s one of my favorites: a neat photo, originally found by my Old-Time Baseball Photos partner, Ron Bolton, from the 1912 Giants spring training camp in Marlin, Texas…
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 Mysterious Case of the Misidentified 1905 Pirates Team Photo!
One of our readers, Tom Ford, contacted me this past week asking for help in identifying the players on a Pirates’ team photo from the early Deadball Era. As I always enjoy the challenge of trying to put names to faces in old baseball photos, I told Tom I’d be glad to help…
Let’s File This One Under: “My, How The Game of Baseball Has Changed!”
One hundred years ago yesterday, on September 6, 1924, something very unusual occurred. St. Louis Browns right-hander Urban Shocker started and completed both ends of a doubleheader against the White Sox at Comiskey Park…
Red Ames: “The Harvey Haddix of the Deadball Era”
If Harvey Haddix were alive today, he could take some solace in the fact the he’s not alone on baseball’s all-time list of “hard-luck” pitchers. He’d be pleased to know that Deadball Era pitcher Red Ames is right there with him!…
Let’s Recall the 1911 World Series and Frank “Home Run” Baker!
The 2023 World Series is in the record books and so we extend a heartfelt congratulations to the Texas Rangers on an exciting win, the first World Series championship in their history…
Memorable World Series Moments: 1917 World Series White Sox vs. Giants
Heine Zimmerman Chases Speedy Eddie Collins Across Home Plate!…
We’re Contacted By Descendant of Former Major League Umpire, Jim Johnstone!
As I’ve mentioned many times, we always love it when we’re contacted by a relative of a former player. But it’s not often that we’re contacted by a descendant of a former major league umpire!…
More Fun With Triple Plays…Especially Unassisted Triple Plays!
In reading the National Pastime This Day in Baseball History website, I discovered that yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the twelfth unassisted triple play in major league history, pulled off by the Braves’ Rafael Furcal on August 10, 2003…
Beautiful Color Restoration of the Addie Joss Benefit Game by Chris Whitehouse
Addie Joss was a much-beloved ace starting pitcher for the Cleveland Naps whose life was tragically cut short at the age of 31…
My Journey to Find the “Eight Men Out”
Today we welcome a guest essay from Peter Wilt. Peter is a man after my own heart: just as I do, he has an ongoing interest in the Black Sox scandal…
Michael Keedy’s Mystery Player Number Six: Back Into the Dead Ball Era We Go!
Today Michael Keedy takes us back into my favorite era, the Dead Ball Era, with his excellent essay featuring Mystery Player Number Six. As usual, the “Mystery” won’t be too hard to solve for all our many astute baseball history aficionados…but I think you’ll have some fun with it anyway…and you’ll learn a lot about this often-overlooked, outstanding player to boot!…
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…
Review of Deadball Trailblazers, by Ron Waldo
If you’re a fan of the Dead Ball Era as I am, you’ll find Ron Waldo’s new book, Deadball Trailblazers to be a real gem…
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!…
Another Edition of Lopsided Trades: Yankees Deal Urban Shocker To the Browns!
As I continue my series on lopsided trades, today I’ll be featuring one that was consummated near the end of the Dead Ball Era (1918) and had ramifications well into the 1920s…
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…
Back Into The Dead Ball Era: The 1912 New York Giants!
“In playing or managing, the game of ball is only fun for me when I’m out in front and winning. I don’t give a [hill of beans] for the rest of the game.” -John McGraw…
Casey Stengel’s Often Overlooked Playing Career!
“Sure I played, did you think I was born at the age of 70 sitting in a dugout trying to manage guys like you?” – Casey Stengel
GREAT OLD TIMERS’ FOOTAGE: 1947 Tribute To Babe Ruth!
Many of you know how much I enjoy Old-Timers’ games. I recently came on to what I think is the best footage from an Old Timers’ game I’ve ever seen…
Baseball “Goats,” Part Two: The “$30,000 Muff”
To follow up on my three-part series on the tragedy of Fred Merkle, I’m today starting another series on well-known baseball goats…
1912: Ty Cobb Sets Another Record!
Sportswriter: “Ty, what do you think you’d hit against today’s pitching?” Ty Cobb: “Only .300, but you’ve got to remember – I’m seventy-three!”…
A Baseball Babe “Four Bagger!” Babe Adams
In recent days, I’ve written about “Babe” Ruth, “Babe” Dahlgren, and “Babe” Herman. Thanks to one of the readers who suggested I make it a Babe “Four Bagger” by including “Babe” Adams, the rookie hero of the 1909 World Series…
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…
Were the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics the Worst Team Ever?
Bill Gutman’s recent essay about the fine Dead Ball Era pitcher Jack Coombs got me thinking about the great Philadelphia Athletics teams from 1910-1914…
New Blog Topic: My All-Time Favorite Dead Ball Era Players!
Since many of you know of my love for the Dead Ball Era, I’ve decided to start a new series highlighting the careers of some of my favorite players from that long-ago era…
Reflections on the 1920 Baseball Season
People no longer need to try to imagine playing baseball during a worldwide pandemic since here we are in 2021 and that’s exactly what happened last year.
Great Baseball Photo Collections: The Charles Conlon Collection, Part One
Today, we’ll continue our tour through some of greatest baseball photo collections. We’ll take a look into the Charles Conlon collection, probably the most famous collection from the early decades of the 20th century…
Ballplayers and Their Children, Part Two: “Sad” Sam Jones
In the featured photo from the George Brace collection with his two son, George and Paul,
Ty Cobb Re-signs with the Tigers for $4,000!
“I often tried plays that looked recklessly daring, maybe even silly. But I never tried anything foolish when a game was at stake, only when we were far ahead or far behind. -Ty Cobb…
Great Footage of Honus Wagner!
“When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.”…
The 2020 World Series and the 1914 World Series Have Something In Common!
Before we turn the page on another baseball season, dysfunctional as this one was, I want to point out an interesting similarity I discovered between Game Four of the 2020 World Series between the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays and Game Three of the 1914 World Series…
Beautiful Colorization From The 1903 World Series! Learn Why This Photo Is Very Significant for Us!
Check out this beautiful restoration/colorization of a rare combined team photo from the first World Series in 1903. It’s done by our friend Chris Whitehouse of Mancave Photos…
