It’s with a very heavy heart that I was informed yesterday that my good friend Larry Baldassaro passed away on Tuesday, aged 83. I know that not all of you will recognize the name. Larry was one of the finest baseball history writers I’ve ever known…
The Day a Rookie Saved Frank Robinson’s Life
The year was 1966. The date was August 22- sixty years ago today. The Baltimore Orioles were enjoying an off day while feeling rather good about their 12.5-game lead in the American League pennant race with only six weeks to go. Superstar Frank Robinson, acquired during the offseason in a memorable trade with the Reds, was enjoying the best season of his career…
The Origins of: “Nice Guys Finish Last!”
Exactly eighty years ago today, Leo Durocher got off one of the most famous aphorisms in the English language: “Nice guys finish last.” You can find it in the current edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. attributed to Durocher…
Baseball at Mid-Season: Let’s Take a Moment to Dream A Little…
With most teams at or approaching the 81-game mark in their seasons, this is a good time to take a quick break and think about something just a bit different. In this post, there’s no historical records to examine, no mention of no-hitters or perfect games, no spotlight on a great player, no anecdotes about Babe Ruth, no talk of who should or should not be in the Hall of Fame. You know, the usual stuff…
BLUE LAW BLUES!
Most of us are familiar with the Blue Laws that prohibited sales of alcohol in the early 20th century. But how many know that the Blue Laws also forbade playing baseball on Sundays?…
1942 Baseball Game With Dom DiMaggio’s All-Stars Halted by… a Prison Break??
We’ve all heard of baseball games being suspended for various reasons. Rain, snow, fog, swarms of insects, medical emergencies…even earthquakes. But there was a game played on February 8, 1942, eighty-three years ago today, at the Folsom Correctional Facility in California that was halted because of a prison break!…
A “Slide-Off” Victory?? What the Heck Is that!!
Today I stumbled upon some interesting information that proves that two of my personal baseball axioms are true:
My two personal axioms: Just when you think you know everything about this game, you suddenly realize that actually you don’t – no matter how many years you’ve been following it; and whenever you look closely into the career of almost any major leaguer, you’ll find something of interest. Lets see what I learned today…
SELLING OUT THE HARTFORD DARK BLUES!
C’mon now…be honest! How many of you are aware that one of the original teams in the National League was the Hartford Dark Blues? That’s what I thought! Today Ron Christensen gives us a little refresher course in the early days of the National League and the role played by the Hartford Dark Blues. We always look for ways to enchance our knowledge of baseball’s early days,. I found Ron’s essay enlightening and I think you will too…
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 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…
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…
“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…
There’s No Crying – Or Sleeping! – In Baseball!
Don’t believe me that there’s no crying in baseball? You could have asked Hall of Famer Edd Rousch (if he was still around!).
Our Mothers Day Tribute to Baseball Mothers!
We can’t let a great occasion like Mothers Day pass without finding a connection to old-time baseball! So here’s my little contribution to the day, a salute to “Baseball Mothers!”…
The Designated Hitter Is Born, January 11, 1973!
“The pitcher who can’t get in there in the pinch and win his own game with a healthy wallop, isn’t more than half earning his salary in my way of thinking.” -Babe Ruth. And who am I to argue with the Babe!…
Happy Thanksgiving From Baseball History Comes Alive!
The great American family tradition of “Turkey Day” falls in that “no man’s land” between the last pitch of the World Series and the first pitch of spring training. It’s not exactly our favorite time of the year. But somehow, we manage to make it through year after year…
Perfect Christmas Gift For Baseball Fans to Give or Receive: 2025 Vintage Baseball Cards Calendar!
If you have a baseball fan on your Christmas list this year – or if someone is asking you what you would like for Christmas – I’ve got the perfect gift idea: The 2025 Vintage Baseball Cards Calendar!…
Mothers Day Tribute to Baseball Mothers!
We can’t let an occasion like this pass without a connection to old-time baseball! So here’s my little contribution to the day, a salute to “Baseball Mothers!”…
Here’s lookin’ at you Toots!
Today we welcome back Mark Kolier with something just a bit different. Mark recounts the story of Toots Shor’s restaurant and sports bar. During its heyday, it was a favorite hangout of some of the biggest names in sports and show business…
Such A Deal! Free “Baseball History Comes Alive” Bookmarks!
To celebrate the success (hopefully!) of my new book, “Out From Under the Shadow of the Babe,” I’ve had some custom-made book marks made up. I actually designed these myself, and I have to admit they came out pretty nice. I’m making them available FREE OF CHARGE…
Fun With “Erased” No-Hitters!
Wow…you learn sometime new about this game every day! Here’s something I was previously unaware of: Erased No-Hitters!…
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…
Refreshing Chatter: Recalling Baseball From the Back Yard to the Men’s Senior League
Today, we have something a bit different. We welcome back contributor Mark Kolier with an interesting essay reflecting back on what baseball meant to him in different stages of his life: From playing wiffle ball in the backyard, to coaching his son’s Little League team, to playing on a Men’s Senior League team against “real” players…
Baseball History Comes Alive Tops the One Million Hits Mark!
Seven and a half years ago, on January 20, 2016, the Baseball History Comes Alive website was born…
Tribute To Baseball’s Great Innovators!
On May 15, 1915, 108 years ago the Pirates player-manager Fred Clarke files a patent for flip-down sunglasses designed for outfielders…
Fun With Baseball Ejections!
With all the ‘heavy writing” we do around here, every once in a while it’s fun to step back and just have a little fun. So I thought this might be a good time to put out of my old file cabinet an essay I wrote about four years ago on an overlooked baseball topic: ejections…
Happy Thanksgiving From Baseball History Comes Alive!
As some of you may remember, I always try to find some connection between our national holidays and baseball history…
Baseball’s Other “Babe,” Babe Herman: The Only Major Leaguer To Double Into a Double Play!
I was recently reading about baseball oddities (including “The Most Unusual Home Run Ever!”) and it got me to thinking about some other unusual occurrences on the baseball diamond…
THE CLOWN PRINCE OF BASEBALL: Al SCHACHT
“I came into this world very homely and haven’t changed a bit since.” – Al Schacht…
Merry Christmas from Baseball History Comes Alive!
On behalf of everyone here at Baseball History Comes Alive, I’d like to extend to all our readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays..
Subscriber Matthew Clifford Creates A New Art Form: “Baseball Fence Art!”
Back in 2016, life-long Cub fan and avid baseball history fan Matthew Clifford bought a home on a half-acre of land in the rural northern Illinois town of Leland. The property came with a rickey-rack six-foot fence enclosing his backyard…
New Book By Our Subscriber, Adam Rothstein!
As I mentioned many times, we’re always happy to “plug” books written by our subscribers and/or contributors…
Happy Fathers’ Day!
“It was at St. Mary’s that I met and learned to love the greatest man I’ve ever known…He was the father I needed”…
AN IMPORTANT FIFTH ANNIVERSAY MESSAGE FROM BASEBALL HISTORY COMES ALIVE
As Baseball History Comes Alive celebrates its fifth anniversary, we not only wanted to thank you, our subscribers, for your continued support, but also to bring you up to date on the ways we’re trying to build and improve our website…
The Beautiful Color Restorations of Chris Whitehouse
Those of us who frequent baseball history web sites know that there are a few very talented baseball artists out there…
ANOTHER EDITION OF “FROM THE LIGHTER SIDE!”: THE NEW YORK METS’ FAMOUS “SIGN MAN”
Karl Kurt Ehrhardt was born in Unterweissbach, Germany, on November 26, 1924, the son of Willie and Elsie Voight Ehrhardt…
Anatomy of a Sports Bettor: The Compelling Story of Our Contributor, Bill Schaefer
Whatever winnings you accrue betting games, you will give back…and then some -Bill Schaefer…
BASEBALL’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE LEXICON
This week, Bill Schaefer treats us to an interesting essay dealing with the many ways in which baseball’s jargon has found its way into everyday English usage…
The Famous Phil Linz “Harmonica Incident” Sparks 1964 Yankees
In today’s essay, Paul Doyle recalls for us the confrontation between Yogi Berra and utility player, Phil Linz during the 1964 pennant race…
Cub Players Shot by Scorned Lovers, Part I: “The Showgirl and the Shortstop!”
“Billy Jurges was one in a hundred thousand. I met him at a party…and I fell hard.