We always enjoy it when we’re contacted by a relative of a former major leaguer. In this case, it’s even more special…
Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: Arky Vaughan
Recreating the life of a man born over a century ago is no easy task, and it’s even more daunting when that man has been dead for nearly 70 years…
New Blog Topic: CURT FLOOD AND THE HALL OF FAME
On numbers alone, former Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood does not belong in the Hall of Fame. It’s true that Flood was an excellent ballplayer…
New Blog Topic: Kevin Trusty’s New Book!
It’s always exciting for us when one of our contributors comes out with a publication of his own, and we’re always glad to give it as much exposure as we can…
Joe DiMaggio’s 56-Game Hitting Streak Begins!
Recent Posts Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive for automatic updates (sign-up block found in […]
From the Lighter Side: Who Says You Can’t Steal First Base??
“They say it can’t be done, but I saw him do it. In fact, I was standing right on third base, with my eyes popping out when he did it.”…
THE STRANGE CASE OF VON McDANIEL
“[Von McDaniel] was an instant major league pitching sensation in 1957, a struggling Class B hurler in 1958, and a career minor league infielder by 1959.”…
New Blog Topic: WHO’S THE GREATEST?
As the great Willie Mays celebrated his 90th birthday last Thursday, the tributes and accolades rolled in from everywhere…
Happy Mothers’ Day From Old-Time Baseball Photos!
As has become my custom, I like to find a baseball connection to each passing holiday. With today being Mothers’ Day, I didn’t have to look far…
A Birthday Tribute To Willie Mays As He Turns 90!
“What can I say about Willie Mays after I say he’s the greatest player any of us has ever seen?” –Leo Durocher, who spent over 50 years in baseball…
New Blog Topic: Baseball – Can It Improve From Here?
Ah, America’s Pastime. It would be a mistake for today’s under-35 baseball fans to believe that baseball before 1973 (the first year of the Designated Hitter,) was baseball in the stone age…
THE “PHENOMENAL” GAME OF BASEBALL
In today’s essay, Paul Doyle returns with an interesting account of one of the true eccentrics from the nineteenth century,
New Blog Topic: HERE COMES THE HOME RUN DERBY
The one would almost be funny if it wasn’t so frightening…
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…
We’re Contacted by Family Relations of Hall-of-Famer Heinie Manush!
“He always went to Cooperstown every year and to old-timers’ games. He went to everything he was invited to. He loved it because baseball was his life…”
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…
“Claire Ruth: The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Babe Ruth,” and “Was Claire the Cause of the Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig Feud?”
“But she had to be to keep Daddy in tow. And she did it in a way that Daddy didn’t mind. -Julia Ruth Stevens, speaking of her mother, Claire…
New Blog Topic: STRIKEOUTS CONTINUE TO SKYROCKET
It’s really an open secret, one that Major League Baseball seems to ignore. But for how long?…
Enos Slaughter’s “Mad Dash” Wins The 1946 World Series
In the photo above, we see Enos Slaughter crossing home plate in a cloud of dust as he scores what proved to be the winning run in Game Seven of the 1946 World Series…
New Blog Topic: BRING ON A KNUCKLEBALLER
Recent Posts Please note: As we compose new blog entries, we will now send each […]
We’re Contacted by Long-Time Friend of Dick Allen!
“I’ve been around the game a long time, and Dick Allen is the greatest player I’ve ever seen play in my life. –Hall-of-Famer Rich Gossage…
New Blog Topic: MLB EXPERIMENTING WITH MORE RULE CHANGES
Well, they’re at it again. While Major League baseball continues to be fixated on speeding up the game, they’re also finally taking heed about the lack of action…
Tony Lazzeri, Part II
Some of you will remember my post from a couple weeks ago in which I mentioned I was reading the new book on Tony Lazzeri written by one of our regular readers, Larry Baldassaro.
New Blog Topic: There’s No Crying—Or Sleeping!—In Baseball! Just Ask HOFer Edd Rousch!
A recent article in Baseball Digest had some interesting information about baseball ejections…
New Blog Topic: WILL WE EVER SEE THE RETURN OF THE ROUTE-GOING ACE
Just recently, I wrote about baseball’s attempt to limit the length of extra-inning games by implementing the rather un-baseball-like rule of putting a runner on second base to begin the tenth inning..
Should Ernie Lombardi Still Be Considered The “Goat” Of The 1939 World Series?
As we all know postseason errors can become magnified and can even overshadow the career of the fine ballplayer. Just think about the late Bill Buckner. ..
New Blog Topic: White Sox’ Yermin Mercedes Breaks 110-Year-Old Team Record Set by Ping Bodie!
And just wait until you hear about Ping Bodie’s 1919 “Spaghetti Eating Contest” against “Percy the Ostrich” And no, I’m not making this up…
The Demise of a Great Franchise: The Boston Braves
Sixty-eight years ago, March 13, 1953, on the day that will become known as “Black Friday” in Boston…
New Blog Topic: WHAT DOES MLB HAVE AGAINST EXTRA-INNING GAMES
When we were kids we always got excited when a ballgame went into extra innings. And why not?…
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.
New Blog Topic: “Words of Regret” The Story of Giants’ Manager, Bill Terry
Did you ever say something off-handedly and regretted it almost before the words were out of your mouth? I know I have…
New Blog Topic: The Philadelphia Athletics “White Elephant”
Have you ever wondered why the Philadelphia Athletics had a “white elephant” as their mascot?…
New Blog Topic: THE .400 HITTER – GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
It’s one of baseball’s magical, yet elusive numbers. So elusive that it hasn’t been achieved in 80 years, not since the great Ted Williams finished the 1941 season with a .406 batting average…
BASEBALL APPETIZERS FOR THE ’21 SEASON
We love to think about baseball and talk baseball and figure out how our favorite team is going to do this year…
Tony Lazzeri Has One of the Greatest Days in Major League History!
“Tony Lazzeri was a money player almost without equal and one of the smartest athletics ever to patrol the diamond”…
Protecting Pitchers From Line Drives
The sound of the crack of the bat. It’s a sound like no other in sports. When winter turns to spring it’s one of the harbingers of the summer game in the United States and wherever baseball is played around the world!…
New Blog Topic: BECOMING A BASEBALL FAN IN THE 1950s
All longtime baseball fans have vivid memories of how it all started, whether it be collecting baseball cards, watching games on television, playing ball with your friends,
New Blog Topic: ARE THE HITTERS BEGINNING TO LOOK DIFFERENTLY AT THE SHIFT
There has been a lot of talk about the shift in baseball this spring, including here in these pages. Some feel it should be banned, others vote for modifying it,
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…
New Blog Topic: Some Thoughts About Infield Shifts
My friend Bill Gutman and I are both old-school baseball purists, so you can imagine how we feel about some of the new analytics such as “launch angle,” WAR, Win Shares, and others we can’t even pronounce…