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An In-Depth Look at a One-Eyed Major Leaguer

Frank Jackson — Sun, 03 May 2026 17:47:44 +0000

Much has been written about baseball during World War II when the military draft stripped rosters of all able-bodied men. While most minor leagues suspended operations, the major leagues soldiered on, so to speak, thanks to President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous “green light” letter to Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Reasoning that baseball would boost morale […]

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The Glory of The Wind

Terry Keshner — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:03:05 +0000

April 29, 2026 The Glory of The Wind White Sox 3, Angels 2 Nougat and vodka might be the two most upholding vices ever created by polite society but weekday baseball has a seat on that splendor train as well. We ate no nougat and drank no vodka on Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, […]

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Where Have You Gone, Giuseppe Dimaggio?

Frank Jackson — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:44:09 +0000

If you could orchestrate your life story, you could hardly improve on the storied career of Joe DiMaggio. A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (which was not founded till 1939, his fourth season in the big leagues), owner of a record 56-game hitting streak, a New York Yankee who played on ten World […]

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The Most Sickening Event In The History of This Universe or Any Other

Terry Keshner — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 05:48:05 +0000

The Chicago White Sox opened the 2026 season by making the short drive north to Milwaukee to face the Brewers but left their hitting, pitching, dignity, humor, and religion behind, getting obliterated 14-2 in a contest so ugly it made you admire the blind and cry with the dead. The Sox actually got off to […]

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Lucky Lohrke or Low-Key Lohrke?

Frank Jackson — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:08:21 +0000

Whenever you read about a disastrous plane crash, there is inevitably a sidebar pertaining to one or more passengers who had reservations but missed the flight for one reason or another. Or there is the occasional passenger who somehow survived the disaster. Last summer, we had the example of a man (Vishwash Kumar Ramesh) who […]

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Ducks On the Pond; Goose Eggs On the Scoreboard

Frank Jackson — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 19:06:55 +0000

Theoretically, a pitcher could give up three hits every inning and maintain a shutout. A 27-hit shutout is conceivable but virtually impossible. Of course, in an era when a complete game is a rarity, musing about complete game shutouts is an exercise in nostalgia. If the complete game shutout were a species, it would be […]

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Red Barrett, Efficiency Expert

Frank Jackson — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:34:34 +0000

The starter was holding his own. Pitching into the 5th inning, he had yielded just one unearned run. Suddenly the manager came out of the dugout and beckoned for a new pitcher, a puzzling move to be sure. As it turned out, the pitcher who came out of the bullpen was ineffective, as were his […]

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Frank Lane’s Cardinal Sin

Frank Jackson — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 19:00:14 +0000

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to obtain an autograph of Wally Moon. Unfortunately, I had nothing in the way of a card or picture worthy of an autograph. So, I hied myself to a local card shop to see what I could find. The price for a 1957 Wally Moon card wasn’t as […]

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Cobb Duels Sisler for King of The Hill

Frank Jackson — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 19:30:43 +0000

Given George Sisler’s 15-year career and lifetime .340 batting average, it is a bit surprising that he had but two American League batting championships – and he had to hit more than .400 (.407 in 1920 and .420 in 1922) to obtain them. The competition was stiff in those days, and one of Sisler’s regular […]

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A Legendary Southpaw South of the Border

Frank Jackson — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 14:48:45 +0000

If you ever visit the Baseball Hall of Fame or spend any time reading about it, sooner or later you will probably hear the inductees referred to as immortals. It is, of course, an exaggeration. On the other hand, that bronze plaque in the hall might qualify as immortal, as it will surely be there […]

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Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Computer Statis Pro Baseball

Derek Bain — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:05:07 +0000

This is the second entry in a series focusing on computer baseball simulations to supplement the chapter “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser” from my Hardball Retroactive book along with the corresponding post at Baseball Analytics. The series focuses on baseball simulations – games in which the primary emphasis is on managerial strategy […]

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When Walk-Up Music Walked Tall

Frank Jackson — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 20:11:51 +0000

The seeds were planted on the South Side of Chicago in 1913, when the White Sox installed a public address system. Only three years old at the time, Comiskey Park was renowned as “The Baseball Palace of the World.” The park was originally dubbed White Sox Park, so it might be that Charles Comiskey wanted […]

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Computer Baseball Sims – Conducting a Solo Draft

Derek Bain — Thu, 01 May 2025 20:26:51 +0000

I recently posted a number of tutorial videos on my HardballRetro YouTube channel offering a step-by-step walkthrough for conducting a draft using various computer baseball simulations. You can view the playlist here or click on the individual links to access the videos. I usually break them into two parts: the first video discusses how to […]

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Promise Unfulfilled…But Why?

Frank Jackson — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 18:08:23 +0000

Some seamheads check the TRANSACTIONS web sites on a regular basis. Me, I check Baseball Almanac, not for transactions, but for obituaries. When a Hall of Famer (e.g, Rickey Henderson) dies, it makes the news. Lesser players receive less airtime or column space. Sometimes much less. Yet Baseball Almanac dutifully records the death of anyone […]

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Minor League Ball; Major League Brawl

Frank Jackson — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 16:27:06 +0000

Two-team MLB markets have built-in rivalries. Even before inter-league play, the Yankees were, in a sense, competing against the Mets, and before 1958, against the Dodgers and the Giants, though the Yanks never played them in a regular season game. The same had been true for the Cubs and the White Sox since 1901, as […]

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Tommy Lasorda: Magnifique Moundsman Of Montreal

Frank Jackson — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 21:30:43 +0000

There is not much one can say or write about Tommy Lasorda that hasn’t already been said or written…raconteur, comedian, linguini lover, show biz schmoozer, coach, manager, goodwill ambassador for baseball…and the game’s greatest bullshit artist, though I don’t believe Sabermetrics has advanced to the point where any statistics can be adduced to bolster that […]

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Do You Feel Lucky?

Frank Jackson — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 20:59:34 +0000

In 1995 Nicolas Cage won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a man committing incremental suicide by alcohol in Leaving Las Vegas. Today a more appropriate remake might be titled Leaving Oakland, which is lacking in alliteration but an accurate description of the professional sports scene in the East Bay. Unlike Nicolas Cage, […]

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The League of Mysterious Baseballists

Frank Jackson — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 17:49:11 +0000

When I was growing up, I lived in a National League metro area. The only games I saw in person were Philadelphia Phillies games, and all I heard on the radio or saw on television were Phillies games. There was a Game of the Week with Dizzy Dean on CBS but it was not available […]

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Square Pegs, Round Holes, and Concrete Doughnuts

Frank Jackson — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 17:31:17 +0000

Eighteen-year veteran Richie Hebner once opined “I can stand at the plate at the Vet in Philadelphia, and I don’t honestly know whether I’m in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis or Philly.” Having spent his 1969 rookie year at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, he couldn’t help but notice the difference between that storied structure and its successor, […]

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Barry Shetrone: O’s Bright Prospect Whose Promise Was Unfulfilled

Barry Sparks — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 18:41:20 +0000

Speedy outfielder was once compared to Vada Pinson Barry Shetrone was one of the Baltimore Orioles’ brightest prospects when they signed him for $4,000 after he graduated from Southern High School in 1956. Although he became the first Baltimorean to play for the modern-day Orioles (1954 to present), he never fulfilled his promise. He played […]

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Baseball’s First Phenom

Frank Jackson — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 17:39:34 +0000

Nary a season goes by without the chattering classes of our national pastime heralding the arrival of one or more phenoms. The phrase “can’t miss” is bandied about with the self-assurance of racetrack touts. If you’re keeping score at home, however, you have probably noted how many can’t-miss players fail to live up to their […]

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Celebrating the Greatness of Willie Mays

Duke Goldman — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 18:32:58 +0000

Yesterday, we all lost number 24, fittingly (albeit sadly) in the year 2024. Now, the last all-time great who debuted in the Negro Leagues is gone. Willie Mays will perpetually reside in “the green fields of the mind”– living on in the memories of all of us who were lucky enough to witness his transcendent […]

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Mr. Rickey’s Plantation

Frank Jackson — Thu, 09 May 2024 17:10:50 +0000

Volumes have been written about Jackie Robinson, his career, and the social ramifications of his appearance on a major league baseball field on April 15, 1947. A question worth asking is why this point in time was so propitious for breaking baseball’s color line. As always, following the money is instructive, so let’s look at […]

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The Vanishing Pinch-Hitter

Frank Jackson — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 19:49:49 +0000

Let’s start this essay with a FUN FACT: the Spanish term for pinch-hitter is bateador emergente, or emergency batter. Now there’s a phrase I’d like to see catch on in anglophone play-by-play accounts. It enhances the drama of the situation. I don’t think there are fewer emergencies in contemporary baseball than in ye olden times, […]

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Often Overlooked Johnny Mize Put Up Impressive Numbers

Barry Sparks — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 19:19:06 +0000

Ted Williams said, “Johnny Mize was one of baseball’s most outstanding hitters.” Indeed, Mize, a first baseman, was a feared slugger who clouted 369 homers and a compiled a career batting average of .312. He was the first player to knock 50 homers (51 in 1947) and strike out less than 50 times. The big, […]

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Walter Johnson’s Beanball Stymied Nemesis Home Run Baker

Barry Sparks — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:41:24 +0000

For nearly a decade, four-time home run champ Frank “Home Run” Baker and strikeout king Walter Johnson waged one of the most intense rivalries in the American League. From 1909 through 1913, the Philadelphia Athletics slugger dominated the Washington Senators fireballer. When Johnson was considered unhittable by many American League batters, Baker batted .385 against […]

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Uni-Cycling, Bi-Cycling, Tri-Cycling…And Beyond?

Frank Jackson — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 15:24:25 +0000

At some point during the 2024 season, you might hear your hometown play-by-play announcer say, “He’s only a (single/double/triple/homer) away from the cycle.” More than likely, it will be a triple, since that it is the least likely result of any plate appearance that results in a hit. If said hitter does complete the cycle, […]

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Magical History Tour: Of Beatles And Ballparks

Frank Jackson — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 16:27:58 +0000

A common Seamhead quest is to see a ballgame at every major league ballpark. Some attempt to do it in one season; others (myself included) take their time. And some aficionados sign up for those bus tours that promise eight ballparks in eight days; in other words, if it’s Tuesday, this must be Detroit. That’s […]

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The 400 K Club

Frank Jackson — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 19:13:10 +0000

At the end of the 1965 season, Sandy Koufax, though just one year away from retirement, was riding high. He led the National League in wins (26), ERA (2.04), and complete games (27) while setting a major league record with 382 strikeouts. Less than a decade later (1973), Nolan Ryan astounded the baseball world by […]

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Major Managers in Minor League History

Frank Jackson — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 23:02:23 +0000

Every now and then we read about a scout, coach, or manager who is described as a baseball “lifer.” Well, that word also applies to someone serving a life sentence in prison. Read into that what you will. Being a lifer is better than being on death row, I guess. Of course, organized baseball does […]

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Texas League Spitballin’

Frank Jackson — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:39:35 +0000

Chances are you knew about spitballs long before you learned about baseball history. Somewhere in elementary school – or maybe in preschool if you were a prodigy – you learned how to chew up wads of paper into soggy little balls which you could throw at someone else or the blackboard. Eventually, you learned that […]

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MLB Works to Incorporate Negro League Stats Into Record

Seamheads — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:30:43 +0000

“A committee of researchers and historians is working to ensure more than 3,400 Negro Leagues players from the relevant years and leagues receives that recognition in the official MLB statistical database maintained by the Elias Sports Bureau. It’s a detailed, demanding and difficult process — but one that recently received the organization and cohesion it […]

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The Grand Strand

Frank Jackson — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 17:20:13 +0000

Centennial years are a big deal. When I was a teenager, they made a big deal about the Civil War Centennial. The same was true several years ago when World War I “celebrated” its centennial. And if we make it to 2041, I have no doubts that the 100th anniversary of Pearl Harbor will kick […]

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Gold Glove, Golden Memories: So long, Brooks

Austin Gisriel — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:10:54 +0000

I have dreaded this day since I was old enough to truly appreciate the perspective that mortality brings. I just heard that Brooks Robinson has died. It must be true because something is gone inside of me. Maybe the last vestiges of childhood innocence that have hung around for these 66 years. Maybe the ultimate […]

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A Star is Reborn: Satchel Paige in the Movies

Frank Jackson — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 15:32:01 +0000

You might be surprised to discover that Satchel Paige is included in the Internet Movie Database, the encyclopedic go-to source for film buffs. In fact, he has four credits, three onscreen and one behind the screen. The first is a formality, as the credit is for an unscripted TV role in the 1948 World Series, […]

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