Our Readers' Submissions Vault:
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We know from our mail that we're lucky to have a knowledgable following, thousands of experts who know as much about the greatest game ever created as any of the writers who grace this site. Those of you who have visited the Baseball Library from its inception know that we used to regularly feature articles from our our reader-writers. We've decided to continue that practice with our Readers' Submissions Vault, the place where we will archive articles from the people who make this site so worthwhile.
March 13, 2009: From 1993: BBL Publisher Mike Shatzkin's Conversation With Clyde Sukeforth, Part 1
Yes, the Baseball Library does have a publisher, a stalwart fellow by the name of Mike Shatzkin, and he’s a baseball historian in his own right. This interview with the late former major league catcher ...Read More
January 16, 2009: Our Editor-in-Chief Zips Open His Mailbag
I read the Hall of Fame list in the BBL the other day, and noticed your publication\'s knock on Andre Dawson as a viable Hall of Fame candidate. In a recent column, Ken Rosenthal wrote that Dawson shouldn\'t be judged for his ca...Read More
November 25, 2008: Rufe Gentry: A Tiger During the Second World War by Jim Sargent
We don\'t publish enough articles about major league baseball during World War Two. This fascinating account of a journeyman pitcher who nearly tasted immortality in 1944 appeared on our pages in February, 2001.
James Ruffus "Jim" Gentry pitched one full ...Read More
November 20, 2008:
No, Christy Mathewson hasn\'t been one of our readers, least not that we know of, but the college graduate was a glutton for the printed word, and we\'d like to think he\'d be checking in with our newsletter every morning i...Read More
November 18, 2008: Another Great Team From Our Reader's Submission Vault: The 1984 Detroit Tigers
1984 Detroit Tigers, 104-58 (.642)
Manager: Sparky Anderson
Won division by 15 games over the Read More
November 11, 2008: Another Great Team From Our Archives: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals Start a Mini-Dynasty
Record: 106-48 (.688)
Manager: Billy Southworth
Won National League pennant by two games over the Brooklyn Read More
November 7, 2008: From Our Archives: Looking Back at the 1939 Yankees
So here was the deal: Shortly after this team opened the season, management learned it\'s second best player, the second best player in the history of the franchise, had contracted an incurable, deadly disease. Then the team\'s best player, the best young player in all of baseball, went on ...Read More
October 30, 2008: July 2, 1903: The Mysterious Death of Ed Delahanty. The First Philadelphia Phillies Superstar By Michael Adler and Nathan Hale
This morning, this morning the City of Brotherly Love has a World Series championship to celebrate. Congratulations to Jimmy Rollins, Read More
October 17, 2008: Flashback from Our Submissions Vault: When the Philadelphia Phillies Didn't Own the City of Brotherly Love
After beating the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2008 National League pennant, Chase Utley, Read More
September 25, 2008: From Frank Ceresi: The History of the Temple Cup
It\'s almost over, September that is, and that means the baseball postseason is about to begin with all its attendant drama. Seemed a good tie to step into the Wayback Machine with Sherman and Mr. Peabody, to visit a time when the word "postseason" play had little meaning, a period before b...Read More
September 19, 2008: From Our Readers' Submission Vault: Steve Newby's Meditations on Pitching
Roaming through the vault, we found this piece which first appeared on our pages in 2001. It\'s an unusual article for a Friday morning; unusual, to be sure, for any more, an almost stream-of-consciousness rumination on the qualities that place pitchers "in the zone." The author, Steve Newb...Read More
September 15, 2008: Baseball at the Turn of the 20th Century by Bob Chaikin
Baseball\'s modern accouterments often seem to possess too much velocity for such a leisurely. Sitting in a park this weekend, watching the frenetic scoreboard exhort the crowd to shout, to applaud, to wave, to feel something, we thought about an earlier game, played on quiet summer ...Read More
September 10, 2008: The Amazing 1894 Boston Beaneaters by Frank Ceresi
With the Boston Red Sox closing in on another playoff berth, and perhaps a division title, we thought it was a good time to look back on another Boston club that didn\'t wear red sox. This article by Frank Ceresi appeared in the Library o...Read More
September 8, 2008: One Fan's Jewish All-Star Team
Baseball fans can find countless ways to entertain themselves when they\'re not watching the game. Composing lineups for various All-Star teams, for instance. We\'ve seen rosters composed by race, state of birth, height, weight and who knows what else. In 2000, Adam W. Green, a writer an...Read More
September 6, 2008: From Baseball Writer Par Excellence Harvey Frommer: A Profile of The Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio
In the early days of the Baseball Library, Harvey Frommer, an esteemed baseball writer, was a frequent contributor to these pages. Here is a piece he wrote for us in February, 2002, a profile of Joe DiMaggio.
"I\'d like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yan...Read More
August 26, 2008: Presidents and Baseball by Frank Ceresi
With the Democratic National Convention opening last night, we thought it appropriate to run this article on U.S. presidents and baseball, which first ran in our pages on February 5, 2000. The author is the curator of the National Sports Gallery in Washington, D.C.
...Read More
August 25, 2008: Nothing to Blame But the Ball: Remembering the Home Run Surge of 1987 by Tommy Szarka
Home run totals often fluctuate from season to season, but 1987 saw an unusual power surge. Tommy Szarka wrote this article which appeared in the BBL on April 25, 2002. We\'re not sure his conclusions are correct, but he\'s right when he says something was going on that year. Even ...Read More
August 22, 2008: From Dean Lollis -- When Things Weren't Fine With Bill Voiselle: Johnny Hopp, Mel Ott and That $500 Pitch
So as we rummaged through our archives this morning, we discovered this story, first published in our pages on March 31, 2005, and it got us wondering, "What if a team applied the same percentage for this fine to a modern ballplayer?" Really, can you imagine Read More
August 21, 2008: An Overview of the Three-I League by Bill Steinbacher-Kemp
Minor league baseball remains an indispensable incubator for major league talent, but it no longer carries nearly the impact in exerted on U.S. town life decades ago. In this article, which first appeared within our pages on February 13, 2003,Read More
August 19, 2008: Strange Endings to Baseball Careers by Sam Person
From our "Ripley\'s Believe It or Not" baseball file, we unearthed this article by Sam Person, a mathematician and baseball historian who regularly contributed to these pages back in the day. This article by Sam first appeared in the BBL on September 22, 2000
On Septemb...Read More
August 18, 2008: The Pitching Staff Behind Murderers' Row: Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Wilcy Moore and the 1927 New York Yankees
he 1927 Yankees Pitching Staff
by Jeff Linkowski (Pitsburgh, PA)
The 1927 New York Yankees often vie for the mythical title of "The Greatest Baseball Team of All Time," a club noted for its terrifying offense....Read More
August 18, 2008: The Pitching Staff Behind Murderers' Row: Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Wilcy Moore and the 1927 New York Yankees
he 1927 Yankees Pitching Staff
by Jeff Linkowski (Pitsburgh, PA)
The 1927 New York Yankees often vie for the mythical title of "The Greatest Baseball Team of All Time," a club noted for its terrifying offense....Read More
August 15, 2008: Bill James, Win Shares and the Evaluation of Defense Part 2 by Michael Hoban
Bill James is regarded by many as the Godfather of Sabermetrics, the ultimate baseball analyst. In this article, mathematician Michael Hoban analyzes the analyst’s pet stat, Win Shares, and its ability to place a value on defense...Read More
August 14, 2008: Bill James, Win Shares and the Evaluation of Defense Part 1 by Michael Hoban
Bill James is regarded by many as the Godfather of Sabermetrics, the ultimate baseball analyst. In this article, mathematician Michael Hoban analyzes the analyst’s pet stat, Win Shares, and its ability to place a valu...Read More
July 4, 2008: Part Two of Ty Cobb's Trick Plays and How to Make Them
This is the second part of an article by Detroit Tigers outfielder and Hall of Famer Ty Cobb. The piece first appeared in Baseball...Read More
July 2, 2008: Trick Plays and How to Make Them by Ty Cobb, outfielder, Detroit Tigers, Part 1 of 2
All right, so Ty Cobb isn't a reader. But we'd like to think that the "toughest man in baseball" would visit these pages if he were still ambulatory. This article by the Georgia Peach first appeared in Baseball Magazine in July, 1916, a season in which Cobb hit .371. Based on this article, we s...Read More
July 1, 2008: The Final Installment of Mike Shatzkin's Three-Part Conversation with Clyde Sukeforth
Baseball Library publisher Mike Shatzkin conducted this interview with the late former major league catcher Clyde Sukeforth in 1993 and it first appeared in our page in 2000. As Mr. Shatzkin explains, “I...Read More
June 27, 2008: A Look at Pitchers Who Take Each Other Deep
Dear Baseball Library: The other day Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners made all the baseball highlight films when he hit a grand slam against Johan Santana of the New York Mets in Shea Stadium. I know was the first grand slam hit by an American League pitcher since Steve Dunning did it for the...Read More
June 22, 2008: Part Two of BBL Publisher Mike Shatzkin's Conversation With Clyde Sukeforth
Mike Shatzkin, publisher of the Baseball Library, also is a baseball historian in his own right. Here is the second part of an interview he conducted with the late former major league catcher Clyde Sukeforth...Read More
June 21, 2008: From 1993: BBL Publisher Mike Shatzkin's Conversation With Clyde Sukerforth
Yes, the Baseball Library does have a publisher, a stalwart fellow by the name of Mike Shatzkin, and he’s a baseball historian in his own right. This interview with the late former major league catcher Clyde...Read More
June 19, 2008: Mike Shatzkin Interviews Clyde Sukeforth in 1993
Yes, the Baseball Library does have a publisher, a stalwart fellow by the name of Mike Shatzkin, and he’s a baseball historian in his own right. This interview with the late former major league catcher Clyde...Read More
June 8, 2008: From 1993: BBL Publisher Mike Shatzkin's Coversation With Clyde Sukeforth, Part 1
Yes, the Baseball Library does have a publisher, a stalwart fellow by the name of Mike Shatzkin, and he’s a baseball historian in his own right. This interview with the late former major league catcher Clyde...Read More
May 12, 2008: S. Derby Gisclair on the Wartime Contributions of Zeke Bonura
(Memorial Day will end this month, and to get a headstart on that weekend, we went into our archives to dust off this article on the wartime contributions of Zeke Bonura. Written by S. Derby Gislair, the piece first appeared on our pages in February, 2004)
To the casual baseball fan, Z...Read More
March 10, 2008: Why Babe Ruth is the Greatest Home-Run Hitter by Hugh S. Fullerton
No, this is not a reader's submission per se, would that it were. Hughie Fullerton was one of the most prestigious sportswriters of the early Twentieth Century. His reporting of the 1919 World Series helped to drag the Black Sox Scandal into public view. In 1921, when this fascinating article fi...Read More
March 9, 2008: From Jeff Kallman - Dr. Strangeglove or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned To Hit The Bomb
Our scout down in Florida (all right, the scout, a resident of West Palm Beach, is the brother of the editor-in-chief) reports that Jason Giambi, the first baseman of the New York Yankees, appears fit, streamlined and much more mobile around the bag. In thinking about the recent defensive shortc...Read More
February 20, 2008: Presidents and Baseball by Frank Ceresi
With the presidential primaries in full swing, we thought it would be a good time to run this article from our archives, a piece about national leaders and the national pastime by Frank Ceresi. It first appeared in our pages in March, 2000
"When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend and...Read More
January 13, 2008: From Bill Gilbert: Who’s on Deck for Consideration for the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Now that Goose Gossage has finally been elected to the Hall of Fame, it’s a good time to look ahead at the candidates that will be on the ballot in coming years. The 2008 ballot was very unfriendly to newcomers with the 543 members of the BBWAA awarding this group of 11 players only 143 votes, 13...Read More
December 26, 2007: Thirty Years Ago: The Birth of the Mustache Gang
Back in the day, before most ballplayers started resembling clones of GQ models, the Oakland Athletics of Reggie Jackson,...Read More
December 13, 2007: From John Klima: The Last Wish of Jackie Robinson
We're opening the Readers' Submissions Vault today to store our first entry, and we're pleased to chose something special: a spanking new article by John Klima on Jackie Robinson. We feel it’s appropriate to run this piece on De...Read More
