When Jackie Robinson integrated the International League in 1946, there were 52 minor leagues operating in North America. It was up to 51 other strong individuals to be the first in the other 51 leagues. Mickey Stubblefield was one of them. […]
Category: Minor Leagues
“Rosey” Rosenstein: Memorial Day, 2022
Among the 200,000 U.S. Army soldiers that stormed ashore on the Philippine island of Leyte in November of 1944 was a 24 year-old staff sergeant named Milt Rosenstein. Just three years earlier he had a spectacular first season in professional ball, winning 20 games, led his league in strikeouts and pitched the Miami Beach Flamingos to the Florida East Coast League Championship. […]
Pee Wee Reese: A Shortstop Grows in Louisville
In 1938, a teenage shortstop straight out of a city church league emerged as the best shortstop in the minors, a prospect so highly regarded that the Boston Red Sox bought the entire Louisville Colonels franchise just so they could have him. […]
Frank “Dins” Makosky: The Johnny Appleseed of the Forkball
Yankees manager Joe McCarthy knew the only way to win the 1936 World Series was by neutralizing Carl Hubbell’s screwball. None of his players had faced a screwballer all year, and that was a problem. Fortunately, McCarthy had the answer… […]
Minnie Miñoso: Cuba to Cooperstown via the Negro Leagues
When the teenage Orestes Miñoso approached the manager of the Ambrosia Candy Company baseball team for a tryout, little did he know that it would be the beginning of a career that would span four countries and last seven decades. […]
Memo Luna: The Story Behind Card 222
One can almost hear the voices of 10 year-old boys repeating the name “MEMO LUNA!” as they expectantly thumbed through a freshly opened pack of the new 1954 Bowman bubble gum cards. While coming across a Ray Katt, Gil Coan or Mel Hoderlein would have merited merely a grunt or groan, even the most jaded 10 year-old boy had to admit that “Memo Luna” had an alluring ring to it. […]
Eddie Kazak: Bayoneted, buried and blown up, but not broken
Baseball’s great for providing examples of how to overcome adversity and succeed – some are well-known like Jackie Robinson and Pete Gray – but I’ve always drawn my inspiration from a now-forgotten ballplayer named Eddie Kazak. […]
Jack Riley: The last season of the Shanghai City League
Just as he had every summer since 1931, Lucky Jack Riley made sure his Wednesdays and Sundays were cleared for playing baseball. However, world events would make 1940 the last season for both the Shanghai City League and Lucky Jack’s baseball career… […]
Roy Counts: Crime, Punishment & Outsider Baseball
The term “outlaw league” described a league that wasn’t recognized by Organized Baseball, the entity that controlled the major and minor leagues. But for Roy Counts, “outlaw league” had a slightly different meaning… […]
Mickey Mantle: Got Those Kansas City Blues
Along with the weight of being Joe DiMaggio’s successor, Mickey Mantle also had to endure being labeled a draft dodger, steering clear of shyster businessmen, avoiding exploding fireworks, and most of all, keeping from being sent back to the minors. […]