Joe Bauman: Leave him alone – he’s Our Joe!
When heckled by fans, the German-Americans in the stands would yell back “leave him alone, das ist unser Choe!” “Unser Choe” was German for “Our Joe,” pronounced in the dialect particular to Milwaukee. […]
Category: Minor Leagues
Len Koenecke: Trains, Planes and Fire Extinguishers
It seemed like some crazed pulp magazine story, but it was really happening. The co-pilot was no match for the crazed passenger who now hammered on his body with ham-sized fists until he slumped to the cabin floor. Now nothing stood between him and the pilot. […]
Bill Faul: The Looney Tune
He had been the best college pitcher in the nation, a player in the majors, a Tiger and a Cub, and featured in Life Magazine. Yet now, here he was back in the minors, about to bite the head off a parakeet… […]
Babe Ruth: Becoming the Babe
There was no more famous Baltimore Oriole than Babe Ruth. The 19 year-old got his start with Jack Dunn’s Birds, and between Dunn and catcher Ben Egan, Ruth quickly developed into the hottest pitcher in the minor leagues. However, competition from the Federal League led Jack Dunn to sell his greatest find, causing a lifetime of resentment and the reason why he would hold on to so many of his stars long past the time they should have gone to the major leagues. […]
Roy “Tex” Sanner: The Houma Houdini
Roy “Tex” Sanner’s 1948 minor league season was one for the ages: winning 21 games while also taking home the Triple Crown for batting. So why did Tex Sanner not appear in a single major league game? […]
Steve Bilko: The Legend of Stout Steve
The energy-sapping weight loss programs the St. Louis Cardinals’ coaches insisted on seemed to block any success Steve Bilko hoped to achieve in baseball – that is until a minor league manager left him alone to do what he did best: hit the ball. […]
Mickey Stubblefield: Lil’ Satchel Integrates the Kitty League
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. […]
“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… […]