Today Mark Kolier features another forgotten star from an earlier era, Vern Stephens. I was somewhat familiar with him from my work identifying ballplayers in the Leslie Jones Boston Public Library Baseball Collection, in which he showed up frequently. After reading Mark’s essay, I now know he was a much better ballplayer than I realized and certainly deserves consideration for the Hall of Fame…
Smoky Burgess and His Bat Got Around!
Lets face it…the old pinch hitters (from the pre-DH era) are the Rodney Dangerfields of baseball: they get no respect! Today, Mark Kolier sets the record straight with an interesting essay about one of the best pinch hitters of all time: Smoky Burgess. I think you’ll enjoy what Mark has for us today…
An Interesting Comparison Of Two “Hermans”: Babe and Billy!
Mark Kolier returns today with an interesting essay comparing the careers of two fine ball players, both with the last name of “Herman.” One is in the Hall of Fame (Billy), and the other isn’t (Babe). Mark asks the question “why is this so?” I think you’ll enjoy Mark’s attempt to find an answer…
Tim Raines – A HOFer Whose Career Stats Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Mark Kolier returns today with a deep dive into the career of Tim “Rock” Raines. Mark views Raines as an underrated HOFer, and after you read Mark’s essay, you’ll understand why!…
Bob and Irish Meusel – A baseball family affair
Mark Kolier returns today with an interesting essay about the two Meusel brothers, Emil (Irish) and Bob. Younger brother “Long Bob” had a near-Hall-of-Fame career and is better known due to being a part of the 1927 Yankees’ Murders’ Row. But older brother Irish had a fine career too, as you’ll soon see…
HOFer Freddie Lindstrom Ignored the “Pebbles of Defeat” – Somehow He Made It Into Cooperstown!
Today we welcome back Mark Kolier with an interesting essay on a topic we baseball history nerds never tire of discussing: Who belongs in the Hall of Fame and who doesn’t?…
Have You Ever Heard of Dodger All-Star Norm Larker? I Hadn’t Either!
Today we welcome back Mark Kolier with an interesting essay on overlooked Dodger first baseman, Norm Larker, a player I had never really heard of. As is always the case, whenever you look into the career of a former major leaguer, you’ll find some interesting information. Such is the case with Mark’s essay today.
Frank McCormick’s an MVP You’ve Not Heard Of
Comparing merely great players to Hall-of-Famers is a subjective exercise. Two-time MVP winner HOFer Hank Greenberg born in 1911 is remembered as a no-brainer choice for Cooperstown…
Tribute to Lefty O’Doul: What His Career Could Have Been
Today, we welcome back Mark Kolier with an interesting essay on a great hitter who has been overlooked for the Hall of Fame, Lefty O’Doul. Lefty was also one of baseball’s greatest ambassadors who played a vital role in establishing baseball in Japan…
Here’s lookin’ at you Toots!
Today we welcome back Mark Kolier with something just a bit different. Mark recounts the story of Toots Shor’s restaurant and sports bar. During its heyday, it was a favorite hangout of some of the biggest names in sports and show business…
Vern Stephens: The Most Ignored Great Shortstop
When my son Gordon and I began our Almost Cooperstown podcast nearly four years ago, we set out to put nine players in the Hall of Fame who had not been elected. This was in our very first episode, and Gordon put out Vern Stephens, a player with whom I was completely unfamiliar…
How About a New Generation of Baseball Movies?
Over the holidays this year, I caught up watching some baseball movies that have been around for a while. Several of them I never watched before…
Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: A Rivalry That Has Been Largely Forgotten
It’s less than 300 miles between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and both the Reds and Pirates have been around for a very long time. Their NLCS clashes during the 1970s remain some of the best and most exciting in baseball history!
In-game interviews aren’t worth it!
I agree with Mark Kolier. I find in-game interviews with players to be distracting, and, well, annoying. How about you?…
Mark Kolier Recalls “The Greatest Baseball Game I Was Ever a Part Of”
Mark Kolier returns today with another of his interesting personal reflections on the game we all love. This gives us the opportunity to take “time out” from our normal Baseball History Comes Alive fare with some fun, light reading…
The Greatest Games I’ve Ever Seen
Today Mark Kolier returns with the kind of essay I enjoy the most: personal reflections on the game of baseball from years gone by…
Refreshing Chatter: Recalling Baseball From the Back Yard to the Men’s Senior League
Today, we have something a bit different. We welcome back contributor Mark Kolier with an interesting essay reflecting back on what baseball meant to him in different stages of his life: From playing wiffle ball in the backyard, to coaching his son’s Little League team, to playing on a Men’s Senior League team against “real” players…
To create a bigger and better Baseball Hall of Fame – All it would take is 1/3 of 1%
With the recent actions of the Golden Days Era Committee, Buck O’Neil, Minnie Minoso, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, and Bud Fowler are all now to be inducted into Cooperstown…
Followup To Paul Doyle’s Essay on the Dodger-Giant 1962 Playoff Series (Part Two)
A Bitter Stan Williams Recalls His Role In One Of The Worst Innings In Dodger History, October 3, 1962
New Blog Topic: MLB should create an “MOP Award”: Most Outstanding Player!
The 2021 baseball season, conducted during a global pandemic, has provided some amazing individual performances…
New Blog Topic: Ty Cobb had it SO much easier than Mike Trout!
Already at least half the people reading this are aggravated with the headline!…
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…
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.
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!…
