The Hall of Fame Case for Harvey Kuenn

There are coaches and managers who approach baseball with a Lombardi-like focus on winning without the trademark Lombardi philosophy of striving to obtain psychological, emotional, and physical fulfillment through 100% effort.  Their desire to win is pure.  Their...

Urban Faber’s World Series

Urban Clarence “Red” Faber played in the 1917 World Series like Andrew Carnegie governed the steel industry—with dominance.  Faber spearheaded the Chicago White Sox to a World Series championship by winning three games against John McGraw and the New York...

The Hall of Fame Case for William Shea

William Alfred Shea never played in the major leagues nor did he manage, own, or work in the front office of a team.  Nevertheless, Shea made an invaluable contribution to Major League Baseball.  Without him, arguably, the National League would have had a more...

Welch’s Wizardry

Pitchers can become overwhelming forces during a season. Denny McLain went 31-6 in 1968. Nolan Ryan struck out more than 300 batters in a season five times. Ron Guidry’s 25 wins in 1978 comprised exactly 25% of the Yankees’ 100 victories. In 1985, Dwight...