Ranking the Catchers With a commanding presence behind the plate and a rocket arm, Johnny Bench was the best defensive catcher in history. But that wasn’t all. The powerful right-handed slugger won a pair of Most Valuable Player awards and led the Reds to six division titles, four pennants, and two championships. He hit…
On July 30, 2006, the largest Induction Class in Hall of Fame history is honored in Cooperstown. Reliever Bruce Sutter is the 4th relief pitcher inducted along with 17 elected by a special commission on pre-Negro leagues and Negro leagues baseball. The 17 are Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz…
Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter is elected to the Hall of Fame. With 75% of the votes cast by BBWAA members needed for election. Sutter receives 76.9%, slugger Jim Rice is second with 64.8%, followed by reliever Goose Gossage at 64.6%. Sutter, who is credited with perfecting the split-fingered fastball, which is a pitch many major leaguers use in some form today, joins Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley as the only relief pitchers in Cooperstown. In a special election, seventeen Negro Leagues figures are also elected: Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz Mackey, Effa Manley, Jose Mendez, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, Louis Santop, Mule Suttles, Ben Taylor, Cristóbal Torriente, Sol White, J.L. Wilkinson, and Jud Wilson. Manley is the first woman ever elected to the Hall, and the 18 inductees are the largest class in the Hall’s history.
On September 10, 1933, the first East-West All-Star Game in the history of the Negro Leagues is played at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Future Hall of Famer Willie Foster notches a complete game in earning an 11-7 win for the West. Mule Suttles hits the games only homerun. Comiskey was the site of the first major…
On July 27, 1897, one of the finest catchers in Negro leagues history is born in Eagle Pass, Texas. James “Biz” Mackey played from 1918 to 1947, much of that time as a player/manager. In a 1954 poll conducted by the Pittsburgh Courier, Mackey was voted the top Negro league catcher. He was inducted into…
Biz Mackey Positions: Catcher, Shortstop and First Baseman Bats: Both • Throws: Right 6-1, 235lb (185cm, 106kg) Born: July 27, 1897 in Caldwell County, TX us Died: September 22, 1965 (Aged 68-057d) in Los Angeles, CA Buried: Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA Debut: 1920 (4,834th in major league history) Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 2006. (Voted by Negro League Committee) View Biz Mackey’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos). Full Name: James Raleigh Mackey…