Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
There was a time, a few years back, when the Boston Red Sox' then-spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla., included a hallway adorned with a collection of framed black-and-white photos devoted to the team's many legends.
We're talking serious eye candy for the serious fan, from Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr to Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice, except that one of the photographs was a real stumper.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
1st Baseman
1st Baseman
Games
Birth year
"If I were catching blindfolded, I'd always know when it was (Jimmie) Foxx who connected. He hit the ball harder than anyone else.” – Bill Dickey
Jimmie Foxx, the powerful Sudlersville, Md., farm boy, signed his first professional contract with the nearby Easton minor league club at age 16 and made his big league debut before the end of his junior year in high school.
Foxx played sparingly during his first few years in the big leagues, blocked at his regular position, catcher, by another future Hall of Famer, Mickey Cochrane.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Catcher
Catcher
Games
Birth year
“Greatest catcher of them all, (Mickey) Cochrane was,” said Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove of his longtime Philadelphia Athletics batterymate.
Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane was a fiery catcher, nicknamed “Black Mike” for his fierce competitive spirit, who helped lead his teams to five pennants and three World Series crowns during his 13 big league seasons. He spent his first nine years with the Connie Mack’s A’s, capturing American League flags from 1929 to 1931, with Fall Classic titles coming in 1929 and ’30.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
3rd Baseman
3rd Baseman
Games
Birth year
By today’s standards, his nickname seems less than appropriate.
But in his time, John Franklin “Home Run” Baker – author of 96 big league round trippers – was the symbol of power on the diamond.
And more than 100 years after earning his nickname, Baker remains a part of baseball lore.
Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
The winningest manager in baseball history saw his share of outstanding big-game pitchers. But when Connie Mack had everything on the line, Charles Albert Bender was his guy.
“If everything depended on one game, I just used Albert – the greatest money pitcher of all time,” said Mack of Charles Albert Bender, a Native American often called "Chief" who pitched for Mack for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1903-14. “I’d tell Albert when I planned to use him in a crucial series. Then I relaxed. He never let me down.”
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
"He had more stuff than any pitcher I ever saw," legendary manager Connie Mack once said about Rube Waddell.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Manager
Manager
Games
Birth year
"To me, the name of Connie Mack always has been synonymous with baseball, standing for everything that is best for the game he loved.” – Will Harridge.
Connie Mack was perhaps more synonymous with the team he managed than any skipper in baseball history. For 50 years, the slender Mack stood tall in the Philadelphia Athletics’ dugout in his trademark business suit and was known as The Grand Old Man of Baseball. During those five decades, Mack assembled two separate dynasties and won a total of nine AL pennants and five World Series titles.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Left Fielder
Left Fielder
Games
Birth year
“I wish I had nine players named Al Simmons.” – Connie Mack
Born Aloysius Szymanski in 1902 to Polish immigrants living in Milwaukee, Al Simmons was a slugging left fielder for Connie Mack’s fearsome Philadelphia Athletics squads of the late 1920s and early ’30s.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
“Eddie Plank was not the fastest, not the trickiest and not the possessor of the most stuff. He was just the greatest.” – Eddie Collins
For 17 years, Eddie Plank staked his claim as one of the best left-handers in baseball history. When he retired in 1917, Plank had won 326 games, then the record for most wins by a lefty, and had a 2.35 career ERA. He still holds the records for most complete games and shutouts by a left-hander.
