HOME
What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: November 17, 2025
The first big deal of the offseason is reportedly complete, with first baseman Josh Naylor returning to the Seattle Mariners on a five-year contract. The 28-year-old Canadian started this past season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, before being traded to the Mariners for their playoff drive; in 54 games with Seattle, Naylor batted .299 with nine homers, 33 RBIs and 19 steals (previous total career season high: 10). The amount of money involved in the deal is not known, but Naylor should help to maintain the Mariners’ depth alongside Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez for 2026.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1965: Spike Eckert is named baseball’s commissioner, replacing Ford Frick. He’ll be the fourth—and certainly the most clueless—of baseball’s chiefs.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
White Sox infielder Miguel Vargas (26)
San Diego catcher Elias Diaz (35), 2023 All-Star MVP
Kansas City pitcher Seth Lugo (36)
Ryan Braun (42), steroid-stained top hitter for Milwaukee; six-time All-Star; 2011 NL MVP; two-time league leader in OPS; career .330 batting average in 27 postseason games
Nick Markakis (42), 15-year outfielder with career .288 batting average; five-time collector of 40+ doubles; recipient of two Gold Gloves
Jeff Nelson (59), reliever of 798 appearances; 2001 All-Star
Mitch Williams (61), hard-throwing closer who earned “Wild Thing” moniker; 192 career saves; four blown saves during 1993 playoffs for Phillies, including serving up World Series-winning homer to Toronto’s Joe Carter
Gary Bell (89), three-time All-Star pitcher from 1958-69; career 121-117 record
Born on this date:
Tom Seaver (1944), Hall-of-Fame ace with 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts and three Cy Young awards; won 20+ games five times; three-time ERA champ; 12-time All-Star
Mike Garcia (1923), underrated pitcher of the 1950s; two-time ERA champ; career 142-97 record; top AL pitcher of 1954
Rollie Stiles (1906), infrequent pitcher for St. Louis Browns of early 1930s; TGG interview subject
George Stallings (1867), 13-year manager best known for leading 1914 “Miracle” Boston Braves to World Series title
Shameless Link of the Day
Our venerable annual review of the baseball season that was is now live! Look back on the best, worst, most surprising and just plain odd for every MLB team during the 2025 campaign.
Book Review: “Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Essays”
Edited by Louis H. Schiff and Robert M. Jarvis
One of the things I’ve always loved about baseball literature is its expansive and diverse nature of subjects. For every book that focuses on, say, the storied but familiar history of the New York Yankees, there’s another that digs deeper into the weeds and nudges you with a subject that leaves you thinking, “Huh—I didn’t know that.”
Such a book is Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Essays. Published by MacFarland Books—the North Carolina-based baseball book factory—this collection of articles overseen by retired judge Louis Schiff and law professor Robert Jarvis is a meticulously researched book that focuses on a fascinating collection of 11 people who played, managed or ran the game of baseball and, at some point in their lives, took up law. Fun fact, as revealed in this book: Eight managers in the history of major league baseball acquired law degrees—and six of them are in the Hall of Fame. All six are profiled in this book.
What makes Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame such an intriguing read is how these 11 people used their law experience to great benefit during their time in baseball. Branch Rickey, almost overqualified for a life in law school, used his lawyerly instincts to trailblaze his way through baseball history, perfecting the art of the farm system, overhauling failing franchises and, of course, shattering baseball’s race barrier by bringing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Larry MacPhail, less the law prodigy than Rickey, nevertheless leveraged what he learned into a far more successful calling as a businessman known for turning companies (and major league teams) around. Walter O’Malley fused his knowledge of the law with his father’s past as a corrupt New York City politician to become the man that tactfully stole the Dodgers from Brooklyn. And Tony La Russa, failed major league ballplayer, eagerly pursued a law degree to empower his stature as a rising manager—first in the minors, then at the major league level where he collected more wins than anyone not named Connie Mack.
Some of those featured in the book are not surprising for their inclusion, like O’Malley or Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Federal judge turned baseball’s first commissioner. One unexpected subject is Hughie Jennings, who from past reading always struck me as the whoop-it-up baseball character who would have least thought of a career in law. Less ironic but still surprising is Miller Huggins, manager of the Yankees during the 1920s who, as a child, was encouraged by his working-class father-in-law to get a law degree because of his penchant for arguing—and was fortunate enough to be taught by, among others, future President William Howard Taft. There’s also Jim O’Rourke, the man who struck the first-ever hit in National League history whose lofty use of “five-syllable words”—which would have made even George Will blush—gained him the nickname “Orator,” lending himself all too naturally to a post-baseball career in law.
The 10 writers who contribute to Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame are not lightweights; they’re highly experienced lawyers, professors and judges who know their craft—and they know their baseball, too. This double-barreled knowledge results in a smooth, self-assured narrative, not delving too deep into law linguistics that might wear down the many laymen among us (to which I count myself as one). And while most of the authors play it buttoned up and refrain from overt opinion, Elizabeth Marquez’s write-up on Bowie Kuhn stands out for her critical views of the former commissioner, writing that he “often…turned out to be on the wrong side of history” with his rulings and opinions.
Some readers adverse to long books may feel compelled to back away from the 253 pages offered in Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but nearly half of the content consists of footnotes and addenda, greatly shortening the core writing while being made available as an option for further digestion of the facts. The book can be useful for reference, or simply enjoyed as 11 well-written bios on some of baseball’s most influential men, and how their appetite for the law helped mold their place in the game.
Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame can be purchased from MacFarland Books, Amazon, and other online book sellers.
Join Us on X and BlueSky
Besides our growing and active presence on X, TGG has spread its social media wings to BlueSky for those who’ve found the X culture too toxic. For those who are wondering, we provide the same posts on both platforms, and they’re non-political. We’re just talking baseball.
Meanwhile, we’ve given up our fight trying to reactivate our Facebook page, which was hacked last year. The page remains up but is frozen in time, as we are unable to access it—and Facebook, in all its infinite lack of wisdom, continues to provide absolutely no customer support in the matter as they literally have none. All the more reason to join us on X and BlueSky.
To Whom It May Concern
We are proud of what we have built at This Great Game, but we also admit it is not perfect. Occasionally, fans from all walks of life check in and point out errors, and we are grateful to these external editors. Our site is all the better because of you.
Also, we have had many folks chime in on our various lists in the Lists and Teams sections, many of them disagreeing with some of our choices. Since all lists are made to be argued, this is to be expected. If your arguments are respectful, we will respond in kind and join in a civilized debate—and we’ll often see your viewpoints, since no list should qualify as The Gospel. But if your responses contain the sort of vitriol found so often these days in social media circles, you’re going to get ignored. So please, respond respectfully, engage in polite conversation with us, and enjoy the site!
