Frank Brazill of the Seattle Indians became the centerpiece of one of the biggest local baseball soap operas of the 1920s following his stupendous batting year of 1925.
Author: David Eskenazi
David Eskenazi
Many of the historic images on Sports Press Northwest are provided by resident Northwest sports history aficionado, David Eskenazi. A Seattle native, David has amassed an extensive archive of Seattle, Northwest, and West Coast historic sports photographs, artifacts and ephemera. We draw from this archive to illustrate stories in The Vault, and our weekly Rotation feature, The Wayback Machine. Youll see many unique and evocative representations of our sporting past, many of which have never been seen publicly. You are in for a treat! David enjoys sharing his collection and zeal for Northwest sports history. His historical showcase activities have included displays at numerous museums, historical societies, and community events, including an annual Northwest baseball history display at Mariners FanFest, and working on baseball-themed fund raising events for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Since the early 1990s, The Seattle Mariners have enlisted David to help recognize and illustrate Seattle and the Northwests 120-year baseball legacy. This collaboration has produced historical displays at Safeco Field, including seven 35-foot long historical storyboards surrounding the Safeco Field main concourse, Fred Hutchinson seat end stanchions, and classic early photographs on the suite level, all created for the opening of Safeco Field in 1999. From its opening in 2007 to the present day, David has provided thematic ideas, design elements, images, and scores of original historic Northwest baseball artifacts for the Baseball Museum of the Pacific Northwest at Safeco Field. David also contributed visual materials, historical consultation and on-screen interviews for documentaries on The Seattle Rainiers, The Spokane Indians, and the Seattle Pilots, and provided images and other inputs for a multitude of books, magazines, web-sites and other media focusing on Seattle, Northwest and West Coast sports history. Recent books he contributed to extensively include SABRs Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, and Dan Raleys Pitchers of Beer: The Seattle Rainiers Story. David has a keen ongoing interest in sharing stories, expanding and enhancing his collection, and broadening his knowledge and archive of Northwest sports history and memorabilia. If you have questions, memories to share, stories to suggest, or would like to talk to him about selling or trading Seattle and Northwest sports artifacts, please contact him at (206) 441-1900, or at seattlesportshistory@gmail.com
In 1898, Dan Dugdale arrived in Seattle, lured by the prospect of striking it rich in the Klondike. Instead, Dugdale changed the course of baseball history in the Pacific Northwest.
Over a 13-year major league career, primarily with the Cleveland Indians, Earl Averill made “Snohomish” a permanent part of the baseball lexicon.
Nearly a century ago, a one-year wonder for the 1912 Seattle Giants (an early version of the 1995 Mariners), became a one-year wonder for the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves.
The nearly season-long batting slump by the Mariners, and the particular struggles of third baseman Chone Figgins, remind us that Seattle teams of the past employed two of the most feeble batters in Major League history: Mario Mendoza and Ray Oyler.
In the time before the NBA, Seattle’s Buchan Bakers were an AAU powerhouse that featured the region’s premier hoops players post-college.
A couple of brothers from Ballard High School, Earl and Chet Johnson, served baseball, their country and their fans in remarkable ways.
By David Eskenazi and Steve Rudman The Oklahoma City Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, is engaged in a Western Conference Finals series with the Dallas Mavericks, the winner advancing to the NBA Finals. Given the Thunders rapid rise to prominence since leaving Seattle after the 2008 season, Wayback Machine takes a look at the franchises
By David Eskenazi and Steve Rudman An odd thing happened to hockey icon Golden Guyle Fielder the last time he visited Seattle (Oct. 4, 2008). En route to his induction ceremony into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame, Fielder couldn’t locate KeyArena, his enshrinement site, even though he had played for several years
Elgin Baylor, Seattle University’s most famous basketball alum, was a revelation as a player but suffered through years of poor management as GM of the Clippers.