Baseball Reference is turning 26 today! Soon enough, it will be Arbitration Eligible and ready to enter the free agent market; we’re even hearing rumors that it has changed agents to Scott Boras!

In honor of this special day, we asked our staff to share their favorite things that you can only find on Baseball Reference! The best stats, the best features, easter eggs, weird stuff, and a lot more. And, wouldn’t you know it? We got exactly 26 responses!

So, to celebrate BR’s 26th birthday, here are 26 weird, wacky, and wonderful things that you can only find on Baseball Reference.

And while you’re at it, here are 10 more things you probably didn’t know you could find on Baseball Reference.

1. Bob Gibson’s 1968 gamelog. 304 innings of the most masterful pitching you’ll ever see
2. Quirky box score comments! You never know when you’ll be looking at a random Cubs-Brewers game, only to find that Jean Segura got very confused on a play in the eighth. Or how about this Dodgers-Giants game that was finished under protest?
3. Madison Bumgarner’s alter-ego: “Mason Saunders.” If you know, you know.
4. Searching “random” sends you to any random page on BR. It’s a fun way to explore baseball history; just don’t blame us when you realize four hours have gone by.
5. Speaking of baseball history, we have a This Day in Baseball History page for every day of the year! And trust us, there’s something weird, wacky, and wonderful on every single one.
6. Cups of coffee! While the site does not yet have the ability to brew a fresh, hot cup of coffee for you, it does have a page where you can see every player who received a cup of coffee in the majors i.e. every player in MLB history who played only one game.
7. Baseball Reference is the only place where you can admire the epic matchup between Dave Hollins and Butch Henry
8. Searching “George Costanza” sends you to Jason Alexander’s page!
9. Will Ferrell’s epic Spring Training stunt lives on forever
10. Paul O’Neill’s page lists “Kicks: Left”
11. Baseball Reference’s tables are designed to get you the information you need at a glance. No extraneous junk, nothing that shouldn’t be there, just clean, user-friendly design.
12. You can find every player nickname in history on one page.
13. On Baseball Reference, The Negro Leagues are Major Leagues, thanks to the work of researchers at Seamheads and Retrosheet.
14. We’re always adding new Easter Eggs and fun features. Try searching “Grimace” in the search bar and see where it takes you!
15. Wade Boggs’ epic fishing achievement is forever memorialized on his BR page
16. Struggling with adversity? BR has a page of pitchers who lost 20+ games in a season. Check out all the other all-time greats who had to take a couple Ls before ultimately triumphing
17. On BR, you can toggle batting lineups and defensive orders by opponent starting pitcher handedness. Check out how your favorite team sets up against lefties or righties.
18. Another helpful tip! Any time you see red text on a table, give it a click! For example, the red text on splits pages will give you a breakdown of team / player stats in that split
19. Mariners’ manager Scott Servais’ all-time quote about the team’s “fun differential” lives forever in a tribute on the 2021 Mariners’ BR page.
20. Santa’s reindeer have their own Baseball Reference pages!
21. Hover over the text on Gold Glove and Silver Slugger history pages to see player stats!
22. Search “WAR what is it good for” and see what you get!
23. We present historical names, which can be especially tricky and change often for teams during the 1800s. See what crazy names your favorite team used to go by!
24. There’s more to Baseball Reference than just American major league baseball! The Register includes minor leagues, foreign leagues, college, and a lot more…
25. …Meaning that you can admire Sadaharu Oh’s home run statistics whenever you want.
26. Mookie Betts has three perfect games on his Baseball Reference page. No, not baseball perfect games, bowling ones!

(last updated on December 9, 2025)

After the last two years of postseason excitement, the Detroit Tigers may be regular contenders again. But before we can look forward, we must first look back at this proud franchise with some all-time names. This is the franchise of Cobb, Crawford, Kaline, and Greenberg, and those are just the old timers. Since 1901, the Tigers have made 18 playoff appearances, won 11 American League pennants, and captured 4 World Series titles. We are going to visit Motown to find out who has blasted the most long balls at old Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park. Here are the all-time leaders in home runs for the Detroit Tigers.

(last updated on December 1, 2025)

Founded in 1882, originally known as Allegheny City, the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of MLB’s oldest and most historic teams. You could make a very competitive starting nine and bench with all of their Hall of Famers. They even had a long-time manager recently inducted into Cooperstown. The last 30 years or so haven’t been great for the Buccos, but there is a rich history for this franchise: 17 playoff appearances, 9 National League pennants, and 5 World Series titles. Interestingly, all five of their championships came in seven-game battles. Being a small-market team with financial limitations, the Pirates have had trouble staying competitive in the modern world of baseball, so hopefully Paul Skenes can help return them to glory soon. It’s time to meet some legends of Forbes Field, Three Rivers Stadium, and PNC Park. Grab a Primanti Bros. sandwich and an Iron City beer because here are the all-time leaders in home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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