In the 1985 season, Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker was selected for the All-Star Game for the third consecutive year. However, upon arriving at the Metrodome in Minnesota, Whitaker realized he had forgotten to bring some crucial parts of his uniform. While he had packed his socks and uniform pants in his suitcase with his clothes, Whitaker didn’t have a cap, jersey, helmet, glove, spikes, or batting gloves. He requested that an emergency uniform be sent, but the uniform got lost in transit, and Whitaker was forced to improvise.
Whitaker purchased a replica jersey at the park and stenciled his number 1 on the back of it with a marker. He also managed to purchase an adjustable mesh Tigers cap. His All-Star teammates also stepped up to assist: Cleveland pitcher Bert Blyleven let Whitaker wear his helmet at the plate; Baltimore’s Cal Ripken, Jr. had an extra glove; and Damaso Garcia of the Blue Jays was able to provide batting gloves (I haven’t been able to discover what he did about spikes). Starting at second base, he went 0-for-2 in the game before being removed in the sixth inning, and the American League lost, 6-1.
But the story doesn’t end there. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. was so fascinated by his case of forgetfulness that they requested the garment. Whitaker obliged, and the jersey that he wore in that All-Star Game is still in the Smithsonian’s collection today.
Lou Whitaker, 1985 All-Star Game (legendsrevealed.com)Lou Whitaker, 1985 All-Star Game (legendsrevealed.com)
Joe DiMaggio collected his 2,000th career hit on June 20, 1950 in the seventh inning against Cleveland. It was DiMaggio’s second RBI hit of the game, as the Yankees defeated the Indians, 8-2.
After winning seven consecutive starts to kick off the season, A’s right-hander Lefty Grove lost in eleven innings on June 10, 1930 to the White Sox, 7-6. The future Hall of Famer went on to finish the season with a 28-5 record and a 2.54 ERA for Philadelphia.
Lefty Grove, 1939 (Library of Congress / public domain)
During a softball game when I was a teenager, I had a teammate who hit a foul ball, and next thing we all knew, the home plate umpire was on his back, his face beet red. We quickly learned that the foul ball had caught the umpire between the legs — an especially awkward occurrence for a male umpire at a high school girls’ softball game. While everyone waited for the umpire to regain his bearings, girls in both dugouts were noticeably working hard not to giggle too loudly. I felt bad for the guy.
It’s not uncommon for a player to get hit by the ball at some point in a game. However, as in situations like the one above, sometimes it is one of the umpires who gets hit. Someone put together the compilation video below of MLB umpires getting hit by the baseball, and watching it is like watching a train wreck. You feel bad for them, but somehow, you can’t stop watching.
Giants outfielder Willie Mays collected his first major league hit on May 28, 1951. Mays had no hits in his first twelve at-bats in the major leagues, but he hit a home run off Warren Spahn over the left-field roof of the Polo Grounds in his thirteenth plate appearance. However, the Giants would lose to the Braves, 4-1.
On May 6, 1925, Ty Cobb hit his fifth home run in two games. Cobb hit three home runs on May 5th against the St. Louis Browns, going 6-for-6 that day. The next day he hit two more home runs, tying Cap Anson’s 1884 record. The Tigers won 14-8 on May 5th, and then 11-4 on May 6th, over the Browns at Sportsman’s Park.
Johnny Vander Meer, c. 1948 (Baseball Digest / public domain)
John Samuel Vander Meer was born on November 2, 1914 in Prospect Park, New Jersey. His interest in baseball began at the age of 8, listening to the radio as the New York Giants defeated the New York Yankees in the 1922 World Series. He then began playing at age 10 as a first baseman for his school, finally moving to the mound at the age of 17.
Vander Meer was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1933 and assigned to the Dayton Ducks. He bounced around the minors for a few years, unable to impress the clubs who signed him, before finally making his major league debut on April 22, 1937, at the age of 22, with the Cincinnati Reds.
The following season, on June 11, 1938, Vander Meer pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Bees. Four days later, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he threw another no-hitter, becoming the first and, thus far, the only player in major league history to throw two straight no-hitters. This accomplishment is one that many consider to be impossible to reproduce, much less beat.
Vander Meer’s performance earned him the role as the starting pitcher for the National League team in the 1938 All-Star game. He ended the season with a 15–10 record and a 3.12 ERA, while striking out 125 and walking 103. The Sporting News named Vander Meer their MLB Player of the Year for 1938.
Though he was named an All-Star again in 1939, Vander Meer had a disappointing season due to a series of illnesses and arm troubles. He posted a 5-9 record with a 4.67 ERA. Experiencing problems with his control, Vander Meer was sent back to the minors in 1940, returning to the majors in September and posting a 3-1 record the rest of the season. In the 1940 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Vander Meer made only one appearance when he entered Game 5 in the fifth inning, with the Reds trailing 7–0. He pitched three scoreless innings as the Reds lost 8–0. The Reds went on to win the Series in seven games.
Vander Meer would go on to be named an All-Star twice more in his career, in 1942 and 1943. He joined the United States Navy in June 1944, during World War II, where he would play for the Navy baseball team. He was discharged from the Navy in December 1945.
In 1946, Vander Meer returned to play for the Reds at the age of 31, though his performance had started to decline by this time. He did manage to post a 17-14 record in 1948; however, in early 1950, his contract was sold to the Chicago Cubs. He was then released by the Cubs in March 1951, signed with the Cleveland Indians, but appeared in only one game for the Indians before being released.
Vander Meer produced a 119–121 record with 1,294 strikeouts (and also 1,132 walks) and a 3.44 ERA in 2,104 2⁄3 innings over the course of his 13-year major league career. He also collected 29 career shutouts and is one of only six NL pitchers since 1930 to lead the league in strikeouts in three straight seasons (1941–1943).
After retiring as a player at the age of 40, Vander Meer became a minor league manager in the Cincinnati Reds organization for ten seasons before retiring in 1962. He was inducted as part of the inaugural class into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.
After baseball, Vander Meer worked for Schlitz Brewing Co. for 15 years. Johnny Vander Meer died at his home in Tampa, Florida, on October 6, 1997, at the age of 82.
On Opening Day, April 25, 1901, the Tigers managed to score ten times in the bottom of the ninth to beat Milwaukee, 14-13. The game featured the largest crowd ever to attend a baseball game in Detroit as the Tigers made their major-league debut against the Brewers.
Dazzy Vance, 1922 (The Sporting News Archives / public domain)
Charles Arthur “Dazzy” Vance was born on March 4, 1891 in Orient, Iowa. He was the fifth child of Sarah Elizabeth (Ritchey) and Albert Theophilus Vance, a farmer. The family moved to a farm in Pleasant Hill Township in Webster County, Nebraska, near the Kansas state line, when Vance was still very young. While there, he played semipro baseball, and it is believed he earned the nickname “Dazzy” for the dazzling fastball he demonstrated during this time. He then went on to sign with a minor league baseball team out of Red Cloud, Nebraska, a member of the Nebraska State League, in 1912.
Vance bounced around a couple more minor league teams for the next couple of seasons. In 1914, he had a stretch in which he pitched four games in six days and strained his arm as a result. “Something went wrong with my right arm,” he would say. “I no longer could throw hard, and it hurt like the dickens every time I threw.”
In the spring of 1915 his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He lost his major-league debut on April 16th and was promptly dealt to the New York Yankees. After losing all of his three decisions, the Yankees sent Vance back to the minors.
Vance’s arm injury was confirmed in 1916, and the Yankees ensured that he was given medical treatment. He continued to work on his pitching in the minor leagues, bouncing between a number of teams. Vance reappeared in the major leagues only once for the Yankees, pitching two games in 1918 and earning an abysmal ERA of 15.43 in those appearances. After two more years of traveling through the minors, Vance found himself in New Orleans in 1920, pitching for the Pelicans of the Southern Association.
During his time in New Orleans, Vance played in what would turn out to be a career-changing poker game. According to the story, Vance banged his arm on the edge of the table while raking in a pot and felt an intense pain. When the arm was still hurting the next morning, Vance went to a doctor, who diagnosed an underlying injury that had not been discovered by all the medical professionals who had examined him previously. Surgery was performed, though precisely what surgery remains unknown. Nevertheless, following the operation, Dazzy was able to pitch again painlessly. In 1921 with the Pelicans, he struck out 163 batters and finished the season with a 21–11 record. The Pelicans then sold his contract to the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) in 1922, and this time, Vance was in the majors to stay.
In 1922, Vance produced an 18–12 record with a 3.70 ERA and a league-leading 134 strikeouts. On September 24, 1924, Vance became the sixth pitcher in major league history to pitch an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters on nine total pitches in the third inning of a game against the Cubs. 1924 turned out to be his best individual season, as he led the National League in wins (28), strikeouts (262) and ERA (2.16), earning himself the Triple Crown Award for pitchers and winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Vance beat out fellow Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby – who hit .424 that season – for the MVP award.
Vance then pitched a no-hitter on September 13, 1925, against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 10–1. By the 1930s, however, Vance’s play began to decline, and the Dodgers traded Vance to the St. Louis Cardinals before the start of the 1933 season. He would later play for the Cincinnati Reds before returning to the Dodgers. On September 12, 1934, Vance hit his seventh and final major league home run at 43 years, 6 months, and 8 days, the second oldest pitcher to do so to this day. (The oldest is Jack Quinn in 1930, at the age of 46 years, 10 months and 26 days.)
Vance retired from baseball after the 1935 season. He led the league in ERA three times, wins twice, and established a National League record by leading the league in strikeouts in seven consecutive years (1922–1928). He finished his career with a 197–140 record, 2,045 strikeouts, and a 3.24 ERA.
Dazzy Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He died of a heart attack in 1961 in Homosassa Springs, Florida.
This poem by Ralph McMillin was published in the early-20th century, and you can sense the time period in the tone and language of the piece. I like the juxtaposition of the cool escape of evening baseball against the harsher daytime responsibilities of work or school.
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I The great stand’s massive horseshoe towers And casts its shadow o’er the field, The clean-cut base paths carve the sward, An emerald diamond on a shield; Across the glossy sheen— The verdant stretching green— Lazy, the bleachers rise, Gaunt frames against the skies. Daily I labor here, Labor to cry and cheer, Closing my eyes, look back Along the winding track, And see, dim set there in the year’s gray haze, The tree-fringed diamond of my boyhood days.
II The maple trees that lined the road, The meadow stretching to the stream; The deep worn sunken pitcher’s box, Each measured white stone base a-gleam, Planted at ev’ry turn, Your bare, bruised feet to burn; There in the evening’s cool Respite from field or school, Sacred to Saturday’s Scroll of tremendous frays; There where the hills looked down, Guarding the nestling town, First came the Vision, pointing out the way, The dream of Big League diamonds far away.
