Tag: St. Louis Browns

Don’t swing

September 28, 2015

This cartoon makes me think of Eddie Gaedel of the St. Louis Browns, the shortest player in Major League history.  Gaedel made only one plate appearance on August 19, 1951 and was walked with four consecutive balls before being replaced by a pinch-runner at first.  Supposedly, before sending him to the plate, Browns owner Bill Veeck had warned Gaedel not to lift the bat from his shoulders.  If Gaedel found himself tempted to swing, Veeck warned, he need only remember that Veeck would be standing on the roof of the stadium with a rifle trained right on him.

baseball-humor-1

This day in baseball: Bresnahan’s debut

August 27, 2015

Eighteen-year-old Roger Bresnahan made his debut as a right-handed pitcher on August 27, 1897 with the Washington Senators.  In his debut, Bresnahan defeated the St. Louis Browns, 3-0, en route to a 4-0 season record with a 3.95 ERA.  This would be his only season with the Senators, however, and by 1900, Bresnahan was making his first appearances as a catcher with the Chicago Orphans (Cubs).  Nicknamed the “Duke of Tralee,” Bresnahan would be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a catcher in 1945.

Library of Congress
Library of Congress

This day in baseball: No-hitter cut short

August 15, 2015

Rube Waddell pitched five innings of no-hit, shutout baseball on August 15, 1905 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.  His effort led the A’s to victory over the St. Louis Browns, 2-0, as he struck out nine of the fifteen batters he faced.  A sudden, wet downpour shortened the performance, however, and Waddell was not credited with a no-hitter.

Library of Congress
Library of Congress

This day in baseball: DiMaggio’s debut

May 3, 2014

dimaggio

Surrounded by a whirlwind of hype and expectation, New York Yankees rookie Joe DiMaggio made his Major League debut on May 3, 1936, at the age of twenty-one.  Joining the ranks of Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Red Ruffing, and Lefty Gomez, DiMaggio led the Yankees to a 14-5 victory over the St. Louis Browns.  In the game, DiMaggio collected three hits, including a triple, and scored three runs.

The shortest player

September 1, 2013
Photo source: Neatorama.com

Fun fact for the day:

The shortest player in baseball history was Edward Carl Gaedel, an American man with dwarfism who stood 3 feet 7 inches tall and weighed a mere 65 pounds (which, incidentally, also makes him the lightest player in history).  On Sunday 19 August 1951, Eddie Gaedel made his only Major League appearance in the second game of a double header for the St. Louis Browns against the Detroit Tigers.  Wearing the number 1/8″ on his jersey, which actually belonged to one of the batboys, Gaedel stepped up to the plate against pitcher Bob Crain at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.  To ensure that he drew a walk, Gaedel was instructed not to lift the bat off his shoulders, which left a strike zone of only 1.5″.  Sure enough, Gaedel walked on four pitches.

Later that week, American League President Will Harridge declared that Bill Veeck, owner of the Browns, was making a mockery of the game, and Major League Baseball took Gaedel out of the record books.  This decision was overturned a year later, and Gaedel was returned to the books.

“Man, felt like Babe Ruth.”

~Eddie Gaedel