I need some baseball facts

[Tzvih123]

I'm doing a small report for school on baseball. Can someone please share some cool baseball facts.

[Firerunner4]

Jimmy Piersall celebrated his 100th home run by running the bases backwards.

Don Baylor played in three straight World Series....for three different teams

Ken Ash won a game on only one pitch

Jack McCarthy threw out three runners at home plate in the same inning.

No one had an RBI in the 1968 All-Star game

[HadWayTooMuch]

Only one active major leaguer was ever killed in a dune buggy accident - Danny Frisella, January 1st, 1977.

Yankees pitchers Mike Kekich & Fritz Peterson traded wives and families in the 70s.

[ilovethelakings]

Joel Youngblood got a hit while playing for two different teams on the same day.

[xbignick]

" The shortest player in major league baseball history was Eddie Gaedel, who stood 3' 7", and played in one game as a publicity stunt for the St. Louis Browns on August 19, 1951. Gaedel, who was a professional little person performer, was hired by Browns owner Bill Veeck to pinch-hit in the second game of a double-header vs the Detroit Tigers.

Gaedel, who wore a uniform with the number 1/8 on it, was walked on four pitches as he pinch-hit for lead-off hitter Frank Saucier in the bottom of the first inning.

Tigers pitcher Bob Cain, who couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of pitching to a little person, tried to throw strikes to catcher Bob Swift, who caught the pitches while on his knees, for the first two pitches. Cain then just soft-tossed the last two pitches in for Gaedel's walk.

After being walked, Eddie Gaedel bowed to the crowd twice while making his way to first base. He was then removed for a pinch-runner. Gaedel was paid $100 for the stunt, but went on to become somewhat famous, and made a lot more money doing public appearances for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, Eddie Gaedel did not live a long life. He died at the age of 36 from a heart attack, after he was beaten on his way home from a local bowling alley. Pitcher Bob Cain was the only person from baseball who attended Eddie Gaedel's funeral."

http://cf.badassdigest.com/_uploads/images/13759/eddiegaedel__span.jpg

[mouschi]

From 1967 to 1971, baseball games were only 7 innings long, in an effort to make the game more appealing.

Technically speaking, Jeremiah Buhl was the first black player to play major league baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1922. He lasted only 1 game.

The Cardinals logo is a cardinal because it was Babe Ruth's favorite bird. They were trying to entice him to play for them.

Satchel Paige, Nap Lajoie and Jimmie Foxx couldn't speak a lick of English, hence the reason you never hear any of them in interviews.

Now, if you want facts that are true ... I don't have any for you, sorry!

[89transam]

April 8, 1986: In his first major league at bat, Will "The Thrill" Clark debuted with a home run in his first at-bat and on his first swing off of Nolan Ryan.

He became the 11th player in history to hit a home run on his first swing in the Major Leagues.

[xbignick]

From 1967 to 1971, baseball games were only 7 innings long, in an effort to make the game more appealing.

Technically speaking, Jeremiah Buhl was the first black player to play major league baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1922. He lasted only 1 game.

The Cardinals logo is a cardinal because it was Babe Ruth's favorite bird. They were trying to entice him to play for them.

Satchel Paige, Nap Lajoie and Jimmie Foxx couldn't speak a lick of English, hence the reason you never hear any of them in interviews.

Now, if you want facts that are true ... I don't have any for you, sorry!

Go with this one for your report. The teacher won't bother looking it up.

[xbignick]

"Moses Fleetwood Walker was an African-American and played major league baseball long before Jackie Robinson. Walker was a catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings, which was a major league team, and he did it in 1884, over 30 years before Robinson was even born. That's just freaking 19 years after slavery was legal!

Walker probably wasn't even the first black guy to appear in a major league game. That distinction goes to William Edward White, a Brown student whose story fans of world play must have loved. But Walker was the first to try and make a career of it, and his story has all the makings of a legend. When Walker first picked up baseball, the sport was so young that mitts hadn't even been invented, and since he was a catcher, he was forced to catch his pitchers' fastballs with his bare hands. This was especially precarious position to be squatting in since Walker had to endure much of the same #@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@ that Robinson put up with nearly half a century later, such as racist epithets, letters threatening to lynch him if he played and opposing players refusing to share the field with him because of his skin color.

Like Robinson, some of the dickishness came from Walker's own team. Tony Mullane, one of the star pitchers of the day, told everyone that Walker was the best catcher he'd ever seen, but that whenever he pitched to him, he wouldn't even look at Walker's signals and he'd just throw whatever he damn well pleased. This type of idiocy led to a hell of a lot of balls ending up beyond Walker's reach or smacking into his ribs, since the catcher had no idea where they were going.
The good news for Walker was that for a brief time in the 1884 season, he was joined by his brother, Welday Walker, as a member of the Blue Stockings. That's right, the same year that saw baseball's first black pro baseball player also saw the second black pro baseball player rise through the ranks.

Unfortunately, Moses Walker's professional career was brief. The Blue Stockings folded the year after Walker made his major league debut. At which point the entire world apparently forgot about him."

Read more: 6 Famous Firsts You Learned in History Class (Are Total BS) | Cracked.com (http://www.cracked.com/article_19430_6-famous-firsts-you-learned-in-history-class-are-total-bs.html#ixzz31qSyYHCD)

[Tzvih123]

Go with this one for your report. The teacher won't bother looking it up.

For my teacher, I'm not sure if he'd even read it.

[gypsyking13]

One of my favorite stories is the Gaylord Perry Moonshot: snopes.com: Gaylord Perry's First Home Run (http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/perry.asp)

Supposedly in 1963, Manager Alvin Dark said there would be a man on the moon before Perry would hit a home run. Minutes after the first moon landing in 1969, Perry hit his first home run.

It's more of an urban legend than fact, but it's still a good read.

[jhand13]

The 1990 MLB Season holds the Record for the most no hitters in one season with Seven. Three of the teams that accomplished a no hitter that season fell victim to a no hitter themselves before obtaining one.

[vwnut13]

Derek Jeter hasn't hit a ball in the air in a week.

[preakness]

Sammy Sosa forgot English after his playing days were over

[Melagoo]

Atlanta Brave's Bob Horner hit 4 home runs in one game and his team lost against Montreal I believe

[rtcrules]

June 12, 1970: Dock Ellis of the Pirates pitches a No-Hitter vs Padres on LSD

[scottmiles]

1977: 1st openly gay baseball player Glenn Burke and his teammate Dusty Baker accidentally invent the high five.

[exitmusicblue]

Matt Latos once high-fived an ump without thinking (exact text is on his 2013 Bowman Chrome card.. this is for reals)

[Dalberov]

It's possible to get 6 hits in an inning and not score a run. It is also possible for a pitcher to get credit for a win without throwing a pitch.

[fungi2510]

From 1967 to 1971, baseball games were only 7 innings long, in an effort to make the game more appealing.

Technically speaking, Jeremiah Buhl was the first black player to play major league baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1922. He lasted only 1 game.

The Cardinals logo is a cardinal because it was Babe Ruth's favorite bird. They were trying to entice him to play for them.

Satchel Paige, Nap Lajoie and Jimmie Foxx couldn't speak a lick of English, hence the reason you never hear any of them in interviews.

Now, if you want facts that are true ... I don't have any for you, sorry!

Ummm so another point for reading the whole way. I disregarded the first point, then went on a long quest to find out that the second point could only be found in this thread. Nice job of convincing me I was an idiot. You did well sir.

[Zoop]

Stan Musial had the same exact amount of hits on the road as he did at home in his career.

[Ephland]

Fernando Tatis is the only player to hit 2 grand slams in the same inning, and both were off Chan Ho Park.

[base set]

There are a heckuva lot of baseball facts to be found … on the backs of baseball cards.

[Turd Ferguson]

July 1, 1990 - Andy Hawkins pitches a no-hitter and loses, 4-0.

September, 1991 - Fay Vincent rules that the definition of a no-hitter is "a game of nine innings or more that ends with no hits".

The Yankees were playing away when the no-hitter occurred. Hawkins loses the no-hitter for a second time.

[pitch21]

If a batted ball were to hit the pitching rubber and ricochet beyond the foul line no further than an extended line past the pitching rubber, then it is a foul ball.

[phabphour20]

7/3/66 - Tony Cloninger of the Atlanta Braves hits two grand slams in a game. And he was a pitcher!

[ScooterD]

Cy Young is the career leader with 749 Complete Games pitched...

Only 65 people have even played in more than 749 Major League games.

[edclay]

June 12, 1970: Dock Ellis of the Pirates pitches a No-Hitter vs Padres on LSD

My all time favorite.

[base set]

Cy Young is the career leader with 749 Complete Games pitched...

Only 65 people have even played in more than 749 Major League games.

You mean _pitched_

[ScooterD]

You mean _pitched_

I do mean that... pitched in NOT played in. Mea Culpa