MLB Lists: A goofy, spooky list of major league oddities
Going through the history of the great game of baseball is plenty of fun, especially when making MLB lists of odd things from the game.
There was a time when many coaches told their young, amateur players sport is a metaphor for life. That may not be true as such, but sports, including major league baseball games and careers, do provide every sort of oddity found in life. In fact, MLB provides some oddities likely not found elsewhere in life. We will provide MLB lists of odd things from the game for you today!
If You Build It…Your Son Will Play for Your Favorite Team
Cincinnati Reds fan Larry Luebbers was such a loyal fan that he built a replica of old Crosley Field on his farm in Kentucky, incorporating pieces from the original park that he’d acquired, including a ticket booth. He used it for softball games. It has long since disappeared.
However, Luebbers’ son – also Larry – eventually made it to MLB and pitched for the Reds in 1993. Then, after enduring several years in the minors, Larry the Younger pitched for the Cardinals in 1999, and after another partial year in the minors, returned to the Reds in 2000.
Two One and Dones from 1954
In 1954, two American League clubs, the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians, featured players who won individual league championships never won by players from those teams in the 63 complete seasons since then. How do you figure the odds of that, even considering the smaller MLB leagues of that era?
The modern Orioles’ first year in Baltimore was 1954; they had been the St. Louis Browns. And that year their pitcher Bob Turley won the AL strikeout title with 185 Ks. No Orange and Blackbird has won the title since then, and only two AL champs have had fewer strikeouts than Turley posted that year; one of them pitched in a strike year. Turley also led the AL in walks in ’54 with 181.
That same year, in Cleveland, Bobby Avila won the AL batting title with a fine .341 mark, a full 37 points higher than any other seasonal mark he ever booked. No Native American has won that crown since he did.
A couple more
Giants: Stay Inside on Nov. 21
Arguably the smallest slugger in MLB history, Mel Ott (511 HR at 5-foot-nine and 170 lbs.), died tragically young in an automobile accident on November 21, 1959 in New Orleans. He was only 49. His longtime fellow Giant, Carl Hubbell, died exactly 29 years later in a car accident in Scottsdale, AZ.
At the very least, it would seem Giants need to stay out of cars on Nov. 21.
Some other notables that passed away on that day includes arguably the least-known Black Sox conspirator Fred McMullin, who was a good-hitting backup first baseman who hit .294/.355/.388 in 1919 in the best year of his limited MLB career that only saw 304 games.
Also, one of the most tragic deaths of recent baseball history occurred on November 21st. Greg Halman was known for his exceptional blend of tools, though he struggled to make the major leagues as his batting average didn’t carry over from impressive AAA performances to the majors. He was also known for being a rare player from the Netherlands, and it was in the Netherlands in 2011 that Halman was killed by his brother during an episode of psychosis.
Two Guys Not Often in the Same Sentence
It is not widely known that Sandy Koufax and Tim Hudson share a strange record. Both finished 12 MLB seasons with the same record, 165-87. That was Hudson’s record at the end of 2010, but the right-hander continued to pitch five more years, finishing his career at 222-133.
Koufax is a Hall of Famer who retired after 12 seasons. His election to Cooperstown is widely understood to be a matter of his utter dominance in the NL and postseason in his last four campaigns, and a sterling 2.76 career ERA.
Hudson’s career ERA was 3.49, but considering he kept pace with Koufax for 12 years and his better consistency than the Dodger great, shouldn’t Hudson receive very serious consideration for the Hall of Fame?
And Here’s One That Sounds like Fake News
Herman Schaefer was a unique MLB talent – a base stealing specialist who stole first base. From second.
Twice.
To be precise, there is some evidence of him doing it twice. There is confirmation that he did it at least once.
The apparent first steal of first from second came “around 1908” when Schaefer was playing for the Detroit Tigers against the Cleveland Naps. The only evidence for this is a story by teammate Davy Jones, which was repeated and eventually made its way into a book and later to the internet. Supposedly, with Jones on third and Schaefer on second, Schaefer took off for first, yelling loudly in an apparent attempt to draw a throw to first and allow his teammate to score.
The catcher didn’t bite, and since there was literally no rule against what Schaefer had done, he was allowed to stay at first. On the next pitch he took off for second again with another scream. The catcher threw to second, and both he and Jones, according to Jones, ended up with stolen bases and a run.
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For Schaefer’s second steal of first there was newspaper documentation. Playing for the Washington Senators against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 4, 1911, he “swiped first” again from second with another runner on third. The Sox catcher didn’t fall for the ploy either, but then Chicago’s manager Hugh Duffy came out to argue with the home plate umpire about allowing Schaefer to do this although why he would do that is unclear. While Duffy pressed his self-defeating case, Schaefer took off for second again. (Calling time was a seemingly sloppy matter back then.)
The catcher then threw to second and the Washington runner broke for home, but was thrown out.
The 1911 incident was later documented by SABR.org, but they call the alleged 1908 steal “almost certainly a fabrication,” whatever that means.
In any event, baseball eventually banned “stealing first,” probably in response to Schaefer. Rule 7.08i now reads: “After [a batter] has acquired legal possession of a base, [if] he runs the bases in reverse order for the purpose of confusing the defense or making a travesty of the game…[the] umpire shall immediately call “Time” and declare the runner out….”
Jeez, those rules guys probably wouldn’t have liked Schaefer taking the field, as he did sometimes, in galoshes while carrying an umbrella either.
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We hope you enjoyed this MLB list of the oddities of the game of baseball!