MLB Lists: A goofy, spooky list of major league oddities
By Rick Soisson
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.