  Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 884 Registered: 11-2005 |
Aug. 19, 1951 The Detroit Tigers pitch to the first midget. Bill Veeck, owner of the St. Louis Browns, sent 3'7" Eddie Gaedel in to bat against the Detroit Tigers. Tigers catcher Bob Swift was rumored to have offered his pitcher a piece of strategy: "Keep it low." It didn't work: Gaedel walked on four pitches. Major League Baseball then quickly passed a rule that all players had to be at least 4'8" tall. | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 808 Registered: 11-2003 |
http://images.art.com/images/p roducts/large/10125000/1012596 5.jpg His number was 1/8. They should have just hit him, but I wonder if they were thinking about a child abuse charge. | ||
Chitaku Member Username: Chitaku Post Number: 1566 Registered: 03-2006 |
Swift told Eddie that if he swang the bat then snipers would fire at him. I read about it in the baseball history book | ||
Michmeister Member Username: Michmeister Post Number: 228 Registered: 10-2006 |
Bill Veeck, as in wreck....... Legend has it that he once got a letter from a young Fidel Castro asking for a tryout. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 1905 Registered: 01-2005 |
I listened to that game. Harry Heilman was the announcer, and he had a mixture of amusement and wonderment at the event. I didn't quite realize what had happened until I read the next day's Detroit Times....... |
