1. The curse of the Great Bambino
George Herman “Babe” Ruth is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all-time. He was originally a pitcher, but converted to an outfielder when it was learned that he could hit as good as anybody playing at that time. It started in the offseason of 1919, when the Boston Red Sox sold Ruth to the New York Yankees for nearly $400,000, almost worth the Yankees franchise itself at the time. The Red Sox proceeded to go 86 straight years after the trade without winning a World Series. That’s where the superstition arose, and the “Curse” was finally broken in the 2004 season. The Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, and swept the St. Louis Cardinals, ending the Babe’s curse for good.
2. The Major League Baseball player who was traded for himself
Harry Chiti played behind the plate from 1950-1962. The irregular event occurred in 1962, his final year. He was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the New York Mets for a “player to be named later.” After putting up sub-par numbers in New York, they eventually traded him back to the Indians as the “player to be named later,” making him the only player in Major League history to be traded for himself.
Chiti was immediately assigned to their AAA team, and remained there the next two years before he retired at the age of 30. He never made it back the the Majors.
3. Richie Ashburn hits fan with foul ball… twice
During a game on August 17, 1957, Hall of famer Richie Ashburn struck a fan with a foul ball twice in the same at-bat, the second time while the woman was being carried off on a stretcher. The spectator was Alice Roth. The first foul ball struck her in the face, breaking her nose. The game was immediately paused for medics to tend to her. Play resumed as she was being carried off on a stretcher, and the next pitch was fouled off by Ashburn. This foul subsequently hit her as she was being carried off by the medics.
4. Shortest player in Major League history
Edward Carl Gaedel stood a mere 3 foot, 7 inches tall, the shortest player to appear in a major league game. He stepped in the box for one at-bat, with the manager’s intention being for him to draw a walk. With his lack of height, the strike-zone was about a foot and a half. Four pitches later, he was trotting down to first base and into the history books.
5. “They’ll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run.” – Gaylord Perry
In 1963, San Francisco Giants pitcher Gaylord Perry said jokingly, “They’ll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run.” On July 20, 1969, Perry hit the first home run of his career. It was only 20 minutes after Apollo 11 landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong inside.
Sources: todayifoundout.com
