Portal:Baseball/Did you know

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Did you know...

... that Negro league baseball executive Cum Posey organized the East-West League in 1932, but the league folded before the end of the season?
... that Freeman Fitzgerald played football with Knute Rockne and once struck out 19 batters in a baseball game?
... that despite being named one of the "top prospects of the decade" by Baseball America, American baseball pitcher Nick Neugebauer compiled a career record of just two wins and eight losses?
... that Milwaukee Brewers baseball player Dan Thomas was called the "Sundown Kid" because he refused to play on Sabbath?
... that when Roger Bresnahan adopted the use of shin guards in Major League Baseball on Opening Day in 1907, angry fans threw snow onto the field?

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Did you know...

... that Irv Hall's 1,904 at bats without a home run from 1943 to 1946 places him second among batters since 1900 who never hit a home run during their Major League Baseball career?
... that the "Wizard of Oz" and "Iron Man" are just two of the eight members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who have won Gold Glove Awards at shortstop?
... that John Mayberry, Jr. hit his first two career home runs against the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays, the last two Major League Baseball teams for which his father John Mayberry played?
... that despite its author keeping detailed journals of his experiences, the baseball memoir Odd Man Out was criticized by many people named in the book as being factually inaccurate?
... that Nemo Gaines is the only graduate of the United States Naval Academy to play in Major League Baseball?

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Did you know...

... that while playing baseball at Shibe Park, outfielder Herschel Bennett crashed into a wall, causing him to fall into a 36-hour coma and helping to end his major league career?
... that Helen Callaghan of the AAGPBL and son Casey Candaele are the only mother/son duo to play professional baseball, with Candaele having a career batting average seven points lower than his mother's?
... that in his Major League Baseball debut on July 30, 1961, pitcher Art Mahaffey gave up two singles but picked off each of those baserunners at first base?
... that Johnny Sylvester received a promise from baseball player Babe Ruth while suffering from a life-threatening illness that he would hit a home run for him during the 1926 World Series?
... that Roger Peckinpaugh set a World Series record for errors?

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Did you know...

... that Icehouse Wilson, a member of "Oakland's first World Champion Baseball team," had a career batting average of .000 in Major League Baseball?
... that Chick Lathers quit Major League Baseball in 1913 to become a car salesman for Ford Motor Company?
... that in 2008, Cole Hamels became the fifth player in Major League Baseball history to win the World Series MVP Award and the League Championship Series MVP Award in the same season?
... that journeyman Paul Bako has played for 11 Major League Baseball teams in his 12-year career, and was formerly Greg Maddux's personal catcher?
... that the mustache that Frenchy Bordagaray grew in 1936 is likely to have been the only mustache worn in Major League Baseball between 1914 and 1972?

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Did you know...

... that the San Francisco Giants drafted Brock Bond when they meant to draft Casey Bond?
... that Eddie Gillette led the Wisconsin Badgers football team to an undefeated season and in baseball "beat some of the best pitchers in the 'Three-Eye League'"?
... that the 2005 book Baseball Before We Knew It brought new evidence of the origins of baseball into play?
... that in baseball, no Gold Glove Award-winning catcher posted an errorless season until Charles Johnson and Mike Matheny accomplished the feat twice in six years?
... that Bob "Horse" Reynolds founded the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame within a year?
... that Red Snapp was considered the "king of the minor leagues"?

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Did you know...

... that despite its author keeping detailed journals of his experiences, the baseball memoir Odd Man Out was criticized by many people named in the book as being factually inaccurate?
... that the longest extra inning game in professional baseball history was an International League game that lasted 33 innings?
... that two members of the $100,000 infield have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
... that three of the four batters faced by Mike Palagyi in his one Major League game were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
... that Boston Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks is engaged to a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader whom he has known since childhood?

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Did you know...

...that on Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, the Louisville Slugger Company produced more than 400 pink baseball bats for game use by more than 50 professional baseball players?
... that the 12–6 curveball gets its name from the way the pitch breaks downward, looking like it moves from the number 12 to the number 6 on a clock?
... that Lou Marson hit his first major league home run on the final day of the Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series-winning 2008 season?
...that Jerry Dybzinski's baserunning error in game four of the 1983 American League Championship Series ultimately cost the Chicago White Sox both the game and the series?
... that Nick Castellanos received a $3.45 million signing bonus from the Detroit Tigers, the highest ever for a player not drafted in the first round in the Major League Baseball Draft?

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Did you know...

... that brothers George Wright and Harry Wright both managed the Providence Grays National League baseball team?
... that Mike Cather earned his first major-league win in an 11-inning Atlanta Braves’ win, the same night the Braves earned the National League Eastern Division title?
... that in 1975, his only full season, Stan Perzanowski's earned run average was the lowest on the Texas Rangers?
... that Josh Gibson Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is named for Negro League star Josh Gibson, who has been called the "black Babe Ruth?"
... that Ryota Igarashi used to hold the Nippon Professional Baseball record for the fastest pitch thrown?

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Did you know...

... that baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby had his first plate appearance against King Lear?
... that the Philadelphia Phillies were the last of the original 16 Major League Baseball franchises to win the World Series?
... that Harry Blackmun's colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court felt his long history of baseball in the Flood v. Kuhn majority opinion was beneath the Court's dignity?
... that the Danville 97s minor league baseball team name of 97s was selected as a tribute to the victims of the Wreck of the Old 97 train accident?
... that Frank Graham called Dave Bancroft "the greatest shortstop the Giants ever had and one of the greatest that ever lived"?

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Did you know...

... that Elmer Stricklett is considered to have been the first baseball pitcher to master the spitball?
... that the Curse of Billy Penn is an alleged curse that may explain the failures of Philadelphia professional sports teams?
... that Chick Gandil was the ringleader of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal in American baseball?
... that Buzzie Bavasi was the general manager of the Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodgers for eighteen years, helping the team win their first four World Series championships?
... that Hall of Fame manager Miller Huggins executed the first delayed steal in recorded baseball history?

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Did you know...

... that after future all-star Phil Nevin was taken first overall in the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft, Houston Astros' scout Hal Newhouser quit, protesting that the club should have taken Derek Jeter instead?
... that 21-year-old Danny Duffy's abrupt retirement from the Kansas City Royals organization in 2010 reminded many of when Zack Greinke left the baseball club in 2006?
... that Rudy Árias was a replacement player during the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, though he retired as a player in 1979?
... that Koji Mitsui was unsuccessfully posted to Major League Baseball twice in one offseason?
... that baseball executives thought that Toe Nash was a hoax, similar to Sidd Finch?

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Did you know...

... that Baseball Hall of Fame executive Ed Barrow discovered Honus Wagner, converted Babe Ruth into an outfielder, and pioneered the first uniform numbers?
... that Matt Cain threw more pitches in his perfect game than any other perfect game pitcher before him?
... that Chris Archer pitched USA Baseball's International Performance of the Year in 2010?
... that Ross Youngs is the member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who died at the youngest age?
... that Cotton Tierney's great-great-nephew named a website after him that has received over 4 million page views?

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Did you know...

... that Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD?
... that Lorinda de Roulet is the first woman to direct the day-to-day operations of a Major League Baseball franchise?
... that Max Kepler-Rozycki received the largest signing bonus given to a European player by a Major League Baseball team?
... that Andrew Heaney led all college baseball pitchers in strikeouts during the 2012 season?
... that Johnny Evers alerted an umpire to Merkle's Boner?

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Did you know...

... that umpire Bill Hohn once fist-bumped a player following the conclusion of a game?
... that Andy Dirks gained celebrity status in the Dominican Republic due to his performance in the Dominican Winter League's postseason?
... that baseball pitcher Darin Downs had to regain the ability to speak after being hit in the head by a batted ball?
... that President Barack Obama called to congratulate baseball pitcher Mark Buehrle after his perfect game?
... that Jean Segura stole first base?

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Did you know...

... that Yoennis Céspedes was described by Baseball Prospectus as "arguably the best all-around [baseball] player to come out of Cuba in a generation"?
... that baseball outfielder Adam Eaton received USD $120,000 meant for the retired pitcher of the same name?
... that professional baseball player Bill Bagwell led three different leagues in batting average?
... that four men involved in the 1877 Louisville Grays scandal were banned from professional baseball for life?
... that Josh Bell received a US$5 million signing bonus, a record for a player chosen in the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft?

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