A Brief History
On July 24, 1983, Major League Baseball experienced a strange incident that caused a furor on the field, in corporate offices, and in the homes of baseball fans all over the country when George Brett of the Kansas City Royals blasted a homerun and then had it taken away! Stunned and outraged, Brett just about had a meltdown on the spot while the Yankee Stadium crowd roared its approval. Referred to as “The Pine Tar Incident,” the decision to take away Brett’s homer went down in baseball lore as one wacky, weird, and wonderful incident, and here we list 5 of these memorable baseball incidents. (See our article 10 Weird Baseball Incidents from June 23, 1917.)
Digging Deeper
1. “Brick” Owens earns his nickname, 1903.
Clarence Owens was the umpire in the famous combined no-hitter listed above and was assaulted by Babe Ruth. In fact, this umpire had many incidents of being assaulted by players and once a fan! A player that disagreed with Owen’s calling of balls and strikes once assaulted him after a game at the hotel they were staying at. In another game, when the batter attacked Owen after being called out on strikes, a fan ran onto the field and whomped the unsuspecting ump in the head with a bat! (The fan’s dad paid Brick $750 to drop assault charges, which he did since that amount was equal to his annual income.) Yet another time a mob of fans blockaded his hotel, demanding the cops turn him over for his (usual) beating. The police had to evacuate Brick via the rooftops to escape. Brick was not so lucky when he got pounded by a about 50 fans another time. A cop trying to protect Brick got his own finger bit off by an irate fan! The nickname, “Brick,” came about when irate fans hurled actual bricks at the hapless umpire in a 1903 game in Pittsburgh. Player Charley Lyons promptly endowed Brick with his unique nickname. (Note: An aspiring baseball player, Brick’s career took a turn when he accidentally shot himself in the hand, switching his baseball endeavor to umpiring.)
2. Jose Canseco turns a fly–out into a Homerun, 1993.
On May 26, 1993, the Indians’ Carlos Martinez hit the most memorable homerun of his career when he lofted a long fly ball to right field where outfielder Jose Canseco of the Texas Rangers ran back for the seemingly easy out. Instead, Canseco lost sight of the ball, which landed on Canseco’s presumably hard head and bounced energetically up and over the outfield fence for a homerun! Even some of Canseco’s teammates laughed.
3. Lenny Randle blows a ball foul, 1981.
In May of 1981 Seattle 3rd baseman Lenny Randle approached a slow rolling ball along the 3rd base line, got down on all fours and blew on the ball for all he was worth, causing the ball to roll foul. The umpire ruled the ball foul, but a protest was upheld and batter Amos Otis was awarded 1st base, the blowing on a ball ruled illegal interference. That did not stop Dodgers’ 3rd baseman Jerry Hairston from trying the same trick in a 2012 Spring Training game, but his efforts were immediately ruled illegal. (Note: Randle once punched his own manager in the face so hard he broke the hapless manager’s cheekbone in 3 places. Not funny, but wacky anyway.)
4. Tommy John makes 3 errors on 1 play, 1988.
Even though he was 45 years old at the time, Tommy John, he of elbow surgery fame, found the energy to commit 3 errors on 1 play on July 27, 1988 while pitching for the Yankees against the Brewers. John muffed a ground ball and then threw the horsehide into right field, missing the 1st baseman, Don Mattingly. When outfielder Dave Winfield threw the ball back to stop a runner from scoring, John cut off the throw and winged it wildly toward home for his 3rd error on the play. Hey, the guy was 45, cut him some slack!
5. St. Louis Browns use a midget to bat, 1951.
Between games of a double-header against the Tigers, St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck, an unapologetic showman of the PT Barnum variety, had Eddie Gaedel, all 3 feet 7 inches and 65 pounds of him burst out of a papier=mache cake wearing a baseball uniform with the number 1/8 on it. In the second game, Veeck had Gaedel bat against Bob Cain in the first inning, surprising the Tigers and everyone in the park. A protest by the Tiger’s manager went for naught as Veeck had previously had Gaedel sign an official contract that had been sent to the league office. The umpire said Gaedel could bat, and when the little guy crouched into his stance the strike zone was so small as to be un-pitchable. A 4 pitch walk ensued, and Gaedel dutifully took his base, and was replaced by a pinch runner. Gaedel never appeared in another major league game, and stunts such as this one were outlawed. Gaedel remains the shortest major league baseball player of all time.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which is your favorite weird baseball incident?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Martirano, Ron. Baseball: Great Records, Weird Happenings, Odd Facts, Amazing Moments & Other Cool Stuff. Imagine, 2015.
