Five Interesting Baseball Facts

Two brother pitchers win every World Series game for the winning team: In the 1934 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3. Jerome “Dizzy” Dean and his kid brother Paul “Daffy” Dean won two games each, accounting for all four Cardinal wins.

Pitching a no-hitter and homering twice: On June 23, 1971, Phillies Pitcher Rick Wise pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium and hit two home runs in the same game.

Making the final out in two no-hitters against the same pitcher: Harvey Kuenn made the final out of two no-hitters, both against Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax. On May 11, 1963, Kuenn made the final out of Koufax’s no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants. On September 9, 1965, Kuenn struck out to end Koufax’s perfect game against the Chicago Cubs.

Eddie Gaedel was 26 year old, 3 feet, 7 inch tall. He was signed by Bill Veeck to a Major League contract of $15,400 ($100 per game), which was the set minimum one could pay a little person performance act, per event. During his first (and last) game he walked. Eddie took his base, stopping to take a bow twice on his way, and was lifted for a pinch runner, Jim Delsing. Two days later, American League President Will Harridge voided Gaedel’s contract and he was out of a job. Further, Harridge officially banned midgets from being able to play in the American League. Although he only made $100 for the one game, it’s estimated he earned over $17,000 ($140,000 today) in the few weeks following his lone Major League at bat. Gaedel’s uniform had the number 1/8 on the back and it now sits in the MLB Hall of Fame.

Four more people in the history of Major League Baseball had only one plate appearance and drew a walk. The others were Dutch Schirick on September 17, 1914, with the Browns; Bill Batsch on September 9, 1916, with Pittsburgh; Joe Cobb on April 25, 1918, with Detroit; and Kevin Melillo on June 24, 2007, with the Oakland A’s.