Joe Garagiola wrote a book, Baseball is a Funny Game. That said, sometimes it’s just plain crazy. Here’s proof.
The Babe with the Red Sox (photo courtesy ESPN)
How to Punch Your Way to a No-Hitter: Most know that before Babe Ruth became a legendary hitter, he pitched. The southpaw, who threw for the Boston Red Sox from 1915–1919, posted an ERA of 2.16 and threw 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless World Series innings, a record which stood until 1961, when Whitey Ford compiled 33 2/3 goose eggs. On June 23, 2017, Ruth got a World Series start against the Washington Senators. The first batter, Ray Morgan, was walked on four straight pitches. Ruth was confident two of those pitches had been strikes and let umpire Brick Owens know. Ruth told Owens, “Open your eyes and keep them open,” at which point Owens threatened to eject him. Ruth replied, “You run me out and I will come in and bust you on the nose,” which led Owens to give him the boot. The Bambino ran toward Owens and threw a left, which missed, but his next shot with his right nailed Owens in the left ear. Red Sox manager Jack Barry and several police officers removed the Sultan of Swat from the field. End of story? Not by a long shot. Ernie Shore relieved Ruth, and Morgan was caught trying to steal second. Shore retired the next 26 batters, completing probably the weirdest no-hitter in baseball history.
We’ll Fire Our Way to Victory: The infield was unplayable due to rain in Game 7 of the 1925 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators. The inclement weather had already pushed the seventh game back a day, so the Forbes Field ground crew in Pittsburgh took drastic measures: they poured gasoline on the infield and set it on fire, then spread sawdust to dry the field. Smoke clouds filled the stands. The field was left scorched but playable. The Pirates defeated Walter Johnson to take the Series.
Photo courtesy Yahoo! Sports
Arresting Behavior Between Innings: In a game in Toronto on August 4, 1983, the Yankees’ Dave Winfield threw a warm-up ball in between innings that struck and killed a seagull. After the game, Winfield was taken to a police station and charged with cruelty to animals. Michael Sullivan of The Toronto Humane Society, helping police with the investigation, said, “We also accepted the bird from [police] and have submitted it to the University of Guelph for a full autopsy to give us a cause of death.” The cause seemed obvious, but Winfield was cleared of any intent to harm because (as reported) “the Crown attorney will ask the court to drop the criminal charges because he doesn’t think Winfield flew afoul of the law.” When Winfield was invited six months later to speak at a charity event in Toronto, his family asked him, “Invited or extradited?” Years later (in 2001), Randy Johnson unleashed a fastball right when a dove swooped into its path, resulting in an explosion of feathers. The pitch was ruled “no pitch.” Johnson was not charged with a crime.
Who’s On the Mound? In spring training in Tucson in 2005, swarms of bees invaded the field and forced a game between the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks to be called after five innings. The bees chased Rockies pitcher Darren Oliver from the mound. He kept trying to go back, but the bees would attack again. After a 20-minute delay, he let reliever Allan Simpson complete the inning. “I love this game,” Oliver said, “but I like myself a little bit more.” Oliver theorized that the bees were attracted to the coconut oil in his hair gel. The Diamondbacks took the field in the sixth, but by then the bees had spread over the entire field. Shortstop Sergio Santos, who had just entered the game, was chased into deep center field.
What Gnat to Do. Having covered the birds and the bees, let’s move on to gnats. In Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS between the Indians and the Yankees, Cleveland won an 11-inning game amid an enormous swarm of bugs, probably a type of midge, a harmless gnat-like bug which Northern Ohioans call “Canadian Soldiers.” While the Yankees complained that they had a hard time seeing what they were doing and were gagging on the clouds of bugs, Indians players shook off the midges and took them in stride, later saying they pretended not to be bothered because of the Yankees. That was then. Back in 1946, a game between the Dodgers and Cubs was called in the fifth inning because of gnats.
Give Me Another! Ten-Cent Beer Night was a disastrous promotion by the Cleveland Indians for a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium on June 4, 1974. Beers went for ten cents, with a limit of six beers per purchase, but no limit on the number of purchases made during the game. As the game proceeded, on-field incidents and massive alcohol consumption agitated the crowd, many of whom threw lit firecrackers, streaked (ran nude) across the playing field, and smoked marijuana. This culminated in a ninth-inning riot when fans rushed the field. Players protected themselves with their bats while retreating. The game, which was tied 5-5, was forfeited in favor of the Rangers.
The scene in Cleveland on “Ten-Cent Beer Night” (photo courtesy Slice The Life)
Watch What You Wish For: Baseball teams often take souvenir balls with team signatures to take as they leave. That’s because that happened in Dodger Stadium on August 10, 1995. Hundreds of those balls wound up on the field. The onslaught got so bad that in the ninth inning, the umpires had to forfeit the game in favor of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Disco Demolished the Game: Speaking of ill-fated promotions, let’s not forget the Chicago White Sox’ Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979. Customers who brought a disco album were admitted for 99 cents. All the albums were exploded between games of the doubleheader, resulting in mayhem, which you can read about here.
