15 Jun 2022 7:20 am
That's a great story! I remember reading about him in Bill Veeck's book, "Veeck as in Wreck" when I was a kid. Gaedel was before my time, but I definitely remember the stories about him and Veeck. I think MLB outlawed using midgets right after the first game. But Veeck had some amusing ideas, especially his exploding scoreboard when he owned the White Sox at Comiskey Park. Do you remember that? It would shoot off fireworks whenever a Sox player hit a homer. He also relayed the story about Veeck's "moveable outfield fence" at Municipal Stadium when he owned the Indians. He would raise or lower the fence before a series depending on whether or not it would help the Indians more, but I think that was eventually made illegal too. Veeck was a character much like Charlie Finley of the Kansas City A's, who later moved them to Oakland. Do you remember him and his attempt to use orange baseballs? Or his mule mascot, Charlie O? I think Finley was also instrumental in getting the designated hitter rule in place in the AL.GHETTOBLASTER » 14 Jun 2022, 6:15 pm » wrote: ↑ To be honest I was never any good at hitting the super high arc / slow pitch softball stuff...[embarrassed emoji]...
It's cool to see the players who can hit nothing but bombs off that high lob stuff....that's a grooved swing..!
If I was given the chance to bat in front of 50,000 fans and struck out... TRYING TO HIT THAT NICKLE DIME LOB BALL ****.... I might just start walking towards Mexico to start a new life.
OK..so picture yourself sitting in the stands at a MLB game and the House Announcer says over the PA System....
"HEY ZEETS ..!! THE REDS ARE OUT OF PLAYERS AND THE MANAGER NEEDS YOU TO PUT DOWN YOUR BEER AND GRAB A BAT..!!! YOU ARE DUE TO BAT 3RD THIS INNING....!! IT'S GAME 7 OF THE WORLD SERIES BUT DON'T BE NERVOUS...!!!
OK, with that thought in mind have you ever heard of.........
Eddie Gaedel Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
The Story Of Eddie Gaedel, Major League Baseball's Shortest Player (allthatsinteresting.com)
Terrific memories of when baseball was truly a game!