Category
Strange But True
The wildest, weirdest, and undeniably true stories in baseball history.
How American Oil Brought Baseball to Venezuela
May 25, 2026
In every other South American country, soccer is the national sport. In Venezuela, it's baseball. The reason involves oil derricks, Cuban cigar workers, a dictator who liked Americans, and one game in Havana that turned a sport into a national religion.
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The 14-Year-Old Who Fixed Ted Williams's Bats
May 18, 2026
In 1948, a 14-year-old named David Pressman left his baseball bat outside overnight, weighed it on a post office scale, and discovered that wood absorbs moisture. He wrote a letter to Ted Williams. Williams listened.
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The Curse of the Colonel
May 18, 2026
In 1985, Hanshin Tigers fans threw a Colonel Sanders statue into a river in Osaka. The Tigers waited 38 years before winning another Japan Series.
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The Pitcher Who Wore Babe Ruth's Hat
May 18, 2026
David Wells smuggled a cap Babe Ruth had worn in 1934 onto the mound at Yankee Stadium. He pitched one inning in it before Joe Torre made him take it off. Less than a year later, he threw a perfect game on the same mound.
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The Smallest Man to Ever Play Major League Baseball
May 18, 2026
On August 19, 1951, Eddie Gaedel popped out of a birthday cake at Sportsman's Park, walked to the plate in a Browns uniform with 1/8 on his back, and drew a four-pitch walk. He was 3 feet 7 inches tall. He never played again.
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The Pine Tar Game
May 18, 2026
On July 24, 1983, George Brett hit a home run that was nullified, reinstated, protested, litigated, and finally completed 25 days later in front of 1,245 fans. It is the strangest game in modern baseball history.
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The Strangest Man Who Ever Pitched
May 18, 2026
Rube Waddell chased fire trucks during games, wrestled alligators in the offseason, and had a contract clause banning him from eating animal crackers in bed. He also struck out more batters than anyone alive.
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The 25-Inning Game
May 17, 2026
On September 11, 1974, the Cardinals and Mets played 25 innings at Shea Stadium. The game lasted 7 hours and 4 minutes and ended at 3:12 AM. The era of the all-night baseball game is over.
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The Curse of Rocky Colavito
May 17, 2026
On April 17, 1960, the Cleveland Indians traded Rocky Colavito, the most popular player in the city, for Harvey Kuenn. It destroyed the Indians for a generation.
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The Exploding Scoreboard
May 17, 2026
In 1960, Bill Veeck installed a scoreboard at Comiskey Park that shot off fireworks every time a White Sox player hit a home run. It was the direct ancestor of every modern stadium celebration.
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The Myth of Fidel Castro's Fastball
May 17, 2026
There is a famous story that Fidel Castro was scouted by major league teams as a pitching prospect. It is almost entirely false, traceable to a single fabricated magazine article.
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Gaylord Perry and the Grease Ball
May 17, 2026
Gaylord Perry won 314 games and two Cy Young Awards. He was also, by virtually everyone's estimation including his own, a cheat. He was ejected for doctoring a baseball exactly once in 22 seasons.
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Jimmy Piersall Runs the Bases Backwards
May 17, 2026
On June 23, 1963, Jimmy Piersall hit his 100th career home run and ran the bases backwards. Two days later, the Mets released him. What made the story more than a blooper was Piersall's history with mental illness.
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Lenny Randle Blew a Ball Foul
May 17, 2026
On May 27, 1981, Lenny Randle dropped to his hands and knees and blew a slow roller foul. The umpires reversed the call. The MLB Umpire Manual was updated.
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The Summer of the Bird
May 17, 2026
In 1976, a 21-year-old right-hander named Mark Fidrych talked to the baseball, patted down the mound, and won Rookie of the Year. Then his arm gave out. He was 27 when the Tigers released him.
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Morganna the Kissing Bandit
May 17, 2026
Between 1969 and 1999, a burlesque dancer named Morganna Roberts ran onto the field at major league games and kissed players. She was arrested repeatedly and became one of the most recognizable figures in American sports.
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Ten Cent Beer Night
May 17, 2026
On June 4, 1974, the Cleveland Indians offered fans beer for 10 cents a cup. An estimated 60,000 cups were consumed. What followed was a full-scale riot that ended in a forfeit.
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The Night They Set the World Series on Fire
May 6, 2026
Before Game 7 of the 1925 World Series, the grounds crew at Forbes Field burned gasoline on the infield so the game could be played.
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The Day Babe Ruth Punched an Umpire and His Replacement Threw a No-Hitter
May 6, 2026
On June 23, 1917, Babe Ruth got ejected after one batter and hit the home plate umpire. Ernie Shore took over and retired everyone else.
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The Night They Blew Up Disco at Comiskey Park
May 6, 2026
Disco Demolition Night was billed as a promotion between games of a 1979 doubleheader. It ended with a field invasion, arrests, and a forfeit.
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The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
May 6, 2026
In April 1931, 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell faced Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in Chattanooga and struck out both Yankees icons in sequence.
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Baseball's Dirty Secret Comes From a Hole in the Ground
May 6, 2026
Every Major League baseball is rubbed with mud harvested from one secret New Jersey location, a supply chain that has lasted for generations.
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The Fastest Pitcher Nobody Ever Saw
May 6, 2026
Teammates, coaches, and Hall of Famers swore Steve Dalkowski threw harder than anyone in history, but baseball never measured it on the record.
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The Man Who Stole a Yankee's Life
May 6, 2026
In 1948, papers across the country reported former Yankee Julie Wera had died in California. The real Julie Wera was alive in Rochester.
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How a Fake Pitcher Fooled America and Became Baseball's Greatest Hoax
May 4, 2026
In 1985, Sports Illustrated convinced America that a mysterious Mets prospect could throw 168 mph. The Sidd Finch story became the most famous hoax in baseball history.
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