Baseball Myths (eBook)

Bill Deane was Senior Research Associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame from 1986 through 1994. He has authored six books on baseball and was managing editor of Total Baseball. Deane won the SABR-Macmillan Baseball Research Award for his book, Award Voting, and in 2003 he won the Utica-Cooperstown SABR chapter’s “Cliff Kachline Award.”

IntroductionBaseball’s InfancyAbner Doubleday Invented BaseballNinety Feet Is a Magical DistanceToday’s Reds Are Baseball’s Original Pro TeamOld Hoss Radbourn Pitched His Team’s Last 27 Games in 1884, Winning 26The Pitching Distance Was Increased from 50 to 60½ Feet In 1893Mike Grady Made Four-Plus Errors on One Batted BallHome Plate is So Named Because it is Shaped Like A HouseNegro Pitching Legend Rube Foster Taught Christy Mathewson the ScrewballConcessionaire Harry M. Stevens, with Help from a Cartoonist, Introduced the Hot DogThe World Series Was Named After a NewspaperDummy Hoy, a Deaf-Mute, Created Umpires’ Hand SignalsNick Altrock Won a Game Without Pitching a BallHonus Wagner Objected to Tobacco ProductsHonus Wagner Viciously Tagged Out Ty Cobb on a Steal Attempt in the 1909 World SeriesTinker, Evers and Chance Were a Great Double Play ComboTy Cobb Psyched Joe Jackson Out of a Batting TitleOld-Time Relief Pitchers Were Nothing More than Washed-Up StartersGrover Land Hit a 65-Foot Home RunChristy Mathewson Died As the Result of a Gassing Incident in World War ICharles Comiskey Gypped Ed Cicotte Out of a 30-Win Season and Bonus The Reds Hit an Inordinate Number of Triples Toward Joe Jackson’s Position in the 1919 World SeriesThe Truth About RuthThe Red Sox’s Owner Sold Ruth to Finance His Theatrical Production, No, No NanetteRuth Replaced George Halas as the Yankees’ Right FielderThe Yankees Adopted Pinstripes to Make Ruth Look SlimmerThe Baby Ruth Candy Bar Was Not Named After the Yankees’ SluggerRuth Won Only One MVP Award in His CareerRuth Promised and Delivered a Home Run to Johnny SylvesterRuth Didn’t Really Call His Shot in the 1932 World SeriesThe Lively Ball EraA Lively Baseball Was Introduced in the 1920sCenter Fielder Johnny Mostil Caught a Foul BallA Headache Cost Wally Pipp His CareerBabe Herman Tripled Into a Triple PlayGrover Alexander Clinched the 1926 World Series Despite Nursing a HangoverThe Yankees Beat the Pirates in the 1927 World Series Before the Games Even StartedFor 5½ Years, Chuck Klein Was as Great a Hitter as Baseball Ever SawAl Simmons’s Holiday Cost Lefty Grove His 16-Game Win StreakMel Ott Owed All of His Success to the Polo GroundsTed Williams Risked His .400 Average on the Last Day of the 1941 SeasonBill Veeck Tried to Buy the Phillies and Stock it with Black Players, Years Before Jackie RobinsonLeo Durocher Said “Nice Guys Finish Last”Enos Slaughter Scored from First Base on a Single to Win the 1946 World SeriesJoe DiMaggio Was One of the Best Outfielders EverJackie Robinson Was the First Black Player in the Major LeaguesBill Bevens and Cookie Lavagetto Ended Their Careers on the Near No-Hitter in the 1947 World SeriesA Boston Writer Cost Ted Williams the 1947 AL MVP AwardThe 1948 Braves Won the Pennant Only Because of Spahn and SainTed Williams Lost the Closest Batting Race in HistoryThe Indians Could Have Had Aaron, Mays, and BanksHoyt Wilhelm Homered and Tripled His First Two Times Up, then Never Hit Another Homer or Triple in His 21-Year Career Willie Mays Caught a 480-Foot Drive in the 1954 World SeriesA Racist Manager Prevented Brooks Lawrence from Winning 20 GamesFidel Castro Was a Pro Baseball ProspectThe 1955-60 K. C. Athletics Gave Away Their Talent to the Yankees Jerome Holtzman Invented the SaveTimeless MythsA Hit That Bounces over the Fence is a Ground-Rule DoubleThe Curveball is an Optical Illusion“I Got Stan Musial Out Forty-Nine Times in a Row”Abbott and Costello Are in The Baseball Hall of FameThere Are Writers’ & Broadcasters’ Wings at the Baseball Hall of FameThe Head-First Slide is DangerousA Star Relief Ace is as Valuable as Any Other Great PlayerArtificial Turf Increases Batting Averages and Shortens CareersA Team with a 91-71 Record is 20 Games Above .500The Quality Start is a Meaningless StatisticDerek Jeter is a Great Clutch HitterThe Expansion EraStu Miller Was Blown off the Mound in the 1961 All-Star GameRoger Maris’s Home Run Record Was Marked with an AsteriskSandy Koufax Suddenly Matured to Become GreatBill Dewitt Gave Away Frank Robinson, Calling Him “An Old 30”Tony Conigliaro Was the Youngest Man to Hit 100 HomersCurt Flood Pioneered Free AgencyHank Aaron Rode ‘The Launching Pad’ to the Career Home Run RecordPete Rose Ruined Ray Fosse’s Career in a Meaningless GameJoe Morgan Became a Superstar Because He Escaped the AstrodomeTed Simmons Was a Lousy CatcherThe Designated Hitter Rule Was Introduced by Charlie Finley in the 1970sMinnie Minoso Was the Oldest Man to Get a HitWillie Aikens Was Named after Willie MaysPete Rose Broke the Career Hit Record Only Because He Was a Manager, Permitting Himself to PlayBill Buckner Lost the 1986 World Series for the Red SoxPete Rose Was Banned from the Hall of Fame and Jailed for Betting on BaseballBilly Martin Died While Driving DrunkExpansion Has Diluted Baseball’s TalentThe 1991-2005 Braves Were UnderachieversShorter Fences Have Aided Modern Home Run HittersBibliographyIndex