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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the baseball urban legends featured so far.

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND: In Back to the Future II, a bat “autographed” by “Ken Griffey III” is used in a scene set in 2015.

Few films seem to spawn as many rumors, myths and legends as the Back to the Future franchise, particularly the scenes in the second film set in the future.

Whether it be the famed “hoverboards are for real” joke by director Robert Zemeckis (that way too many people took seriously) or the requests sent to Nike for self-tying sneakers like the ones Marty McFly wears in the film, people really took the scenes set in 2015 quite seriously. The world of sports also has a great many legends spinning out of those 2015 scenes in Back to the Future II, which makes sense, seeing as how the plot of the second film involved a Sports Almanac being used to travel back to the past to amass a fortune through gambling.

The most prolific sports legend about the film involves the (falsely) assumed notion that the film predicted that the Florida Marlins would win the 1997 World Series and/or the 2003 World Series. In reality, the film simply states that the Chicago Cubs defeated the “Miami Gators” in the 2015 World Series. As Major League Baseball did not yet have a team in Florida at the time of the making (or release) of Back to the Future II, the filmmakers likely deserve some credit for predicting Florida baseball, but I think it is safe to say that Florida baseball was seen by many of the time as an inevitability more than a possibility (and indeed, it was just four years later that the Florida Marlins joined the National League as an expansion team).

However, another sports legend about the film is about the bat that young Griff Tannen (grandson of the main antagonist of the trilogy, Biff Tannen) uses in Back to the Future II. Did they really think to have it autographed by Ken Griffey III before Ken Griffey Jr. ever became a superstar?

As you might expect, with the added development necessary before entering the Major Leagues, #1 draft picks in Baseball do not have nearly the same success rate as their contemporaries in Football, Basketball and Hockey. When a basketball #1 pick does not become a great player, it is seen as bad luck. If a baseball #1 pick does not become a great player, it is seen as almost typical. I featured this topic in an old Baseball Legends Revealed about the only player to be drafted #1 in the MLB draft twice (you can read that story here)! Amazingly enough, George Kenneth Griffey Junior, when he is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in three years, will be the first #1 draft pick to be elected to the Hall of Fame (the draft began in 1965) (things look a lot brighter for the future, though, with Chipper Jones a cinch for the Hall and Joe Mauer, Adrian Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez all having decent odds for enshrinement). So with those odds, when Griffey was selected first in 1987, he was certainly not a sure thing. He did get a goodly amount of hype, though, especially as he was the son of three-time Major League All-Star (as well as a two-time World Champion and the winner of the 1980 All-Star Most Valuable Player award), Ken Griffey (who played most of his career for the Cincinnati Reds). When Griffey made the Majors in 1989 at the age of 19, he gained quite a good deal of media attention (he ended up finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, behind closer Gregg Olson and starter Tom Gordon). So it would certainly make some sense for the filmmakers of Back to the Future II (which was released in November of 1989) to make a little nod to Griffey (and his parentage) by having a teenager in 2015 wielding a bat autographed by Ken Griffey III.

But did they?
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the soccer/football urban legends featured so far.

SOCCER/FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND: Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet switched seats with Tommy Taylor and David Pegg right before the “Munich air disaster”.

Whenever a famous tragic crash occurs, whether it be a boat sinking or a plane crashing, you’ll begin to hear stories of “Person X was almost on that boat/plane but he/she couldn’t go at the last minute.”

For instance, Waylon Jennings was the only person who gave up a spot on the plane that later crashed, killing Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper. However, over the years, many a story has been told about someone who was meant to be on the flight but who gave up their seat.

Well, in the case of the great Munich Air Disaster of 1958, there really was a case like that. Sort of.
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the soccer/football urban legends featured so far.

SOCCER/FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND: Stephen Ireland faked a death of a grandmother to get out of his international duties with Team Ireland.

Stephen Ireland is…how should we say this?….controversial.

The 26-year-old Irish midfielder currently plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League (he was the Fans Player of the Team in 2012) and also used to play for the Irish National Team.

How he ended up off the team was quite a story.
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the soccer/football urban legends featured so far.

SOCCER/FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND: William Dean’s nickname “Dixie” came from his dark skin.

William “Dixie” Dean was one of the most prolific goal scorers in English League history, with an astounding 379 goals in 438 English League games from 1923-1939, with the vast majority of them coming for Everton, where Dean spent just shy of 400 games.

If you take a look at Dean, you might notice that his complexion is fairly dark…

It is due to his dark complexion and his hair that people took to calling him “Dixie,” as he looked (according to many English folks at the time, who likely did not know any better) like an African-American from the Southern United States.

It’s a pretty darn racist nickname, and Dean haaaaaated it.

However, while it IS clear that he WAS known as “Dixie” because for the fairly racist reason that he reminded people of Southern American blacks, the interesting thing is that he did not get the name the way you would think. Read the rest of this entry »

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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the baseball urban legends featured so far.

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND: While he was on the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitcher Joel Hanrahan won a game on July 9, 2009…for the Washington Nationals!

Recently, the Boston Red Sox acquired closer Joel Hanrahan from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates acquired him from the Washington Nationals in 2009 (along with outfielder Lastings Milledge) for outfielder Nyjer Morgan and relief pitcher Sean Burnett.

At the time, Hanrahan had an 0-3 record on the season.

On July 9, 2009, Hanrahan collected his first win of the season.

The only problem was that the Pirates had the day off!

Read on to see how it happened!
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the baseball urban legends featured so far.

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND: Tommy John once made three errors on a single play.

Tommy John might be the only baseball player who is known better for a surgery performed on him than his actual career, which is a darn shame, because John had a very good career – he has the sixth-most victories of any pitcher not in the Hall of Fame (“just” 11 shy of 300 – the quotes is because it was remarkable he stuck around long enough to get the 288 in the first place!).

Still, Tommy John is best known for an injury he suffered in the middle of the 1974 season while pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers (for whom he was 13-3 on the year).

John tore a ligament in his throwing elbow. Such an injury (which is fairly common in pitchers, as the stress of throwing pitches is quite taxing on the elbow ligaments) would essentially ruin a pitcher’s career. However, in John’s case, a surgery was performed taking a tendon from John’s right forearm and using it to replace the damaged ligament in his elbow. After skipping the 1975 season to rehab the arm, John was back in 1976 pitching as usual.

He went on to make the All-Star Team three more times (he also had made the All-Star Team in 1968 when with the Chicago White Sox).

John spent most of his later years in the Majors (he ended up winning more games AFTER the surgery than he did BEFORE) pitching for the New York Yankees.

John pitched for the Yankees until 1989, when he had clearly lost it, at a remarkable 46 years of age. Just the fact that he was a capable pitcher for the Yankees in the mid-to-late 80s is remarkable for a pitcher in his mid-40s.

However, the story we’re discussing today is when John had a slightly less capable moment on the diamond.

John induced a number of ground ball outs, and as a result (or perhaps as a necessity) he was a good fielding pitcher.

But in a game in New York against the Milwaukee Brewers in late July of 1988, John had one of the most ignominious moments in baseball history.
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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about baseball and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the baseball urban legends featured so far.

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND: A Cubs outfielder misplayed a ball in the outfield due to falling into an exposed manhole!

In the 1970s, former Cubs pitcher Warren Hacker recalled a game the Cubs played against the Dodgers in the mid-50s (Hacker’s recollection was collected in a few places after first appearing in Chicago Today)…

We lost a lot of close games in those days because the Cubs weren’t scoring a lot of runs. But this one took the prize. I’m pitching one day against Brooklyn in the old Ebbets Field and we’re ahead, 2-0, in the bottom of the ninth.

They got the bases loaded, two out. Then somebody hits this fly to right-center, and over goes [Eddie] Miksis, who was our centerfielder. But he falls into a hole. Really, there was a manhole out there and the groundskeeper forgot to put the top on it. Miksis falls right through, three runs score, and we lose, 3-2.

I looked out there and thought a midget was playing centerfield.

At 3.8 runs a game, the Cubs WERE well under the league average of 4.25 runs per game in 1956, but otherwise, was that story correct?
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This is the latest in a series of examinations of urban legends related to golf and whether they are true or false.

GOLF URBAN LEGEND: The word “stymie” originated as a golf term.

We’re used to sporting terms and phrases being adapted to everyday usage, but one of the oddest examples that I can think of is the word stymie, which was coined as a golf term!
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This is the latest in a series of examinations of urban legends related to golf and whether they are true or false.

GOLF URBAN LEGEND: Bobby Jones used to play golf only in the summer while he practiced law in the winter.

Bobby Jones, simply put, was one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game.

In many ways, Jones was the Tiger Woods of his day, as he began dominating the sport of golf when he was in his early 20s.

Jones completed a “Grand Slam” of winning the four major golf tournaments of the calendar year (this was back when the amateur championships were considered “major”).

He never became a professional golfer, as Jones had a law degree so he worked as a lawyer during the year, as well.

He basically retired from golf at the age of 28, only competing in the tournament he co-found, the prestigious Masters, which he helped design.

Much has been written about the greatness of Jones and the fact that he dominated while being, in effect, only a part-time golfer.

However, the amount of time he devoted to golf (or rather, the lack of time) has been overstated over the years.
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This is the latest in a series of examinations of urban legends related to golf and whether they are true or false.

GOLF URBAN LEGEND: Howard Hughes used golf to work out an argument with Howard Hawks.

The eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes was born to a rich family.

The young Hughes decided to make his own fortune (beginning, of course, with his family fortune backing him) by moving from Texas (where his family built a fortune on the oil business) to Los Angeles to make movies.

One of his first big successes was the World War I war film, Hell’s Angels, in 1930 (co-starring the sultry Jean Harlow)…

Well, another hit of 1930 was The Dawn Patrol…

a World War I war film directed and co-written by the legendary film director Howard Hawks…

Hughes felt that The Dawn Patrol ripped off elements from his film, so he sued Howard Hawks.

While the lawsuit was going on, Hughes decided to make a film based on the gangster, Al Capone. The perfect director for this film, Hughes determined, was Howard Hawks!!

Hughes had to think of a way to convince Hawks to do the film. That’s when Hughes came upon an idea – he and Hawks shared an interest in the game of golf – thus, an idea was born!
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