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 baseball pitcher missed almost a month due to his fingers getting caught in a rocking chair while he was sleeping.
Freddie Fitzsimmons was a successful pitcher for the New York Giants for many years (winning a World Series in 1933 with the team) before being traded to the rival Brooklyn Dodgers late in his career (and having a career resurgence with the Dodgers).
Fitzsimmons won 217 games in his career, and he likely would have won more had he not had a freak accident during 1927.
Fitzsimmons’ rookie season in 1926 (he played a little in 1925) was a strong debut, as he went 14-10 as a 24 year old.
Things got crazy the next season, though!
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May 29th, 2009 | Posted in Baseball Legends | No Comments
SPORTS LEGEND: A referee assessed an ungentlemanly conduct foul on a player for loud flatulence during a penalty kick. Read the rest of this entry »
May 28th, 2009 | Posted in Soccer/Football Legends | No Comments
Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about hockey and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the hockey urban legends featured so far.
HOCKEY URBAN LEGEND: Fired Chicago Blackhawks coach Pete Muldoon put a curse on the Blackhawks that lasted almost forty years.
Pete Muldoon was the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in their first season in the 1926-27 hockey season.
The Hawks played well, but lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Blackhawks owner then fired Muldoon after just the one season, as the owner (Frederic McLaughlin) felt that the team was talented enough to finish first instead of third.
Years later, in 1943, hockey reporter Jim Coleman of TheToronto Globe and Mail wrote that when McLaughlin told Muldoon that the team should have finished first, Muldoon replied that the team was not good enough to finish first, upon which McLaughlin fired him on the spot. In retaliation, Muldoon placed a curse upon the Blackhawks – “Fire me, Major, and you’ll never finish first. I’ll put a curse on this team that will hoodoo it until the end of time.”
And sure enough, even though at the time the Blackhawks had already won two Stanley Cups since Muldoon’s firing (1934 and 1938), neither time did they finish first.
And they did not finish first in either their division or the NHL period (when there was just one division) until 1967!!
Is the story true?
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May 28th, 2009 | Posted in Hockey Legends | No Comments
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: Due to a scorer’s error, Tris Speaker went unrecognized for an RBI record for seventy-nine years!
Babe Ruth’s record for career runs batted in stood for 42 years.
Hank Aaron’s record for career runs batted has stood for 34 years (and counting – and since the closest active player is over 500 runs batted in away and is 39 years old, I think Aaron will have the record for the foreseeable future)
Hack Wilson’s single-season runs batted in record has stood for 79 years (and counting).
Tris Speaker’s American League record for most consecutive games with a run batted in (that he set in 1928) has stood for…TWO years (and counting)?!?!?
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May 27th, 2009 | Posted in Baseball Legends | No Comments
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:Tris Speaker predicted that the New York Yankees were making a mistake by turning Babe Ruth into a full-time outfielder instead of a pitcher.
“Ruth made a great mistake when he gave up pitching. Working once a week he might have lasted a long time and become a great star.” – Tris Speaker (1921)
So many famous quotes over the years have turned out to be bogus that I was quite wary of the preceding quote being true, and yet, it is, Speaker said it in 1921 when the future Hall of Famer was the Player/Manager of the Cleveland Indians.
HOWEVER (there’s always a however, isn’t there?), I take issue with the way that the phrase has been treated over the years.
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May 27th, 2009 | Posted in Baseball Legends | 4 Comments
SPORTS LEGEND: Bronko Nagurski was discovered when a college football coach found him doing some mighty acts of strength while plowing a farm by the road. Read the rest of this entry »
May 25th, 2009 | Posted in Football Legends | 1 Comment
SPORTS LEGEND: Los Angeles Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda has a rather…interesting response to a reporter’s question about the performance of Mets outfielder Dave Kingman. Read the rest of this entry »
May 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Baseball Legends | 4 Comments
SPORTS LEGEND: At least two players of the Washington Nationals wore jerseys with the team name spelled incorrectly. Read the rest of this entry »
May 21st, 2009 | Posted in Baseball Legends | 2 Comments
SPORTS LEGEND: The head referee asked about the size of his security detail before making a decision on a crucial play that would affect the home crowd in Pittsburgh. Read the rest of this entry »
May 20th, 2009 | Posted in General | No Comments
SPORTS LEGEND: The referees used video replay to check to make sure they had the right call on the “Immaculate Reception” before ruling it a touchdown. Read the rest of this entry »
May 20th, 2009 | Posted in General | 2 Comments
