Most Bizarre Moment In MLB History?

On August 19, 1951, the Detroit Tigers played the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis in a game that many believe provided one of the most bizarre moments in MLB history.

During the second game of a double-header, Brown’s owner Bill Veeck inserted Chicago-born Eddie Gaedel into the line-up to pinch hit.

Unusual? In this case it was . . . Gaedel was a midget who  stood 3 feet 7 inches tall.

The crowd of over 18,000 rose to their feet to give the little newcomer a standing ovation as the shortest man to ever play in a MLB game waddled to the plate. Gaedel, who was wearing a St. Louis uniform donning the number 1/8 and a pair of elf shoes, stepped into the batter’s box.

The Tigers immediately protested the move and after a long, heated conference with both teams and the umpires, it was determined that Veeck had covered all the league’s requirements and it was legal for Gaedel to bat.

Bob Cain was on the mound for the Tigers and had the challenge of hitting Gaedel’s one-and-a-half inch strike zone. Nearly an impossible feat, Cain delivered four consecutive balls, walking Gaedel triggering a roar of approval from the crowd.

Gaedel was replaced by a pinch-runner and the Tigers eventually won the game 6-2.

Veeck was verbally reprimanded the following day by the American League office and Gaedel’s contract was voided by the league.

Top 10 Reasons Players Want To Be Traded To The Pistons

10. You know ahead of time you can plan family vacations just before the Finals. 

 

9.   You will never have the most technical fouls on the team.

 

8.   You get to hang out at a Palace with a guy named Prince.

 

7.   Great chance of attending a victory parade next year. (Google Red Wings).

 

6.  If you don’t like a coach, relax, every few years you get a new one.

 

5    Where else can you refuse a coaches order to go into a game and get away with it. 

 

4.   There are great housing deals.

 

3.   If you’re ever accused of under-achieving, you can divert the attention to the Lions and Tigers.

 

2.   There’s no pressure to perform—a football coach drove through a Wendy’s naked and actually got promoted.

                                                                                              

1.  If you decide to look for another line of work, the Mayor’s position will be open soon.

Demoted Francoeur Joins Dontrelle Willis

Previously published in Baseball Digest Daily.

DETROIT – This year, star MLB players are learning there are no guaranteed positions on the rosters. Despite receiving enormous salaries and long-term contracts, All-Star players and fan favorites are being forced to trade chartered flights to MLB cities for trips to away games on a bus.

Dontrelle Willis (29 million over three years) discovered that in June when the Detroit Tigers sent the All-Star left-handed pitcher to their Single A affiliate in Lakeland. Willis was given that assignment after posting an 0-1 record with the Tigers over four starts, lasting a total of 11.1 innings. He experienced severe control problems in those games, walking 21 (almost two per inning average) and posting an ERA of 10.32.

Still battling control problems in Lakeland, Willis is finding it difficult to recapture the form that put him on the NL All-Star team in 2005 when he pitched for the Marlins.

MLB’s latest victim of demotion is the Atlanta Braves’ Gold Glove winner Jeff Francoeur. After batting a miserable .121 over an 18 game span, Bobby Cox relegated the starting outfielder to AA affiliate Mississippi, the same team Francoeur played for before his MLB debut in 2005.

Former Georgia Tech player Jason Perry made his big league debut Friday night after being called up from the Brave’s Triple A Richmond team to replace Francoeur. In his first major league at bat, Perry got behind with a 1-2 count before fouling off several pitches then finally ripping an RBI triple deep in the right field gap, giving the Braves their first lead over any opponent in the last 47 innings.

Over the past two and a half seasons, Francoeur has started 408 games and was settled in as a regular for the Braves until the surprising news came after the Braves lost to the Phillies on Thursday. He was held hitless in four at bats that game, swinging at the first pitch in his last three at bats for routine outs.

Francoeur who hit .293 last year has clearly struggled with his swing most of the season. In addition to taking extra swings in the batting cage with his coaches, he visited an eye doctor in late June and began wearing a corrective lens in his right eye hoping to break out of his slump.

Nothing improved his performance at the plate; in fact his average before the corrective lens was .246 and dropped even lower to .234 over the next few weeks. His mechanics were horribly out of synch during Thursday’s Philly game; Cox had finally seen enough and demoted Francoeur.

The Tigers responded to the Willis move that occurred on June 10th by winning 15 out of the next 18 the rest of the month of June. After the Francoeur move Thursday, the Braves came out of the gate with a vengeance to break their losing streak, defeating the Houston Astros 6-2.

A strong message comes with these two transactions by the Braves and Tigers. No position is guaranteed to any player, All-Star or otherwise. The name of the game in pro sports is “win” and when teams aren’t winning or players aren’t producing, changes are made even at the cost of moving high-profile players like Dontrelle Willis and Jeff Francoeur.

Jair Jurrjens Making Early Run For Rookie Of The Year

Previously published in The Detroit Free Press and Baseball Digest Daily on May 28, 2008.

ATLANTA – The last time Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox said, “This kid can pitch, he’ll be around here for a while.” he wasn’t kidding. The year was 1988, Cox was the GM for the Braves and the “kid” he was referring to was John Smoltz, a young, hard-throwing pitcher who had just been obtained in a trade with the Tigers. Since then, Smoltz, who still pitches for the Braves, has blossomed into a sure Hall of Famer, posting 210 wins, 154 saves and over 3,000 strike outs.

In May, 2008 as manager of the Braves, Cox made a similar statement, “This kid can pitch, he’s gonna’ be a good one”. This time the “kid” Cox is referring to is another acquisition from the Tigers, 22 year-old starting pitcher, Jair Jurrjens. After eleven starts this year, the rookie pitching phenomenon, is taking the National League by storm. After being part of an unpopular trade that sent hometown favorite, Edgar Renteria to the Tigers, Jurrjens is now being referred to as the most impressive rookie pitcher the Braves have had in over a decade.

The Braves were at home on Memorial Day Monday and Cox, again showing confidence in Jurrjens, put the rookie right-hander on the mound against the first-place Diamondbacks and their ace Brandon Webb (9-1). Going into Monday’s game, Jurrjens had a 5-3 record with an impressive 2.64 ERA. At that time, Jurrjens ERA was 4th best in the league and better than Webb’s (2.69).

Against the Diamondbacks, Jurrjens, out-pitched Webb during the Braves 7-3 win, but was pulled with a 5-3 lead because of a blister developing on his throwing hand, just one out shy of recording his 6th victory of the season.

During his post game interview Monday, Cox said, “Jurrjens pitched incredibly good. He’s a young kid; he’s pitched a ton of good innings for us this year.”

Yes he has and his record should indicate that. In two of his past outings, the rookie walked away with no decision after giving up no runs in one game then only one run in another. It is safe to say both of those outings deserved to be victories as well as Sunday’s game if he were left in for one more out. Jurrjens record could easily be 8-3 right now which would only rub more salt in the wounds of Tiger fans as they watch their team’s starting pitching staff struggle throughout the year.

Jurrjens who has not given up more than four runs in any of his outings this season, is way ahead of Smoltz’ pace, thus far, as Smoltz struggled his first year as a rookie in 1988 then went on to win 12 games in his second year, posting an ERA of 2.94. Jurrjens’ performance is creating a buzz around Atlanta and talk about the possibility of him taking home the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year award.

While Renteria is having a respectable season hitting .279, the Tigers sit near last place with one of the statistically worst starting pitching staffs in baseball, it’s hard not to notice what contributions Jair Jurrjens could be making for the Tigers at this point of the season. This season, only one of the Tiger’s starters has more than three wins and with the Tiger starters having ERAs between 4.58 and 6.66, they could use a young right arm like Jurrjens’. While the top four starters for the Tigers have given up at least seven home runs each, Jurrjens has given up just a total of two long balls in his 11 outings.

Many Braves fans hated to see Renteria get traded and were bitter and questioned the move. Over the years, Bobby Cox has shown he has a knack for recognizing talent, and the Braves manager liked the potential he saw in shortstop Yunel Escobar. When Jurrjens’ name came up in trade talks, he jumped on the opportunity to land the great prospect, even at the expense of Renteria, his all-star shortstop.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Escobar was hitting .310 compared to Renteria’s .279. Both players each had 4 home runs, 4 errors and almost an identical number of RBI’s.

Clearly the Braves have not lost any offense from the transaction and have made a huge gain in their starting rotation. With John Smoltz on the mend from typical aches, pains and injuries of a 40 year-old pitcher and Tom Glavine turning 42 years-old this season, Jurrjens success coupled with the evolution of Escobar is making Braves fans forget about the loss of Edgar Renteria.

With solid starting pitching hard to acquire in Major League Baseball, this trade appears to be an excellent move by the Braves. Time will tell if the Renteria/Jurrjens trade will haunt the Detroit Tigers and their fans, like the Smoltz trade of the 80’s. In the meantime, in Atlanta, the team and fans are reaping the rewards.