Pickles and Peanut
Butter Archives
Please note: since this page appeared at some point in the
not-too-distant past, some links may be invalid or different than they once
were.
Each week we explore at a different topic
in a 'not quite normal' way.
This week’s topic is:
Baseball
Let's start
with a brief history of the sport. Here's an article from
Baseball
Almanac that discusses the TRUE origins of the game, and, would
you believe, it didn't really start with Abner Doubleday?
A few Baseball
Firsts that even the
most avid of fans may not know:
|
1849 |
The Knickerbockers are the
first team to wear an official uniform. |
|
1875 |
Fred Thayer invents the
first catcher's mask. |
|
1876 |
Al Spalding and other
players wear the first gloves onto the field. |
|
05-01-1884 |
Moses Walker is the first
black player to appear in a major league game. |
|
1888 |
First rule giving three
strikes for an out appears. |
|
1889 |
First rule giving four
balls for a walk appears. |
|
04-12-1909
|
Doc Powers is the
first baseball related death when he crashes into the wall trying to
catch a popup fly. He finishes the game, has surgery when it's over, two
more after that, then passes away on 04-26-1909. |
|
1947 |
Bill
Voiselle, from a town named Ninety-Six, is the first player to wear his
hometown name as a uniform number. |
|
08-21-1947 |
The first
Little League World Series is played. |
|
03-01-1949 |
The
Cardinals are the first team evicted by their own stadium. |
|
08-19-1951 |
Eddie
Gaedel is the first midget to play in a major league game. |
|
04-18-1956 |
Ed Rommell is the
first umpire to wear glasses in a regular season game. |
|
01-04-1957 |
The Dodgers are the
first team to purchase their own team airplane. |
|
08-17-1957 |
Richie Ashburn is the
first batter to hit the same fan twice in the same at-bat with foul
balls. |
|
09-08-1965 |
Bert Campaneris is
the first to play all nine positions in a single game. |
|
05-10-1967 |
Hank Aaron, the
future all time home run king, hits his first and only inside the park
home run. |
|
04-08-1969 |
Carlos May of the
Chicago White Sox has a jersey with his last name on the back (May) and
his new uniform number (17), making him the first ballplayer to have his
birthdate on his jersey. |
|
04-13-1970 |
Athletics are first
to use gold colored bases which are banned after game. |
|
1972 |
Steve
Carlton became the first pitcher to
win as many games as (or more than) the rest of the rotation combined
when he went 27-10 in a year where the rest of the Phillies starters
went 19-68. |
|
05-04-1975 |
On April 22, 1876,
Wes Fisler scored the first run. Astros' Bob Watson scored the
one-millionth run in the second inning versus the Giants. |
|
02-02-1976 |
Cal Hubbard is first
man elected into both the football and baseball halls of fame. |
|
01-04-1977 |
The White Sox hire
Mary Shane who becomes the first woman on television to do play-by-play
for a major league baseball game. |
|
07-24-1983 |
Lee MacPhail
overrules umpires for first time in the George Brett pine tar incident. |
|
11-18-1987 |
Andre
Dawson is first to win MVP Award on a last place team. |
|
1987 |
Cal
Ripken, Sr. is the first father to manage his two sons - Billy & Cal Jr. |
|
10-17-1989 |
First earthquake to
disrupt a game occurs before game 3 of the WS. |
|
08-31-1990 |
Ken Griffey Jr. and
Sr. are first father / son to play on same club. |
|
08-19-1992 |
Bret Boone is first
third generation player (grandpa Ray & dad Bob). |
|
05-31-1999 |
Umpire Frank Pulli is
first to use TV replay to reverse a call in a game taking away a Marlins
home run versus the Cardinals. |
|
05-01-2000 |
Barry Bonds of the
San Francisco Giants became the first player to hit a home run out of
Pac Bell Park and into McCovey Cove. |
|
08-06-2001 |
Scott Hatteberg of
the Boston Red Sox became the first player to hit into a triple play and
hit a grand slam during the same game. |
|
07-09-2002 |
Damian Miller
of the Arizona Diamondbacks
became the first player to get a hit in a stadium with the same last
name as him (Miller Park) during an All-Star game. |
|
07-23-2002 |
Nomar Garciaparra
became the first player to
hit 3 home runs on his birthday by going deep 3 times, including 2
during 1 inning, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a 22-4 rout. |
|
04-02-2003 |
X doesn't mark the spot in
baseball, but San Diego Padres rookie Xavier Nady marked his own spot in
home-run history. On this day, he became the first player in Major
League history whose first or last name started with an X to hit a home
run and when he did, his long ball happened to cross over a sign for a
radio station called 91X. |
|
04-06-2004 |
David Aardsma
of the San Francisco Giants played in his
first ever major league ballgame and as he stepped onto the field, he
was booed loudly. Why? Aardsma
alphabetically now replaces Hank Aaron at
the top of the baseball biographical player list. |
Find out what happened on this day
in baseball history.
Ever wonder How Baseballs are made?
Why are some bats called the
Louisville Slugger?
How can pitchers
throw
the ball so hard?
What is the
Sweet Spot on a bat?
Back to top
Can you match these ballplayers
with their nicknames? Click here for answers.
Youngest ballplayer in history
was Joe Nuxhall in 1944. He was 15 years 10 months and 11 days old when he
made his pitching debut. He pitched for 2/3 inning, allowing 5 walks and 5
runs. That is the only game he played in during that year, but his career
spanned 16 years, with a career record of 135-117.
Oldest ballplayer in history was
Satchel Paige. Born LeRoy Robert, he played 20 years in the Negro leagues
before joining the major leagues at age 42 (also the oldest rookie) in 1948.
He played for 5 years, then returned for one final game in 1965 at age of 59
years, 2 months, 18 days.
I think everyone has at least heard of the great
poem, Casey at the Bat, but
here are a couple of responses to that poem.
The Man Who Fanned Casey.
Casey - Twenty Years Later.
In 1898, Thomas Edison produced the
first baseball movie: The Ball Game, which featured two amateur teams
from Newark, New Jersey playing their hearts out. Since then there have been
hundreds of other movies about baseball. Here is a list of
10 of the Top Baseball Movies
10.
Major League (1989)
9.
The Sandlot (1993)
8. A
League of Their Own (1992)
7. The Natural (1984)
6. The Bad News Bears (1976)
5. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
4. Eight Men Out (1988)
3. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
2. Field of Dreams (1989)
1. Bull Durham (1988)
Honorable mention: The Rookie(2002), 61(2001), Cobb (1994), Angels in the
Outfield (1994).
If you saw A League of Their Own, you might want to find out about
the women's baseball leagues.
Did you know that there is currently a
women's baseball league?
Find out how visually impaired people can play
baseball.
Do you have a bunch of old baseball
cards lying around collecting dust? Are they worth anything, or just fun
to look at?
Minor league baseball has some of the most creative names anywhere. Here's a
few:
Albuquerque Isotopes
Asheville Tourists
Batavia Muckdogs
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Lansing Lugnuts
Modesto Nuts
Montgomery Biscuits
And in the news for the REALLY minor leagues, there will be a
Little League
Tee-ball game on the White House lawn on June 26.
Back to top
Try your hand at
Whiffle Ball.
Try some mini-clip
baseball, if you think you can.
Try some math fun at Funbrain's
Math Baseball.
See just how fast you can
throw a baseball.
Need a
new grill? Shaped like a baseball?
