You are the sole keeper of a MLB oddball fact. At least you like to think you are. Let's hear what it is.

Mine - Art Mahaffey, a pitcher for the '60 - '66 Phillies and Cardinals, had such a great pickoff move to first in the minors, that he promised to pick off his first baserunner in the majors if he was ever called up. He picked off his first 3, becoming the only pitcher in history to do so.


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10-13-02, 01:03 PM
Jelp01
I have sources for all sorts of absolutely useless baseball facts. I could have several different answers to this question, but my favorite is this:

Doc Hamann, a pitcher for the Indians in 1922, and Fred Bruckbauer, a pitcher for the Twins in 1961, are the only two major league pitchers to have been born in New Ulm, MN. They also have the same career ERA: Infinity.

Hamann pitched one game, gave up 3 hits and 3 walks, allowed 6 earned runs, without recording an out. Bruckbauer gave up 3 earned runs on 3 hits and 1 walk, also without recording an out. So they both have an ERA of infinity and were both born in New Ulm, MN.

I know I'm supposed to be the holder of one fact, but I found another one I thought was too good to pass up.

Eddie Porray, a pitcher for the Buffalo Federal League team in 1914, has a fact associated with him that no other major league player can claim: He's the only major league player not born in a U.S. state, territory, or foreign country. His official place of birth, on Dec. 5th, 1888, was a ship crossing the Atlantic.

10-13-02, 07:21 PM
niccincoogol
All my amazing MLB factoids and trivia minutia is memorized. I don't need any sources.

Okay, I'm absolutely lying. Jelp - give me an example of one of your favorite sources you're referring to.

And keep weird oddball trivia bits coming in everyone!!! Thanks.

10-14-02, 08:05 PM
Jelp01
Nic, I remembered the bit about the pitching natives of New Ulm from an old copy of "Baseball Digest." I didn't remember their names, but a check of all the pitchers born in Minnesota, at http://www.baseballreference.com/, gave me the names. And, the bit about Eddie Porray came when, just for the heck of it, I checked out this link, and checking out each player listed. I also have several of David Nemec's books, which have about every possible bit of baseball trivia and facts one could think of. I'm the type who considers reading the stats from "The Baseball Encyclopedia" my idea of good literature.

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