Midget baseball player

Pinch-hitter Eddie Gaedel, just 43 inches tall, takes a pitch high from Tigers pitcher Bob Cain in The catcher is Bob Swift and the umpire is Ed Hurley. As he stared into home plate to get the sign from his catcher Bob Swift, the tall right-handed hurler faced a batter unlike any other he had ever seen. Eddie Gaedel was 43 inches tall and waved a toy bat in his hands, but he was a legitimate big league hitter, at least for that one plate appearance. The date was August 19, , and the Detroit Tigers were playing the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader in St.

Only one midget has ever played in a major league baseball game, and his name was Eddie Gaedel. Three foot seven and weighing in at just 65 pounds, Gaedel was a surprise pinch-hitter in a St. Bill Veeck was the owner of the Browns, and he was always on the look out for great publicity stunts. Veeck had little Gaedel jump out of a papier mache birthday cake during the first game of the double header, wearing his Browns uniform, and everyone was thoroughly unimpressed. But he saved the best for game two. At the bottom of the first inning Veeck brought Gaedel out as a pinch hitter.

Louis Browns. For a guy less than four feet tall, Eddie Gaedel made quite the splash when he made his Major League debut. Louis Browns uniform went down in sports history and made fans carefully consider where the line was drawn between athletics and entertainment. Gaedel was born in Chicago on June 8, By the time he was fully grown, he measured 3 feet 7 inches tall and weighed about 65 pounds.

Readmikenow likes sports, professional and amateur. He especially likes sports stories of courage and overcoming adversity. The St. Louis on August 19,