The Wonderful Quirky World of Baseball

We’re a month into the 2026 baseball season and the perennial fan optimism is trending toward realism. We’ve even had our first manager firing so there's early panic in some quarters. The Twins have hit their stride to the bottom. 

But baseball brings joy even when hope fades. At every game, you will commonly see something you’ve never witnessed before - a runner hitting a triple, tripping rounding 2nd and performing an in air somersault and continuing smoothly into 3rd; a long flyball bounces off the right fielder’s head and over the fence for a home run; a miraculous fielding play guaranteed; the pitcher catches a hard line drive in his jersey - look mom, no hands. 

And these.  (Full disclosure - I was not present at any of these)

1908 Merkle's Boner

In 1908 the Cubs and Giants were down to the wire for the National League pennant. In a game at the Polo Grounds, the score was tied in the 9th inning and the Giants had runners on 1st & 3rd with 2 out. Al Bridwell smacked a single to left, scoring the runner on third and Giants' fans mobbed the field. However, Fred Merkel, the runner on 1st, simply ran off the field to join the celebration. Johnny Evers, the Cub's 2nd basement grabbed a ball, probably not the ball, and started jumping on second base.  Yes, Merkel never touched 2nd and therefore was a force out so the winning run did not count. The game resumed the next day with the Cubs winning the game and the pennant by 1 game. They then won the 1908 World Series but not again until 2016 - 108 years of suffering for Cubs fans.

1912 Fred Snodgrass

Poor Fred. He dropped an lazy fly ball in the 1912 World Series and the Boston Red Sox went on to defeat his New York Giants for the title. He never lived it down.  He had made several outstanding running catches in that game. After the game he said "I just dropped the damned thing."  But his obituary was: Fred Snodgrass, 86, Dead; Ball Player Muffed 1912 Fly

1920 Ray Chapman

In baseball's dead ball era, 1903-1919, a baseball left the game only rarely. No new ball every time it hit the dirt. No requests from pitchers for a new ball. And there were no restrictions on pitchers doctoring the baseball. The substance of choice was tobacco juice. So by the late innings the ball was a dirty brown orb. In August 1920, Cleveland Indian shortstop, Ray Chapman stepped into the batter's box at the Polo Grounds to face Yankee pitcher Carl May. It was a gloomy, cloudy afternoon. May was a submarine pitcher ie. his delivery was underhand, releasing the ball from around his shoe tops. Thus the pitch went from low to high rather than the standard high to low overhand delivery. At this point of the game the ball was its customary tobacco stained brown and difficult to see. May's delivery struck Chapman in the left temple crushing his skull. Chapman had made no attempt avoid being hit, apparently not seeing the ball. He fell unconscious, bleeding from his ears and was rushed to hospital, where he later died. Ray Chapman is the only player killed in a major league game. Cleveland, wearing black armbands for the rest of the season, went on to win the American League pennant and claim their first World Series championship. Chapman's death led to rule changes requiring replacing dirty baseballs and eventually banning the spitball. Helmets were not mandated until 1956.

1926 Grover Cleveland Alexander

In 1926 Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander was a 39 year old pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals near the end of a Hall of Fame career that logged 373 wins. He had won games 2 and 6 over the mighty Yankees and was called in to relieve in game 7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis with the bases loaded and 2 out. He may have been drunk. Tony Lazzeri launched a long fly ball to left that just went foul and Old Pete then struck him out to end the inning. The game ended with Babe Ruth thrown out stealing in the top of the 9th, giving the Cardinals their first World Series championship.

1932 Babe Ruth's Called shot

The 1932 World Series pitted the Chicago Cubs against the New York Yankees. In game 3 at Wrigley Field, Babe Ruth appeared to point to center field and on the next pitch blasted a home run to that spot. Newspapers used billiard terminology saying he had "called the shot".  Did he or didn't he? Whether Ruth really pointed or pointed with intent is debatable. But he had promised a kid in the hospital he'd hit a home run for him. Ruth never claimed he had pointed or intended to call-the-shot, preferring to let Ruth legend grow unaided.

1946 Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash

The 1946 World Series featured the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox, the Sox's first appearance since 1918 and Ted Williams one and only shot at a ring. In the 8th inning of game 7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis with the scored tied, Enos Slaughter, Card's outfielder, led off with a single. The next 2 hitters made outs. Harry Walker then lined a single to left. Leon Culberson was playing centerfield for Dom DiMaggio, a gold glove class outfielder, and was a bit slow to the ball. He threw to the cutoff man, shortstop Johnny Pesky, who turned and was surprised to see Slaughter rounding 3rd on his "mad dash" for home.  His hurried throw was off-line and Slaughter scored giving the Cards their 6th World Series title. Scored from 1st on a single.

1951 Bobby Thompson's shot heard round the world

Everyone knows of Bobby Thompson's "shot heard round the world", his 3 run walk-off home run in the 9th inning in a playoff for the National League pennant against Brooklyn, off Dodgers' pitcher Ralph Branca, giving the Giants a 5-4 win and the National League pennant in 1951. If you are old enough you can close your eyes and probably hear radio announcer Russ Hodges going wild with "The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant." What people forget is the Giants lost the '51 World Series to the Yankees.

1954 World Series. Willie May's catch

Municipal Stadium, Cleveland.  "The Catch". Off Vic Wertz bat. Was this the greatest catch in MLB history?

1956 Don Larsen' Perfect Game

Don Larsen was a less than stellar pitcher for the Yankees in the 50's, finishing his career with an 81-91 record.  But one day in October 1956 his name became immortal. In game 5 of the World Series, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he pitched the first and only World Series perfect game. Larsen had recently switched to a no windup delivery and perhaps that threw off the hitters' timing and contributed to the futility of the Dodgers that day. Yogi Berra celebrated by jumping into Larsen's arms creating the iconic photo.

1960 Bill Mazeroski walk-off

Maz's 1960 walk-off home run in the 9th inning of game 7 at Forbes Field against the Yankees won the World Series for Pittsburgh and got Bill Mazeroski into the Hall of Fame.

1978 Bucky F'ing Dent

Bucky Dent was a light hitting shortstop for the New York Yankees in the 70's. He hit 40 career home runs. But his home run in Fenway Park in the 1978 playoffs to give the Yankees the pennant over the Boston Red Sox earned him a new middle name in New England.

1986 Bill Buckner

In 1986 World Series the Mets faced the Boston Red Sox.  In game 6, with the Sox up 3 games to 2 and with the lead, Bill Buckner was inserted for defensive purposes at first base. Mookie Wilson hit a slow roller toward first which went between Buckner's legs. Ray Knight scored from 2nd and the Mets took the lead. The Mets went on to win game 6 and then an anti-climactic win in game 7. Poor Bill. Couldn't set his foot in Boston for years. Forgiveness came in 2004 when Boston finally won its first World Series in 86 years.

1989 San Francisco Earthquake

Not a baseball play, but game 3 of the 1989 World Series game between San Francisco and Oakland at Candlestick Park was halted by an earthquake.

1991 Kirby Puckett / Jack Morris

Kirby's game 6 catch followed by his game winning home run in the 11th inning. Followed by Jack Morris 1-0 10 inning 7th game shutout win - possibly the greatest World Series pitching performance in history.  Iconic, at least for me. World Series win for the Twins.

2001 World Series.  Jeter's relay

Remember, Jeter was a shortstop and he took this relay throw in first base foul territory. Out at home.

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin