Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive! for automatic updates (sign-up block found in right side-bar)

As a Free Bonus for subscribing, you’ll get instant access to my two Special Reports: Memorable World Series Moments and Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide!

 Bill Veeck and Eddie Gaedel Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:

Today is Eddie Gaedel Day!

“For a moment, I felt like Babe Ruth!” – Eddie Gaedel

Thanks to Bill Gutman for calling my attention to the fact that today has been declared “Eddie Gaedel Day” over at the St. Louis Brown’s Historical Society Facebook page. So as a tribute to “Little Eddie,” I thought it’d be a good idea to repost my article about him from a couple years ago. It was titled:

Bill Veeck and “Little Person,” Eddie Gaedel

In my recent post about Comiskey Park, I included a photo of Disco Demolition Night, which was one of Bill Veeck’s stunts that went horribly wrong. That got me thinking about other Veeck promotions, including one of his most memorable: sending “little person” Eddie Gaedel up to the plate in 1951!

In 1951, Veeck was the owner of a truly miserable team, the St. Louis Browns, and was scheming to find ways to draw fans into the ballpark. And then he had a “Eureka!” moment: On Sunday, August 19, at the start of second game of a doubleheader at Sportsman’s Park against the Tigers, Veeck had  a giant cake wheeled up to the plate –  and inside of it was 3-foot, 7-inch “little person” Eddie Gaedel!

The fans gave Eddie a standing ovation as he stepped out of the cake, waved to the crowd, and then took a crouched stance in the batters’ box. He was announced as a pinch-hitter for Bob Saucier. Armed with a miniscule strike zone and Veeck’s orders not to swing, Gaedel drew a four-pitch walk from startled Tigers’ starter Bob Cain in what was Gaedel’s only career plate-appearance. The crowd roared as he trotted to first base, doffed his cap, and then was lifted for a pinch-runner. He ended his career with a perfect on-base percentage of 1.000 and earned $100 for the day. Cleveland’s Falstaff Brewery was in on the promotion and distributed free “midget” bottles of beer at the stadium. The league office was not happy about the stunt and came down hard on Veeck, fining him and then changing rules about “making a mockery of the game.”

In the classic photo below of Eddie at the plate, the catcher on his knees is Bob Swift , and  the umpire is Ed Hurley. Eddie wore a uniform used by the St. Louis batboy, Bill DeWitt, Jr. On the back of the uniform was Eddie’s number: 1/8.

Gaedel’s appearance is actually recognized by Major League Baseball. You can find his entry in the Baseball Encyclopedia or on the Eddie Gaedel page on Baseball-Reference.com. In the Hall-of-Fame Museum, a life-size cutout of his stance is fittingly displayed on exhibit next to the uniform of 6-foot-11 former reliever Jon Rauch – as the tallest and shortest men ever to play in the majors are juxtaposed next to each other.

Following the game, Gaedel’s contract was voided by Major League Baseball. Although Eddie Gaedel never appeared in another game, for a brief period of time the spotlight shone brightly on him. “For a moment, I felt like Babe Ruth,” he was once quoted as saying. And believe it or not, today his autographs, due to their scarcity, command as much as the Babe’s. The Browns lost the game 6-2, one of their 102 losses for the season, but for that night they were the talk of baseball, all thanks to gadfly-owner Bill Veeck – who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 – and his flair for the unexpected.

Eddie Gaedel died in 1961 at age 36, following a beating he received after he left a bowling alley in Chicago. His grandnephew, 6′ 4″ Kyle Gaedele is also a ballplayer, drafted in the 32nd round by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.

Shop MLB.com. The Official Online Shop of Major League Baseball.

Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Add your name to the petition to help get Gil Hodges elected to the Hall of Fame: https://wp.me/p7a04E-5guhttps://wp.me/p7a04E-5IF