The Day a Midget Played for the St. Louis Browns

There has never been a more eccentric or innovative owner in MLB than Bill Veeck Jr. He had an incredible knack for drawing fans into the ballpark, even when his team was in the cellar, so would it be any surprise if I told you he hired a midget to play the nightcap of a doubleheader in 1951?

Bill Veeck’s father had spent time as the president of the Chicago Cubs from 1919 until the time of his death in 1933, so Jr. got his start in the sport at a young age, working various roles within the Cubs organization. He saved up enough money and bought the minor league Milwaukee Brewers in 1941, officially getting him started as an owner in professional baseball. After serving in World War II, Veeck started his MLB career by purchasing the Cleveland Indians in 1946.

Right off the bat, many could tell he was a showman, and never came short of creating a controversy either. In 1947, a couple months after the National League’s Jackie Robinson broke into the league with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Veeck decided to bring an astounding Negro League second baseman in Larry Doby, but made the risky move of turning him into a centerfielder. See, switching positions happens constantly in baseball, but Veeck hired former Indians legendary centerfielder Tris Speaker to mentor the kid to play the premier position if center. Now this seems like a good move, but Doby was seeking to become the first American League Negro ballplayer, and second overall, which judging by the torment Robinson had seen in National League ballparks in the summer of ’47, Doby would have a lot on his plate.

To add insult to injury, Tris Speaker had been renowned as one of the most racist, anti-semetic, anti-catholic ballplayers in the history of the game, and at one point was rumored to be in the KKK (players like Rogers Hornsby had also received these rumors). Weirdly enough… Speaker and Doby got along marvelously, and Speaker said in later years that he had really enjoyed the time he had spent around the young superstar. This is all an example of a risky situation Veeck created that turned to gold, including when he picked up Satchel Paige the next season, and turned the 1948 Cleveland Indians into the World Champions of baseball.

When the summer of 1951 rolled around, Veeck decided to make another frivolous purchase by purchasing the hapless St. Louis Browns, who had for decades played second fiddler to the crosstown St. Louis Cardinals. Now as expected, the team played awful, and had absolutely no chance of making it into the pennant race, but Veeck’s tactics and marketing started bring fans into Sportsman’s Park. Nothing compared to what he did on August 19, 1951. The Detroit Tigers were in town for a weekend series, and were set to play the Browns in a double header that Sunday. For the nightcap, Veeck had a giant birthday wheeled out in front of home plate (celebrating the 50th anniversary of the American League), and with cheerleaders and other entertainers around, out come a 3′ 7″ man by the name of Eddie Gaedel, who had been a find from the circus.

The crowd went into a frenzy, but you may be asking yourself “how was this allowed to happen”? Simple; it absolutely wasn’t. See Veeck was smart enough to wait until the weekend to send in the roster update to the American League President’s office, but when the letter arrived Saturday morning, everyone had packed up and left for the weekend, meaning they wouldn’t see it until Monday morning. Gaedel stepped up to the 1st inning to face Tigers’ pitcher Bob Cain, who proceeded to laugh harder than anyone ever has or will on a pitchers mound. Gaedel proceeded to walk on four pitches, and was promptly taken out of the game, to a huge standing ovation. The following morning, Gaedel was banned from Major League Baseball forever.

Unfortunately, there is no happy ending for Gaedel, as he struggled with alcohol for the rest of his life while trying to find odd jobs to give him at least some kind of a paycheck. Under bizarre circumstances, Gaedel died in a bar fight in 1961 in St. Louis at the age of 36. Sadly, he had fallen into obscurity as soon as his at bat ended, but his story will never be forgotten, and in fact only one player in professional baseball made their way to the funeral…

It was Bob Cain.