Feature Articles

by Gordon Lee

So I've been trying to get my creative thoughts churning on something to write about. I believe I am experiencing a case of writers block, you know the 2-year kind. Something that ESPN writers must always experience since 99% of their content is fixated on east coast, high profile teams. I tell you there is no reason to watch them anymore. The only useful information comes from the ESPNews Bottomline. Watch ESPN for 10 minutes and you will learn all you need to know about the Manny Ramirez for Miguel Tejada discussions. You'll hear about potential moves with the Yankees and Mets. You'll hear UConn, NY Giants and the J-E-T-S mentioned, but a whole 5 seconds is dedicated to an actual sports story like a Big Ten NCAAB upset.

I guess it's to be that way with the money involved but try being let's say a Brewer fan wanting to hear about rumors swirling around involving your favorite club. Just a note, have some sort of playback machine available. You'll have to rewind your VCR or TiVo a couple of times to pinpoint that sentence about what you actually want to hear.

So what am I saying here? A lot of things in today's media fades to obscurity that probably shouldn't. In fact if you want useful print via a powerhouse like ESPN you have to pay to read it. There really are no useless facts lying around, just facts that no one circulates any longer for one reason or another. When there's no money involved what can you expect?

Well I have searched high and low and I have found things that I enjoyed reading through. No it doesn't involve a trade rumor and it certainly doesn't involve money. It's those little known facts about the sports that we love to watch. It's those ironies that make no sense at all. For example, why does the NHL ban their players from taking aspirin but doesn't ban alcohol or other drugs? Isn't that a news story? I would think so with all that is going on with Major League Baseball right now.

I have compiled a list of 34 little known sports facts, some of which could be news stories if people cared to write or speak about them. Some are just amusing and some are just flat useless. Without further ado I present my list along with a bonus list of sports injuries that I just find humorous. Enjoy.

1) In July 1934, Babe Ruth paid a fan $20 for the return of the baseball he hit for his 700th career home run.

Talk about a rip-off.

2) Will Clark, former baseball player, is a direct decendent of William Clark of Lewis and Clark.

Forget ESPN, where's the History Channel on this one?

3) In 1963, the MVP's of both Major League Baseball leagues, the NFL, and the NBA all wore the same uniform number - #32 (Sandy Koufax, Elston Howard, Jim Brown and Elgin Baylor)

Wow!

4) It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.

You think the NFL has their own slaughterhouse? I'd like a tour if they do.

5) The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star Game.

I'm willing to bet those are the most depressing days of the year.

6) In addition to being a HOF football coach, Bud Grant was a player and member of the NBA Champions Minneapolis Lakers of 1949-50.

What an ego. Not a hall of fame basketball player so I'll coach football to get in!

7) During World War II there were not enough players available for some NFL teams. In 1943, the Steelers and the Eagles merged and the press called the combination, the Steagles.

This is where cross-breeding animals started.

8) A forfeited game in football is scored as a 2-0 win and in baseball is scored as a 9-0 win.

Quick question. Why?

9) The St. Louis Rams were the first NFL team to play in a domed stadium and win a superbowl.

But they still didn't play real football, outdoors.

10) Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has been struck by lightning, twice!

Third times a charm...

11) Joe Nuxhall was the youngest Major League player to appear in a regular season game. He pitched for the Cincinnati Reds on June 10, 1944 at the age of 15. He lasted 2/3 of an inning and finished the season with a 67.50 ERA.

I'm guessing that's why clubs prefer that their players shave first, then get their call to the big leagues.

12) Henry Chadwick devised the scoring system in question in 1861. "K" is used because it is the last letter in the word "struck."

The man was an absolute genius!

13) The Phillies once played a complete Major League game in 51 minutes against the Yankees on September 28, 1919.

I swear if I attend a game like that, I am in line for a refund.

14) Rapper MC Hammer was once the bat boy for the Charley Finley owned A's in the 70's.

You think he got the idea for "Can't touch this" in the dugout?

15) Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals is the only player to hit two grand slams in one inning. He hit them in '98 against Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers.

What a friend. He touched home plate twice and made sure six of his friends got lucky too.

16) In August, 1967, Tony Conigliaro was beaned by a pitch that ended his season. The Angel's hurler was Jack Hamilton who only hit one batter that season, Tony.

That's what happens when all that builds up.

17) Pitcher Chuck Finley has struck out four players in an inning three times, nobody has ever done it twice.

And after each time his wife beat the crap out of him.

18) The average life span of a Major League baseball is 7 pitches.

Yep. Pete Rose bet on that too.

19) Carrol Hardy was the only player to ever pinch hit for Ted Williams.

That was back when Ted had a head on his shoulders.

20) Hal Reniff was the only player to pitch for both New York teams, without playing for any other teams during his career.

He was in it for the ESPN glamour.

21) Wally Pipp, 1B for the New York Yankees got sick and sat out a game. The player that filled in went on to play 2,130 games in a row, Lou Gehrig.

Gehrig is known as the Iron Horse. Wally Pipp is still known as Wally Pipp... YOU LOST WALLY!

22) The "huddle" in football was formed due to a deaf football player who used sign language to communicate with his team. The team "huddled up" because they didn't want the opposing team to see the signals he used.

Before the deaf player came around they just talked at the line of scrimmage about the play, hey the other team will never know!

23) The Stanley Cup was originally only 7 1/2 inches tall.

Do grown men want an award the size of a female pleasuring device? NO!

24) Golfers use an estimated $800 million worth of golf balls annually.

Probably not needed.

25) The Silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is of Harmon Killebrew, and is Jerry West for the NBA logo.

No wonder why West's and Killebrew's family photo albums are all full of plain white images of the gentlemen.

26) The only person to be elected to both the football hall of fame and the baseball hall of fame is Cal Hubbard.

You'd think it would be an accomplishment. I'm willing to bet your first thought was, Who?

27) In 1986 Danny Heep became the first player in a World Series to be a Designated Hitter (DH) with the initials, "D.H."

This fact was originally found by someone with WAAAYYY too much time on their hands.

28) Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

Well the man does sew shoes together with a needle and a thread....

29) In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry said, "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first home run.

You think Armstrong's "One small step for man" line was for landing on the moon? Think otherwise..

30) A regulation baseball has exactly 108 stitches.

The same goes for an NHL player's face.

31) Baseball is the only sport that looks backwards in the mirror.

I'm trying it right now. The only thing is I have to wait here until April :(

32) Bob Feller and Kerry Wood are the only pitchers in history to accomplish the unusual feat of striking out their age in a game. Feller was 17 and Wood was 20.

If Clemens comes back and does it I'll be impressed!

33) Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.

I'm hungry when I watch basketball. Is this why?

34) Before 1859, baseball umpires were seated in padded chairs behind home plate.

Oh how far the game has come since then.

See, things like that should not be forgotten. Now to funny injuries, there's ten of them that I like.

1) Ken Griffey Jr. once missed a game because he pinched a testicle between his cup and thigh.

2) Moises Alou hurt his knee by falling off of a treadmill in 1999 AND re-injured his knee in 2000 by running over his son... WITH A BICYCLE!

3) Glenallen Hill missed several games from falling through a glass table after having a dream about spiders.

4) Clint Barmes broke his collarbone his rookie season after falling down the stairs while carrying a load of deer meat that was given to him by teammate Todd Helton.

5) Sammy Sosa went on the DL after straining a back ligament following a violent sneeze.

6) Gus Frerotte missed a key game following head butting the wall behind the end zone after a rushing TD. It wasn't an accident either.

7) Bill Gramatica tore his ACL after kicking a 42-yard field goal, not from the kick but from his celebration.

8) Adam Eaton cut his pitching hand in 2001 while attempting to open a DVD.

9) Vince Coleman missed the 1985 World Series after getting caught in a tarp machine.

10) Wade Boggs missed several games after hurting himself while putting on cowboy boots.

After a long hiatus, Gordon Lee returned to FIC with this feature article. An FIC charter member Gordon was a regular contributor to FIC in it's infancy. He has worked on covering the NL Central in baseball, the NFC North in football and has written many pieces throughout FIC's first five years. You can feel free to contact him at his FIC e-mail address (glee@fantasyinfocentral.com).