Other Crap

The Day the Tigers Tipped Pitches for the Mick

Interesting yarn. Denny McLain had already won 30 games that year, and the Tigers had already won the pennant, so McLain decided to groove one for the game's most beloved superstar, who was playing in his last few games before retirement.

Does pitch-tipping actually happen much? That's not really the kind of question I can answer because it requires insider knowledge, but most insiders say no.

In a sort of related question, I suppose most of you baseball fans know how Nap Lajoie finished the year in 1910. He was battling Cobb down to the wire for the batting title when the St Louis Browns allowed Lajoie an 8-for-8 day at the end of the year. Their third baseman played far back onthe outfield grass, inviting Lajoie to bunt, which he did successfully for seven of his eight hits. Here is the actual New York Times article from October 10, 1910. Baseball historians have been arguing for years about who actually won that batting title. Cobb was awarded the crown at the time, .385 to .384, despite Lajoie's big day. It was later discovered that Cobb's number of hits was tallied incorrectly (record-keeping was remarkably imprecise in 1910), so Lajoie actually won .384 to .383. These days, some of the encyclopedias give it to Cobb, but most to Lajoie. The official baseball records still recognize Cobb's victory, I believe. If my memory is right, Bowie Kuhn refused to override the contemporary 1910 records when the error was discovered in the 70s or 80s.