10 Interesting Facts About Baseball
Baseball has been a part of the North American sports culture for well over a century now. Baseball has now become one of the most watched sports in North America and there is good reason for that too. It has dished up some epic games and provided the stage for some fierce rivalries to take shape.
Baseball in the continent really took off with the arrival of Major League Baseball. The league was formed in the year 1903 and has led the movement that has turned the sport into a global phenomenon.
With the sport enjoying such popularity all across the US and abroad, we decided to come up with a list of facts that might not be known to a lot of people. So here is our list of 10 interesting facts about baseball:
1-Jim Abbot had a more than decent eleven year long career in the MLB. He began his career with the Angels in 1989 and ended it with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999. What was so incredibly special about his career was the fact that he did not have a right hand. Yes, that is correct Jim Abbot played eleven years as a pitcher with just one hand. Oh and it gets better. In 1993, while playing for the New York Yankees he threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.
2-Deion Sanders is a two time Super Bowl winner, an eight time Pro Bowl pick and has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. These are things most people know. The fact that he played in the MLB is something people know too. What a lot of people might not know is that he remains the only player in history to play in the Super Bowl and the World Series. He also remains the only player in history to hit a home run and score a touchdown in the same week.
3-Don Baylor is World Series winner and a member of the Angels Hall of Fame too. He played in three World Series but for three different teams. His first appearance in MLB’s showpiece series came with the Boston Red Sox in 1986. He then won it with the Minnesota Twins in 1987 and then appeared in another World Series with the Oakland Athletics the very next season.
4-Alvin Dark , the manager of the San Francisco Giants was not a very big fan of the hitting prowess of his starting pitcher Gaylord Perry’s. He once quipped “they’ll put a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.” Gaylord broke his home run duck on July 20, 1969. What was so significant about that achievement was that he hit his first home run just twenty minutes after Neil Armstrong became the first man ever to step foot on the moon.
5-The National League of the MLB was formed in the year 1876 while the Football League of England traces its roots back to the year 1888. That makes the NL the oldest professional sports league in the world right now.
6-The Fenway Park is a legendary venue. It also has the distinction of being the oldest MLB ballpark in existence today. It has been hosting baseball games since the year 1912.
7-The New York Yankees are not only the most successful team in MLB history but also were the first side in the sport to wear numbered jerseys. They began the tradition during the 1920s. The kits were numbered according to the batting order of the team. Babe Ruth was also the third one to hit and that is why he wore number 3 on his back.
8-While there are a lot of stories and versions about who hit the longest home run in baseball history, we will stick to what the longest home run in MLB history is. The longest ever verified and recorded home run in MLB history was hit by the icon that is Babe Ruth. He smashed the ball 575 feet at the Tiger Stadium during the days when it was called the Navin Field.
9-On April 25, 1976, two men were trying to burn the American flag. Rick Monday of the Chicago Cubs was having none of it and stopped them from doing that. As a result of his heroics, Monday received a standing ovation from everyone at the Dodger Stadium that day as they sang “God Bless America.”
10-William Howard Taft was the first ever President of the United States to throw the ceremonial first pitch to kick off the MLB season. He started the tradition in 1910. Jimmy Carter remains the only US President since then to buck the trend.
So there you go. This is our list of 10 interesting facts about baseball that we thought not a lot of people would know. If you have more facts to add to the list, let us know.
