Somehow I've missed this in my extensive study of baseball history until today...
Many of you are probably familiar with the story of former major-leaguer Eddie Gaedel, a midget brought out by St Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck to bat in 1951. He walked on 4 pitches in his only plate appearance.
What I didn't realize about this is the Kansas connection. The Tigers' pitcher in Gaedel's only plate appearance was Bob Cain and the catcher was Bob Swift. Cain was born in Longford, KS (~20 miles NE of Salina) and grew up in Salina. Swift was born and raised in Salina. Amazing that two kids from the same town in central Kansas became central to one of the more odd moments in baseball history.
