Eddie Gaedel
American baseball player (1925-1961) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Edward Carl Gaedel (June 8, 1925 – June 18, 1961) was the smallest player to appear in a Major League Baseball game.[1]
Eddie Gaedel | |
---|---|
Pinch hitter | |
Born: (1925-06-08)June 8, 1925 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
Died: June 18, 1961(1961-06-18) (aged 36) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Left | |
MLB debut | |
August 19, 1951, for the St. Louis Browns | |
Last MLB appearance | |
August 19, 1951, for the St. Louis Browns | |
MLB statistics | |
On-base percentage | 1.000 |
Batting average | – |
Plate appearances | 1 |
Base on balls | 1 |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Gaedel gained recognition in the second game of a St. Louis Browns doubleheader on August 19, 1951.[2] Weighing 60 pounds (27 kg) and standing 3 feet 7 inches (109 cm) tall, he became the shortest player in the history of the Major Leagues. Gaedel made a single plate appearance and was walked with four consecutive balls before being replaced by a pinch-runner at first base. His jersey, bearing the uniform number "1⁄8", is displayed in the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck, in his 1962 autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, said of Gaedel, "He was, by golly, the best darn midget who ever played big-league ball. He was also the only one."[3]