One of baseball's most fabled artifacts, Black Betsy was manufactured by a local fan named Charlie Ferguson. He used the northern side of a hickory tree to make the bat. Knowing that Jackson liked blacked bats, Ferguson darkened the bat with tobacco juice. Jackson kept Black Betsy until his death in 1951. It broke the record for the highest sold baseball bat in history, when it was sold for $577,610 in 2001.
Between 1910 and 1915, Red Sox right fielder Harry Hooper teamed up with Duffy Lewis and Tris Speaker to form the Golden Outfield, one of the best outfield trios in baseball history.
Although his career win-loss record was just 100-123, Randy Jones had a great year for the Padres in 1976, when he went 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA, winning the National League Cy Young Award and being named The Sporting News NL Pitcher of the Year.
The team was originally owned by the Labatt Brewing Company, makers of the popular beer Labatt's Blue.
Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" became the rally/theme song of the 1979 World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates as they overcame a 3 games to 1 deficit versus the Baltimore Orioles to come back and win the Series 4 games to 3.
You might assume the name "Royals" came from some sort of connection to royalty, but it actually pays homage to the American Royal, a livestock show, rodeo, and championship barbeque competition held annually in Kansas City since 1899.
Some guys will try anything to win a game. On May 27, 1981, with the Kansas City Royals visiting the Seattle Kingdome, Royals centerfielder Amos Otis hit a slow roller down the third base line in the sixth inning. Mariners third baseman Lenny Randle pulled out all the stops when he got down on all fours and successfully blew the ball foul. The umpire initially called the ball foul before reversing his decision and awarding Otis an infield single. Afterwards, Randle said that there was a "no-blow rule" implemented.
In 1909, Ty Cobb led the league with nine home runs, all inside the park.
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