schneider@vlnvax.DEC (08/23/85)
> I believe the St. Louis Browns also had a one armed outfielder in the > mid-40's who would catch the ball, flip off his glove, and throw the > ball back in. During the period when the US was sending troops to Europe to fight World War II, there was the obvious problem of keeping the baseball rosters stocked. Most minor leagues went temporarily out of business and while there was some talk of the same fate for the major leagues, it was decided to continue for the morale of the country. And so owners began collecting various younger and older players as their rosters left for Europe (among them was the 15 year old Joe Nuxhull who pitched for the Cincinatti Reds), and other men who for whatever reason were staying in the country. Thus Pete Gray got a chance to play despite his handicap of only having one arm. In his single season he only hit .218, but hit a remarkable five one-armed home runs. In the later 1800's there was a pitcher named Hugh "One-Armed" Daley. If my memory of his stats serves, he had a few quite good years, including one with 30+ wins, but without my trusty Baseball Encyclopedia by my side I'll leave it to someone else to tell his tale. {decvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vlnvax!schneider Daniel Schneider