There were plenty of strange goings-on during May 10-16 in baseball. Just pick a year, any year.
The Bash Brother and the Material Girl
May 10, 1991: Would this writer stoop to digging up a tawdry, 35-year-old tabloid item just to generate a few clicks? You bet I would. Paparazzi photographed Oakland Athletics right fielder Jose Canseco leaving Madonna’s Central Park West apartment late at night, or early in the morning, whichever you prefer. Canseco maintained that nothing went on, joking with reporters, “If it wasn’t for me, it would be boring around here.” In 2021, Topps released a special edition baseball card, “Canseco Madonna Truth or Dare,” commemorating the occasion. As I write this, it fetches more on eBay than Canseco’s rookie card. Go figure.
On May 10, 1991 I left Madonna’s apartment complex before a day game against the Yankees.
I showed up late for batting practice and Tony LaRussa almost benched me.
Crazy times pic.twitter.com/t5Hm7v93dT
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) May 28, 2024
Mays Traded
May 11, 1972: For those of us alive at the time, it was our first realization that in sports, any player can be traded at any time. The San Francisco Giants traded Willie Mays to the New York Mets in exchange for pitcher Charlie Williams and cash. Associated Press estimated the cash amount in the $100,000-$200,000 range. Baseball Reference has it at $50,000. The deal also included a job for the 41-year-old Mays with the Mets after his playing days were over. Mays played for the Mets through the 1973 season, when they won the National League pennant but lost the World Series to Oakland. Mays didn’t work for the Mets beyond that season. Williams became the answer to a trivia question.
Tongue Twister
May 11, 1976: Every play-by-play broadcaster’s nightmare came true when, in the eighth inning, the Mets’ Bob Apodaca pitched to the Atlanta Braves’ Biff Pocoroba for the first time. Pocoroba grounded out to second baseman Felix Millan. The home team Braves won, 8-7. Both teams’ broadcasters escaped with their dignity intact.
“How Qualified Do You Have to Be?”
May 11, 1977: With his Braves team mired in a 16-game losing streak, owner Ted Turner was “fed up” with having to explain it and blaming it on injuries. He had to see first-hand what he could do about it. He sent manager Dave Bristol away on a 10-day scouting trip and named himself the manager, beginning with that evening’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium, where the scoreboard welcomed the new manager. Bristol went home to Andrews, North Carolina, instead. During the game, Turner relied heavily on coach Vern Benson. Frequently, Turner called a timeout and huddled with the coaches to reach a consensus on strategy, reminiscent of Philip K. Wrigley’s College of Coaches.
The Braves lost, 2-1, in ways that seem to happen only to teams with 16-game losing streaks. The Pirates’ second batter of the game, Frank Taveras, struck out against knuckleballer Phil Niekro but reached base when the ball got away from the catcher. Taveras then scored the Pirates’ first run. Atlanta had a chance to tie it in the ninth. Vic Correll hit a one-out single off Pirates starter John Candelaria. The managerial wheels were turning. Pat Rockett entered the game as a pinch-runner for Correll. One out later, right-handed-hitting Darrel Chaney pinch-hit for Niekro. Chaney lined a shot into left-center field that seemed sure to score Rockett, but it hopped over the wall for a book-rule double, requiring Rockett to stop at third base. Rich Gossage relieved and struck out pinch-hitter Rowland Office to end the game.
The press sought out Turner after the game. “When you’re snake-bit, you’re snake-bit,” he said. “If I had to do it over, I’d play it the same way.” Of Chaney’s hit, he said, “I know it was a ground-rule double. I’m not that dumb.” Actually, it was a book-rule double. He said the choice of Chaney wasn’t his decision. “But I can make some if I want to and I just may want to sometime,” he said, channeling Col. Henry Blake.
May 12, 1977: Turner’s managerial career lasted one game. NL president Chub Feeney called him before the afternoon game in Pittsburgh and told him he wasn’t permitted to manage any longer, on the grounds that he wasn’t qualified. Turner replied, “How qualified do you have to be to lose 17 in a row?” He had a point. At least he got a page in The Baseball Encyclopedia and Baseball Reference.
Ted Turner, the former owner of the Braves and Hawks who made his mark as a media mogul and a philanthropist, has died at the age of 87. pic.twitter.com/QAcAiIWvxP
— ESPN (@espn) May 6, 2026
Was Baseball Invented in a Small Massachusetts Town?
May 11, 2004: The 43,927 residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, think so. Historian John Thorn discovered a 1791 by-law that prohibited anyone from playing baseball within 80 yards of a building for fear of breaking a window. The distance is only 240 feet, but then again, the legislators had yet to hear of Mickey Mantle. The document is believed to be the earliest written reference to baseball. “It’s clear that not only was baseball played here in 1791, but it was rampant,” Thorn told Associated Press. “It was rampant enough to have an ordinance against it.”
Pittsfield is the home of Wahconah Park, one of the oldest ballparks in the United States. Built in 1919, it’s technically the home of the Pittsfield Suns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, although it hasn’t been in use since 2024 while it undergoes necessary repairs. It’s a rare ballpark that has a built-in intermission; it was constructed such that there’s a short period during each game when the sun is in the batter’s eyes. Play is discontinued during this period. Former major league pitcher Jim Bouton’s efforts to save Wahconah are humorously detailed in his book, Foul Ball.
27 Strikeouts
May 13, 1952: While the Pirates were busy putting together a season that provided plenty of comedy material for their catcher, Joe Garagiola, in his future career, down at Bristol, Tennessee, their Class D pitcher Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in a nine-inning game. It was the first, and still the only, time in organized baseball that a pitcher accomplished that feat. His performance enabled the Bristol Twins to beat the Welch Miners, 7-0. The six-foot-five, 19-year-old right-hander allowed just four baserunners due to a walk, a hit batter, an error, and a dropped third strike by his catcher. Necciai had no explanation for United Press. “I am just learning to pitch,” he said. “I don’t know what did it. I just did my best and kept it up all the way.”
Get Back to Where You Once Belonged
May 13, 1966: Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Elmer Roller clearly had no understanding of baseball or its logistics. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta for the 1966 season. In April, the City of Milwaukee sued Major League Baseball and the Braves on the grounds that it would lose $18 million a year in revenue without the Braves. At the time, Roller ruled that the NL must present a plan for an expansion team in Milwaukee by May 16 or return the Braves to Milwaukee by May 18. On this day, Roller refused to stay his order, ruling, “The damage which the public would sustain if the judgment be stayed is incalculable.” Imagine a team moving to another city with the season already underway. The NL and MLB vowed to appeal the ruling. Spoiler alert: The Braves remained in Atlanta.
Biting the Hand That Fed Him
May 14, 1972: Three days after the Giants traded him to the Mets, Mays beat his former team with a home run at Shea Stadium. Mays was in the lineup batting first and playing first base. The score was tied, 4-4, in the fifth inning when Mays connected off right-hander Don Carrithers for a solo shot. The 5-4 score held up because, well, it had to. Mets right-hander Jim McAndrew saw to that by pitching four scoreless frames in relief. United Press International noted that Mays looked a bit sad after the game. “There was a little sentiment in my heart,” he acknowledged. “I wanted to win the ball game and yet in a way . . . well, I had feeling for both sides.”
The Last Left-Handed Catcher
May 14, 1989: Benny Distefano felt like he needed to do something unique to finally get a break in the big leagues. The left-handed-hitting and -throwing first baseman/outfielder had good minor league seasons, but was up and down with the Pirates – 45 games in 1984, 31 more in 1986, and another 16 in 1988. As a cost-saving measure, in 1989, MLB owners agreed to reduce the active roster size to 24 players. Manager Jim Leyland wanted to carry a third catcher and an extra left-handed hitter, but had no room for both. What if there was one player who was both? Pitching coach Ray Miller had a suggestion for Distefano: Learn to become a catcher. He did, getting a left-hander’s mitt from Rawlings and going to the Instructional League before the season began. He broke camp with the big club.
Finally, on this date, he made his first of three appearances behind the dish that season. With the Braves visiting Three Rivers Stadium, Distefano started the game at first base. Starting catcher Tom Prince was removed in a double switch in the seventh inning. Backup catcher Junior Ortiz was pinch-hit for in the eighth. Distefano moved behind the plate for the ninth to finish the Pirates’ 5-2 loss. It was the first time a left-handed-throwing catcher appeared in a game since Mike Squires did it for the Chicago White Sox in 1980. He performed well there. “I’m not taking this as a joke,” he told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It’s serious. It might help other ballplayers’ careers.” Well, it hasn’t yet. Distefano was the last to do it, on August 18, 1989.
“Hello, Skoonj”
May 15, 1956: It may not have had the same ring as “Hello, Newman,” but those words from Sal Maglie could have triggered a tense moment in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ clubhouse. Under the rules of the time, MLB teams broke spring training with a 28-man roster, which they had to cut down to 25 by May 15. Heads rolled on this cutdown day, and big names weren’t spared. The New York Yankees released pitcher Jim Konstanty, who opposed them in the 1950 World Series when he was the NL Most Valuable Player for the Philadelphia Phillies. Pitcher Billy Loes, a mainstay on Brooklyn’s 1950s dynasty, was sold to the Baltimore Orioles.
But the big shocker was the Dodgers’ purchase of the 39-year-old Maglie from Cleveland. Known as “The Barber” because he threw high and tight and gave many a batter a “close shave,” he spent most of his career with the archrival New York Giants and was at the center of many beanball wars with the Dodgers. A favorite target was Dodgers right fielder Carl Furillo, whose nickname was “Skoonj,” short for the Italian seafood dish scungilli. More accurately, Furillo was a favorite target of Giants manager Leo Durocher, who, when he managed Brooklyn, thought that Furillo was easily intimidated. Furillo never blamed the Giants’ pitchers, who he knew were just following orders; on one occasion, instead of charging the mound after being hit by a pitch, Furillo charged the Giants’ dugout and put Durocher in a headlock.
Even so, when Maglie strolled into the Brooklyn clubhouse for the first time, all eyes were on Furillo. Maglie greeted him by saying, “Hello, Skoonj.” Furillo calmly said, “Hello, [ethnic slur that’s a term of endearment among Italians].” So much for a tense moment. Maglie was 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA and 1.079 WHIP for Brooklyn as they won another pennant in 1956. Everybody lived happily ever after.
Fernando Mania
May 15, 1981: Fernando Mania swept the nation as Los Angeles Dodgers rookie pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela ran his record to 8-0 with a complete game, 3-2, victory over the Montreal Expos at Dodger Stadium. The 20-year-old screwball specialist from Mexico now had seven complete games, five of which were shutouts, in his eight starts. The game that he didn’t complete was a 10-inning affair during which he pitched nine innings. The Expos had to feel they had a moral victory by scoring two runs; they raised Valenzuela’s ERA to 0.50. Valenzuela was one out away from securing the win when Andre Dawson took him deep. Pedro Guerrero returned the favor by leading off the bottom of the ninth with a home run off Steve Ratzer to win it for Valenzuela.
Game Called on Account of Sunday
May 16, 1897: The game between the Cleveland Spiders and the Washington Senators came to an abrupt end after one inning when police entered League Park and arrested the players and umpire Tim Hurst for playing on a Sunday in violation of Cleveland’s blue laws. The wire service reported that the players took their arrests “good-naturedly.” The crowd, estimated at 10,000, was confused and remained for a long time, expecting the game to resume, before realizing what had happened and dispersing. Bail was set at $100 per prisoner. Spiders president Frank Robison went to the police station and paid the bail for each player. I suppose Hurst remained in his cell, waiting for somebody to invent the internet so he could start a GoFundMe page. The game was made up on the following Wednesday. Fans could choose refunds or tickets for the make-up. The police announced that the players will be arrested again if they tried to play next Sunday. Morality was restored to Cleveland.
