Cleveland Indians

The Fan Teaser: Week 127 Solution

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The fella on the mound is in a club of one! Who is it and why is it?

In the 149-year history of Major League Baseball there’s only been *one Opening Day no-hitter. It was thrown by Cleveland Indians’ 21-year-old future Baseball Hall of Famer, Bob Feller.

A special Fan Teaser within a Fan Teaser, there has actually been one other Opening Day no-hitter, thrown by the man in the following photo. It occurred on May 5, 1946, as the Newark Eagles defeated the Philadelphia Stars in the Negro National League opener, 2-0. We’ll get to him in a moment.

It was not Feller’s best-ever performance, as he walked five batters and was, by his own admission, wild early. He did fan eight White Sox and has the claim to fame of owning the first Opening Day no-hitter in MLB history during Cleveland’s, 1-0, victory. (Full boxscore here.)

Bob Feller
Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Bob Feller captured during his April 16, 1940, Opening Day
no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental
Graphics, Getty Images)

Six years later another Baseball Hall of Famer, Leon Day, joined Feller in keeping the opposition hitless. Of course it would be another 78 years until MLB began crediting Negro Leagues statistics in the official record. Making Day’s feat even more remarkable is the fact that he was just discharged from the Army in February of 1946 and rounded into form by Opening Day.

Since Day’s no-no, there’s only been one other pitcher hold the opposition hitless into the ninth inning on the season opener: Philadelphia Phillies’ Hall of Famer Robin Roberts against the New York Giants on April 13, 1955. Alvin Dark laced a 1-out single in the ninth to break it up.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

The Fan Teaser Solution: Week 124

DouglasTHillLeave a comment
Who is this and why are they significant in the world of sports entertainment?

To many, the entertainment (or shenanigans to some) that routinely occur during breaks in action of modern sporting events are just part of the entire live sporting event spectator experience.

There was a time, however, when going to a sporting event was just going to see the sporting event.

That’s where today’s Fan Teaser subject comes in.

Bill Veeck Jr. always seemed to think outside the box.

Bill Veeck Jr., seen here during spring training with the Chicago White Sox, owned three MLB teams during his seven decades involved with the game.

The son of a baseball writer turned President of the Chicago Cubs, Veeck Jr. was working in ballparks almost from the beginning. First as a vendor at both Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park and utlimately handling other tasks. Did you know he was the one who came up with the idea for planting the famous ivy on Wrigley Field’s outfield walls?

During the 1940s he was part of an ownership group that purchasend the then-AAA Milwaukee Brewers. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years during World War II and that’s when a battlefield accident led to the amputation of his right leg above the knee.

Ultimately, he purchased the Cleveland Indians and promptly signed Larry Doby to a contract (the first black player in American League history). The next season he signed pitcher Satchel Paige.

Along the way he also owned the Chicago White Sox (twice) and the St. Louis Browns. While in St. Louis, Veeck signed Eddie Gaedel to a 1-game contract and sent him out to lead off the second game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. Gaedel, who stood but 3-foot-7, walked on four straight pitches and was pulled for a pinch-runner.

The promotions came fast and furious with Veeck. He allowed fans to determine in-game strategies, in-game fireworks after home runs, coompleting trades in hotel lobbies, unique uniforms (including shorts!), announcers singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” showers for overheated fans in the bleachers, and the ill-fated Disco Demolition Night between games of a doubleheader in 1979 that led to the forfeiture of the second game because of the ensuing riot and damaged field.

Veeck, who died in 1986, was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

For more about the man who was known as “Wild Bill” check out his autobiography Veeck as in Wreck, listen to his son Mike on Season 3, Episode 14 of our podcast “Conversations with Sports Fan,” or watch the quasi-documentary about Mike Veeck and his family’s life, The Saint of Second Chances (streaming on Netflix).

News report of “Disco Demolition Night.”