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THE BULLET
Good evening. This is Dead Legends. We’re covering all the crazy shit that’s happened over the past 150+ years of baseball.
The list is endless.
Let’s dive in.
Today's story is about a rookie who got shot on the team bus.
Back in September of '04, Kyle Denney was living his best life.
He had finally been called up to the Big Leagues, and although he wasn't pitching very well (9.56 ERA), he'd just racked up his first win against the Royals.
On the bus ride to the airport, all the Cleveland rookies were wearing outrageous costumes as part of a hazing ritual.
Denney was dressed as a cheerleader with knee-high go-go boots.
While they were on the road, a person in a different vehicle fired a gun into the bus carrying the Indian’s players.
The bullet hit Denney right in the calf.
Luckily, his go-go boots took a majority of the impact; so the shot ended up only causing a flesh wound.
Denney's reaction (probably) when he realized he wasn't dead:
In an interview after the fact, Denney said his teammates got right back to letting the jokes fly after they confirmed he was okay.
"Now I know the guy can pitch in the big leagues, 'cause he got shot by a bullet and was about as calm as can be."
Unfortunately, he only played in four games at the Major-League level, and never went back, but at least he got an epic story.
BASEBALL TRIVIA
STRANGE NAMES
If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.
Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.
If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.
Today's winner is:
If you watched any baseball in the 80s or 90s, you know who Chili Davis is.
The nickname "Chili" came from his childhood.
One time, his dad gave him a bad haircut, and people started saying it looked like he had used a chili bowl - that was it, the name stuck.
He was the first Jamaican-born player to make it to the MLB, and once he got to the big leagues, he stayed there for 19 years.
In addition to being a three-time All Star and World Champion, Chili was also known for one other reason.
Davis drew a walk or HBP in over 10% of his total plate appearances, and after racking up almost 10,000 PA’s over the course of his career, he still had a .360 OBP.
Pretty damn good.
THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE
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