Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Mariano Rivera loved breaking bats.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a guy from nowhere who almost made it to the big leagues against all odds.

When Greg “Toe” Nash came onto the baseball scene in the early 2000s, people were saying that he might be the next Babe Ruth.

But his origin story isn’t anything like you’d expect.

Toe was born in a trailer park in Sorrento.

It was actually bum-fuck Louisiana.

Anyways…

Toe grew up in really tough conditions.

When he was young, his mom abandoned the family, so his dad raised him and his sister while working on a sugar cane farm.

There wasn’t much going on in his town, so Nash would go to the local bar, dig bottle caps out of the trash, and hit them with a broomstick.

By the time he was 12, he was 5’ 10” 140 lbs and the kid could hit bombs.

Although he had talent, Toe pretty much had zero chance of being discovered in Sorrento, but you know what they say…

If you’re good enough, they’ll find you.

One day, Toe was playing in a Little League game and a part-time scout named Benny Latino happened to be in attendance.

Latino wasn’t there on business, his friend just asked him to come by and he had nothing better to do.

Luckily for him, Benny witnessed Toe strike out 17 of 21 batters and hit two home runs that day.

But after that game, Toe and Benny didn’t see each other for many years.

Latino became a full-time scout for the Rays, and things really went sideways for Nash.

He was expelled twice in High School; once for fighting, and another time for threatening to stab a teacher.

After Toe dropped out, he got a job from his uncle, who happened to be Hotrod Williams, an ex-NBA player.

Williams owned a sugar cane farm and also ran the Sugar Cane Baseball League - an adult league mostly with guys in their 30’s and 40’s.

They played on a sugar cane field and got paid in gator meat.

It had been six years, and Benny Latino still found himself thinking about Nash, but Toe hadn’t played organized baseball since 14 years old.

Latino couldn’t find any information about Nash, so he went to Sorrento and just started asking around.

He found Toe playing in the sugar cane league, and watched him play.

Toe hit 460 foot bombs from both sides of the plate and Latino instantly offered him a pro tryout.

Nash didn’t even know how to drive, so his friend took him.

Once he got there, it was pretty clear that this kid had no idea what he was doing, but his raw talent was off the charts.

He was thrown 50 pitches (25 from each side of the plate) and went yard 26 times.

Then he got on the mound and got clocked at 90 mph.

After a couple of mechanical tweaks, he was running it up to 95.

The Rays immediately signed him to a deal for $30K.

Unfortunately, Toe didn’t know how to read, or he would’ve probably made millions that day, but nonetheless he just happy to be playing ball.

By the time he was signed by the Rays, he had never even been outside the state.

He didn’t even have a birth certificate or social security card.

The whole story was so ludicrous, people legitimately thought it was a hoax.

Which is totally reasonable, because this story sounds faker than Sidd Finch’s scouting report.

Toe got a book deal, they were writing a Hollywood script about his life, and Oprah reached out to have him on her show.

Everyone started reporting on the story and unfortunately, it led to journalists digging up a lot of dirt on Toe.

Turns out, he had been arrested five times in 10 months.

A couple times for drugs, once for domestic violence, and once for robbery.

But most of the serious charges were bogus, so the judge dropped them and Toe was allowed to continue playing ball.

When Toe got to Tampa, the Rays realized he would need special guidance since he didn’t have much life experience.

Toe had never even ordered a pizza.

Basically, all Toe knew how to do was play baseball.

His agent’s brother happened to be Harold Reynolds.

Toe went to California to live with Reynolds for a bit and Harold was like a mentor, life coach, and hitting coach - all rolled into one.

Harold introduced Nash to people like Tony Gwynn and Eddie Murray, and when he left California, things were looking up.

He went to play for the Rays’ rookie ball team in West Virginia.

In 47 games, he had 171 AB’s and struck out 69 times.

BUT, he was sixth in the league with eight home runs.

Nash was ranked as the 11th best prospect in the league, one spot behind David Wright.

That off-season, Toe went back to Sorrento and committed a terrible crime.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having sex with a 15-year-old girl, and the Rays released him immediately.

The judge gave him a suspended sentence so he could continue pursuing his career as a ballplayer, and he was miraculously signed by the Reds.

But nothing changed.

Shortly after, he got in a bar fight, failed a drug test, and went to jail again.

That was the last time Toe Nash ever played pro baseball.

THE DEAD LEGENDS GALLERY

Dead Legends just got a little bit better.

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you know we’re all about telling the game’s forgotten stories.

And as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

So starting tonight, we’re launching an online gallery with work from some of the top artists in baseball.

You might recognize this famous piece from our friend Jamie Cooper.

The Greatest All Stars Dream Scene is one of many pieces that will be featured in our gallery.

And we’ll be featuring more cool works from other artists over the next several days.

As a special offer ONLY for Dead Legends subscribers, we are giving y’all $20 off this print for a limited time.

Use the code: DEADLEGENDS to get the deal.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

Find the answer at the bottom of this email!

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:

Fun fact: there’s over half a dozen guys nicknamed “Bunny” that have played in the big leagues.

Bunny Brief had as short of a career as you’d expect.

He played 184 games total, and honestly, his big league numbers are trash.

What’s crazy is that he won eight home run crowns in the minors, and in 1921 he dropped 42 dingers with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association.

Some guys just can’t handle the show…

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Moneyball Book: How one author ruined the A’s franchise

• The Fortune Teller: Zero talent and a good story

• The Drug Scandal: Cocaine kings of the clubhouse

BASEBALL TRIVIA ANSWER: Philadelphia