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THE PRANKSTER
Today’s story is about one of the most prolific pranksters in baseball history.
Ballplayers are known to play jokes on each other.
There’s the infamous hot foot prank, the bubble gum trick, and who can forget the time the Blue Jays raffled off Derek Bell’s car.
Everybody loves a good practical joke, but some people take it a little too far.
According to some of his ex-teammates, Greg Maddux was that guy.
We all know Maddux is one of the best pitchers to ever play the game - he won the Cy Young four times and racked up 355 wins over his career.
The man was a human highlight reel on the mound.
But Maddux was also known for his sick sense of humor.
The combination of his calculated mind and “eye for an eye” mentality meant that if you messed with him, you could expect that Greg would get his revenge.
Here’s a quote from the man himself:
“Only if they got me first, I would get even. I would never start, but I would get even. I mean, that was the kind of thing, you know, it was a different world back then. You do that now, they might put you in jail for two weeks, you know.”
Chipper Jones called Maddux a “dirtbag” and “one of the grossest guys” he’s ever been around in his life, but said that those traits were “part of Greg’s charm.”
On the Dan Patrick show, John Smoltz spoke about how Maddux used to get a kick out of rear ending his teammates’ rental cars.
Apparently, most of his pranks can’t be talked about on air, but here’s a short list we’ve gathered from third parties:
Spitting loogies on the ceiling and waiting for them to drop on bystanders
Putting shaving cream in people’s shoes
Urinating on an unsuspecting rookie in the team shower
Mooning a fan
Running on a treadmill fully naked
Overall, Greg’s pranks were mostly harmless, but he certainly pushed the boundaries.
If you haven’t seen the prank he pulled on Kris Bryant back in 2017, definitely give that a watch - gets me every time.
YOU’RE KILLING ME, SMALLS
Our friends at Homage are connoisseurs of everything related to sports and pop culture.
So of course, they’ve got some dope Sandlot-inspired tees and hats.
Check em’ out:
Quick Links:
They’ve also did a Sandlot x MLB collab which turned out great.
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:
Rowe had a 15-year big league career, made three all-star games, and won a World Series.
That includes the two years he took off to serve in the military during WWII.
He got the name “Schoolboy” when he started playing on a men’s team at the age of 15, and the rest is history.
Rowe was a work horse in ‘35 when he helped Detroit win a World Series.
My man threw almost 300 innings, and pitched six shutouts that year - insane.
THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE
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