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THE SEAGULL
Good evening. This Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that drops into your inbox like Barry Zito’s hammer.
Barry Zito had a filthy curveball
— Shit Bsb Players Say (@ShitBsbPlyrsSay)
9:11 PM • Jun 1, 2023
Let’s dive in.
Today’s story is about a bizarre incident that resulted in a Hall of Famer’s arrest for animal cruelty.
And no, it’s not the Big Unit.
It was August 4, ‘83 and Yankees were playing the Blue Jays in Toronto.
In the bottom of the fifth, Dave Winfield threw the ball he was warming up with back to the bat boy and accidentally hit a seagull.
The bird died pretty much instantly.
Life went on, the Yankees won that day, and Winfield went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s.
But after the game he was abruptly arrested for causing “unnecessary suffering of an animal.”
The authorities claimed it was unclear whether or not Winfield intentionally threw at the bird.
Billy Martin seemed to take the situation pretty lightly.
He was quoted saying, “That’s the first time Winfield’s hit the cutoff man all year.”
The people of Toronto were actually on Winfield’s side, calling for the charges to be dropped - mostly because the whole situation was so ridiculous that they feared it would make them the laughing stock of the league.
The day after his arrest - the charges against Dave were dropped.
Apparently, they did an autopsy on the gull and found out that he was already in bad health - which is probably why he didn’t fly away when Winfield chucked the baseball at him in the first place.
The event was declared an accident and Winfield was innocent of any animal endangerment.
When he returned to Toronto, Dave brought a painting of seagulls with him and presented it to the organization as a peace offering.
The painting was auctioned and sold for $32,000.
All the proceeds went to the Easter Seals Society.
DOWN, BUT NOT OUT
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WEBGEM WEDNESDAY
It doesn’t get more clutch than this
— Dead Legends (@DeadLegends_)
12:51 AM • Sep 21, 2023
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:
The only thing Enos ever slaughtered was the ERA’s of big league pitchers.
Over his 19-year career, he won four World Series rings, racked up over 2,300 knocks, and finished with a career .382 OBP.
If he hadn’t missed three years in his prime during World War II, he might’ve passed 3,000 hits.
THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE
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