Today in 1964, a player that would not reach the Hall of Fame because of his splendid playing career, used a musical instrument to catch some fly balls during batting practice. This ball payer would be voted into the Hall of Fame because of his broadcasting career with the Milwaukee Brewers.
This should ring a bell to you. Of course we are talking about the baseball clown Bob Uecker.
On October 7, 1964, during a batting practice that preceded game one of the 1964 World Series between Uecker’s St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees, the comical Uecker laid his hands on a tuba that was left unattended by its owner.
Uecker tried to shag some fly balls with the instrument and even managed to catch two in the mouth of it. The crowd was very amused by the clowning of the Cards’ backup catcher but the owner of the Tuba wasn’t pleased at all. He asked the Cardinals for $250,00 to cover the cost of repairing the dented brass.
Nevertheless, the Cardinals would win game one 9-5 and the World Series with 4 games to 3.
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