Happy Halloween, everybody. While the Milwaukee Brewers (in five) are very deserving World Series champions, I was hoping that we would have baseball on Halloween. Game 7 would have been scheduled for tonight, a perfectly timed first pitch around 8:00, the same deadline for trick-or-treaters to wrap it up in Albert Belle’s neighborhood for the night.
Sadly, the Brewers clinched on Wednesday night on the turf of the biggest dump in professional sports: Tropicana Field. And rather than preview an immortal Game Seven, as we had a year ago between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays, the focus is on Halloween and Halloween only.
And that got me thinking: What is the spookiest moment in MLB history?
I mean, where could we start other than Albert Belle’s house in October of 1995? A group of teenagers went to the door and were met by Belle’s father, who told them that they were out of candy. As Belle himself explained, “As soon as he closes the door, we hear a bombardment of egg shells on my door. So I come outside and chase them.” Belle called the police, saying “You better get somebody over here, because if I find one of them, I’ll kill them.”
The trick-or-treater claimed that he was hit by Belle’s car. Belle admitted months later: “As soon as I caught up with him, I slammed on the brakes and was jumping out of the car and was going to run after him. It was raining and it was kind of mucky back there. The truck kind of skidded, or whatever, and it slid and bumped him. He fell down and as soon as he fell down, he jumped back up and started running.”
And it’s not like Belle had any history of controversy. A year earlier, in 1994, Belle was accused by the White Sox of hitting with a corked bat, which was confiscated for postgame review. Belle sent fellow Cleveland Indians pitcher Jason “The Grim Reaper” Grimsley to retrieve the bat (mid-game!). He crawled through the rafters, broke into the office where the umpires had placed the corked bat through the ceiling, and replaced it with Paul Sorrento’s uncorked bat. With ceiling tile on the floor, it was revealed that a burglary had taken place, and Belle was eventually suspended anyway for a corked bat.
We’ve got Randy Johnson accidentally killing a bird with a spring training fastball…
The black cat that ran onto the field in a 1969 game between the Cubs and the Mets, a series that turned the division race in New York’s favor. The Mets went 23-7 in September; the Cubs 8-17.
https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-9-1969-black-cat-spooks-cubs-and-allows-mets-to-seize-the-day/
What about the Bay Area earthquake that struck just minutes before the first pitch of Game 3 in the 1989 World Series between the A’s and the Giants? A moment that Al Michaels’ coverage received an Emmy Nomination for:
Think of all the spooky Red Sox moments:
David Ortiz smashing the bullpen phone.
Curt Schilling pitching in the ALCS and World Series with a Bloody Sock:
https://www.mlb.com/news/curt-schillings-bloody-sock-the-bridge-to-history/c-98978666
Pablo Sandoval reporting to camp looking like this.
Manny Ramirez disappearing into the Green Monster in the middle of a game.
Ted Williams’ Frozen Head!?? (not pictured)
What’s your favorite spooooooky moment in baseball history? Discuss in the comments, and be good to each other.
