Happy Birthday Lou Merloni!

Art Ditmar from Winthrop, MA who played parts of nine seasons with the A's and Yankees during the 50's and early 60's is credited with coming up with the LSD pill known as Orange Sunshine. Ditmar said he got the idea from his taking St Joseph chewable aspirin as a kid. After his playing days - Ditmar was one of the founders of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love which he founded after being excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church for putting LSD on the communion wafers.

Ditmar won a World Series ring with the 58 Yankees but later sold the ring in order to buy a dozen crates of grapefruit.

 

Is that a Schwinn, Chris?

 

Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. from Cambridge, MA was a bit of an odd duck as a pitcher as most knuckleball pitchers tended to be. But Wood's odd demeanor extended beyond the playing field and beyond his playing days. Shortly after retiring from baseball - Wood purchased at a memorabilia auction the bicycle used in the movie the Wizard of Oz which was ridden by Miss Gulch (played by Margaret Hamilton who played both Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West). Instead of locking the bike away, however, Wood used to dress in drag and ride it down to the local high school where he would shout, "I'll get you my pretty" to the high school girls. Wood would then cackle and ride off at top speed. Locals were bothered by this behavior but technically Wood was breaking no laws with his actions.

Whether the bike was a Schwinn or not has not been determined.

 

You're stuck, Chris.
There has to be one of these threads now every year on Lou Merloni's Birthday.

 

Speaking of anniversaries.

William Aloysius Bergen from North Brookfield, MA was born June 13, 1878 and would play 11 seasons for Cincinnati and Brooklyn but his ball-playing was perhaps the least interesting aspect of his life.

When Bergen was young he learned that Alexander the Great had died on June 13th in 323 BC and through a dream Bergen became convinced that his body was home to the reincarnated spirit of Alexander the Great. Bergen was determined to live a full life worthy of the spirit of Alexander the Great and first tried to do so via the military. However, Bergen was rejected by the Army supposedly for flat feet but probably because he was telling the doctors doing the examination about the spirit of Alexander the Great inhabiting his body.

Next Bergen tried to live a life extrodinaire via sports but truth be told - he was a pretty lousy player (as his career .170 batting average and .194 OBP will attest).

While playing in Brooklyn for the Superbas - it occurred to Bergen that he could become world famous as an inventor and in fact Bergen came up with a machine that would punch out all the letters of the alphabet from a sheet of pasta. Bergen's idea was that children could learn to read while that ate and thus become super-smart. Bergen discussed his invention at lunch one day in a Brooklyn deli. A couple of representatives from the then financially struggling Campbell Soup Company happened to overhear the conversation and later that day they broke into his apartment and stole his invention while Bergen was busy playing a doubleheader against the Boston Doves. Bill Bergen was heartbroken when he found out about the robbery.

Today Bergen's influence can still be seen every time someone eats Alphabet soup or eats Alphabit cereal. However, Bergen himself is chiefly remembered for his lack of offence at the plate including his 0-46 in 1909 which started the day after he learned about the robbery at his apartment. That futility streak may still be a record today for position players.

 

One of the stories I told in the past 2 pages is 100% true. I wonder if you guys can guess which one it was.

 

I'm praying to the Risen Christ that it's the Margaret Hamilton one, but I doubt it.

 

I don't know much else about him, but I heard that Boston native Ed Sprague Sr. was a randy old sod who liked to bollock around with tarts.

 

I'm astonished that John Tudor didn't make Captain Keyboard's list.

The guy had 10 shutouts in one season. Wake me up the next time THAT happens.

 

John Tudor was born in Schenectady, NY.

BTW - the story involving Mickey Morandini is not the one that is 100% true.

 

I think Tudor spent his formative years in Brookline.

 

Hey Chris tell the Jim Corsi story.