The Sheriff Comes for the Gate

The Sheriff Comes for the Gate (1900)

The Cardinals cut Gus Weyhing loose after seven appearances without the pay he said he was owed. Weyhing went to court instead, and on this day a deputy sheriff walked into the ballpark in Brooklyn and seized St. Louis's share of the gate. It came to less than the hundred dollars he wanted. Brooklyn signed him before the season was out, which is one way to settle a lawsuit.

Long Bob Finishes the Set (1928)

At Navin Field the opener sat 1-1 after eleven. Bob Meusel had struck out twice, homered over the left field scoreboard in the sixth, and doubled in the ninth. Then the Yankees turned the twelfth into rubble, scoring eleven runs, and in the wreckage Meusel got the single and triple he needed. Third cycle of his career. No American Leaguer had done it three times, and only John Reilly had done it before.

Two Red Sox Get Off the Bus (1962)

Gene Conley gave up eight runs in two and two thirds at Yankee Stadium, Boston lost 13-3, and the team bus got stuck in traffic leaving New York. Conley and Pumpsie Green asked Pinky Higgins if they could hop off for a restroom. He said yes. When they got back, the bus was gone. Green rejoined the club the next day. Conley turned up days later at Idlewild, trying to board a flight to Israel with no passport. He figured the hitters over there were weaker, he said later. He is still the only man with both a World Series ring and an NBA title.

The Bill Comes Later (1980)

Earl Weaver looked at journeyman Steve Stone in camp and told him he was the fifth starter on a four-man staff. Stone's answer was to throw his curveball more than half the time, knowing what it was doing to his arm. He went 25-7, and on this day he beat Mike Caldwell and the Brewers 4-1, another win inside a streak that reached fourteen. He started the All-Star Game and won the Cy Young. Then the arm quit. He was done at thirty-four, and has never suggested he would trade it back.