In 1953 the Brooklyn Dodgers had a relief pitcher named Milt Famey. Milt was approaching middle age, and as time went by his chances of playing grew less and less likely. By the end of his fourteenth year as a professional baseball player, Milt was spending the entire game in the bull pen, warming up for the chance that never seemed to come. Sympathetic fans started to bring beer into the bull pen for the aging player, and soon Milt was well stoked by the third inning, reduced to watching the game he loved.
In the sixth inning of the 1954 playoffs against the Cubs, the Dodgers' regular pitcher was suddenly sidelined with a torn shoulder ligament. The score was tied at 2 runs each, and the Dodgers' coach, unaware of Milt's increasing relationship with the bottle, called for Milt to take the mound and finish the game. Bleary-eyed and quite drunk, Milt took his beer and staggered out to the mound, placed the bottle down beside him, and proceeded to pitch.
Alcohol, lack of serious practice, and Milt's blurry vision combined to make his task virtually impossible. Pitch after pitch went high, wide, and into the dirt in front of the plate. As the pitches grew wilder and more unpredictable, batters were walked around the bases until the score was 24 to 2, favor of the Cubs. With night falling and no hope of regaining their turn at bat, the Dodgers had no choice but to forfeit the game. Milt, now sure that his future held nothing but memories, walked slowly back to the bull pen, head low and shoulders slumped, leaving the bottle on the mound.
In the Cubs' dugout, jubilant sports reporters crowded around the players of this marathon game and began interviewing them. One reporter cornered the Cubs' third baseman, and, pointing to the lone bottle on the pitcher's mound, shouted above the noise of the celebration, "So what's that bottle on the mound?"
The third baseman looked at the bottle, turned to the reporter and said, "That? That's the beer that made Milt Famey walk us."
RS |
