It has been 100 years since New York Highlander (Yankees) Hall of Fame pitcher, Jack Chesbro threw the spitball pitch over the catcher's head allowing the guy on third base to run home and win the American League Pennant for the Boston Pilgrim's (Red Sox).
That 'wild pitch' as it was referred to at the time was enough to cause the Highlander's first baseman, John Henry Ganzel, to walk straight off the field and off the team.
The thought of losing the Pennant and the World Series to the Pilgrims two years in a row was just too much for Ganzel, who had hit the Highlander's first ever home run on May 22, 1903.
So, he quit the team and headed to Cincinnati to manage the Reds, who soon saw his potential and asked him to play first base for the team.
Ganzel had a problem, though. He was still signed with the Highlanders and so became the first guy ever to buy out his contract with the Yankees for a whopping $3,000.
» Jodi Purdy-Quinlan, Vice Chairman of the Weymouth Historical Commission is the great-grand daughter of Charley Ganzel, pitcher for the Detroit Wolverine's (1877-1889) and the Boston Beaneater's (1889-1897). He is the brother of John Henry Ganzel and the father of Washington Senator's centerfielder, Foster "Babe" Ganzel.
Also by Jodi Purdy-Quinlan
» The Ganzel Brothers: Five Brothers Play at Kalamazoo
» Charlie Ganzel's Obituary
» More submissions
Copyright © 2004 by Jodi Purdy-Quinlan. Posted February 8, 2005.
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