August 19, 1951.
That's the date the St. Louis Browns, their eccentric owner Bill Veeck and 3-foot-7-inch pinch hitter Eddie Gaedel made history.
The story is St. Louis legend by now, even 68 years after it happened and 66 years after the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.
Browns owner Bill Veeck was known for some outside-the-box stunts at his games.
He was famously the person behind "disco demolition" night in Chicago and once held a "grandstand managers day" in St. Louis, where he let the fans make decisions on the field.
But to this day, Eddie Gaedel's pinch-hit appearance in 1951 remains his most famous attempt at being one of baseball's most eccentric figures.
In the middle of a double header against the Tigers on August 19, 1951, Gaedel popped out of a seven foot tall birthday cake Veeck had wheeled onto the field.
Then, to everyone's amazement, Gaedel strode to the plate to pinch-hit for outfielder Frank Saucier in the bottom of the first.
He promptly walked on four straight pitches and was immediately replaced by a pinch-runner.
It was his only at-bat in the major leagues, so he still technically owns the highest on base percentage by any player in baseball history. A perfect 1.000, as his baseball reference page will note.
It also goes without saying, Gaedel is the shortest player in major league history.
One of the most notable facts about Gaedel's at-bat, centers around the jersey he was wearing. The Browns couldn't find a uniform small enough to fit Gaedel, so he ended up using the jersey that belonged to the son of the Browns' Vice President.
That son just happened to be Bill DeWitt Jr., who now of course is the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals. The famous jersey hangs in the Cardinals hall of fame.
