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Babe Ruth in a practice with the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1926.

CARLTON PEAK – Every once in a while, I come across some interesting sports stories from yesteryear. Sometimes it’s a result of my purposefully digging around for such, and sometimes it just happens while doing some web surfing. No matter where I find these things, I’ve encountered some interesting items through the years. 

For instance, the first athlete to earn more than $100,000 in a single year from all sources of income was famed baseball player Babe Ruth. In the mid-20s he eclipsed the $100k mark, earning $52k from baseball, which made him the highest-paid player at that time by far, and more than $100k from appearing in a theatrical production for 12 weeks! (worth $1.7 mil in 2024 dollars). 

Oddly enough, no athlete would hit that mark again until the early 1950s when famous Minnesota wrestler Verne Gagne did so while wrestling on the old Dumont network out of Chicago. 

TV wrestling was getting bigger and bigger by the year in the early ’50s, and Gagne was the star among stars. It was a formal night out for many attendees and men wore suits and ties and women wore formal dresses. In that era, it was a rarity to see any children in the audience. 

But in the ’60s, in another quest to expand their fan base, they made some subtle changes that began to draw kids in. The rest is history. 

In the first 60 years of the 20th century, many fans didn’t know this, but the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the toast of college football. By 1960 the Gophers had won seven “Claimed” national titles and two “Unclaimed” national titles. They added 18 conference titles onto that as well. 

How popular were they? One autumn day in 1926 who showed up in Minneapolis to practice with the team? That would be one George Herman Ruth, known as “The Babe” to you! Is that true? Yes, it is!

Ever wonder who is the youngest bowler to roll a perfect “300” certified game? 

That bit of history goes to 9-year-old Hannah Diem from Seminole, Florida. Many keglers will go a lifetime in the game and never even get close to that! Word has it that she rolled another one five years later! 

Has an NHL netminder ever had a shutout and scored a goal in the same game? 

Richfield, Minnesota native Damian Rhodes did so, as well as former Minnesota Wild goalie Jose Theodore. 

In the case of Rhodes, while with the Ottawa Senators club, his tally is a quirky one, to say the least. In January of 1999, versus the New Jersey Devils, Rhodes was the last player to touch the puck on his team before a delayed penalty call. The Devils’ Lyle Odelein accidentally scored an “own” goal on the play with all-Galaxy goaltender Martin Brodeur pulled for the extra skater. 

Since Rhodes was the last Sens player to touch the puck, he was credited with the goal. Only 14 goalies have ever scored a goal in the NHL and I’m guessing that Rhodes is the only one that didn’t even have to take a shot!

There are many books available that are full of baseball trivia and other funny stories about our Grand Old Game. 

I think football is the current reigning National Pastime, having knocked baseball into second place in the recent past. That will likely change someday too. 

However, the trivia and stories are endless at this time and I recently came across a couple of interesting factoids. 

Who broke up at least 81 no-hitters with a home run in baseball history? (all leadoff home runs as well) The answer is Rickey Henderson. He was an excellent player and I attribute that to his being a far above average athlete. This guy could play. He is a two-time World Series Champion and holds three MLB records. One for career stolen bases (1,406), one for career runs (2,295), and one for single-season stolen bases. (130)

In addition to his skill as a player, he was equally well-known for his off-field personality traits. Particularly, the one where he would usually answer media questions in the third person. 

There are hundreds of examples of this, but one does stand out. In one offseason he called Padre’s GM Kevin Towers and left him a message that said, this is Rickey, calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball. 

It would have been priceless to see Tower’s reaction after getting the message. 

During a game, Henderson noted to a teammate (former MLB player John Olerud, 1B) that he once played with a guy who always wore a batting helmet while playing on the field. Olerud didn’t bat an eyelash and replied, yeah, that was me. 

The more I read about Rickey, the more I realized that he was probably the most unique player in baseball history. He is a member of the BBHOF, and rightfully so.

Who is the only player to appear in World Series games at both Wrigley Field and the old Comiskey Park in Chicago? Babe Ruth. 

He was with the Boston Red Sox when they played the Cubs in 1918, and with the Yankees when they played the Cubs in 1932. The 1918 games were played at Comiskey because they had more seating than Wrigley did back then. 

Who is the only NHL player to score a hat trick by scoring all shorthanded goals? Theo Fleury-Calgary Flames, versus the St. Louis Blues in March of  1991 in an 8-4 Flames victory. 

In one of the more humorous things I’ve ever seen in an MLB game, in 1993, the Cleveland Indians Carlos Martinez hit a deep fly ball to right center field with outfielder Jose Canseco positioning himself to make the catch at the wall. As Canseco lifted his glove to make the play, the ball missed his glove, hit Canseco on the top of the head, and went over the fence for a home run. 

Making it more humorous to me than it probably was, was the fact that Canseco was an absolute knucklehead as a player. He seemed to think he was cooler than cool. Didn’t look like it that day. 

I must admit though, he had a few seasons where he was one of the better power hitters in MLB.

And for some of the younger Minnesota Vikings fans out there, this is quite funny, but has a rulebook question inside of the event as well. 

On October 25, 1964, the Vikes were playing the San Francisco 49ers on the road at the old Kezar Stadium in the Golden Gate City. 

With the Vikings protecting a 27-17 lead in the 4th quarter, and with San Fran in possession of the ball, the Niners coughed it up in their end, Vikes legend Jim Marshall picked up the loose ball and started running the wrong way! 

The thing is that no one else was running with him, whereby he ran it into the endzone, threw it toward football heaven, and let out a big yell. Were the Niners awarded 6 points for a touchdown, or two points for a safety? The Niners received two points for a safety and the Purple held on for a 27-22 win. 

I still laugh whenever I recall that day! PEACE