River City Rascals Salute St. Louis Browns Historical Society & Eddie Gaedel Anniversary

August 19 is the date and 1951 is the year when the shortest man in baseball history stepped into the  batters box and walked on four pitches.  The River City Rascals recreated the event last night and the revived "Eddie Gaedel" also took four pitches. Unfortunately, three of them were strikes and a defiant Gaedel walked back to the dugout. There was no joy in O'Fallon, MO as the mighty Gaedel has struck out.

Prior to the start of the game, Eddie surprised everyone by jumping out of a large cake wheeled on to the field - just as it happened back in 1951. Eddie waved to the crowd and made his way to the Rascals' dugout.

The visiting Oakland County Cruisers went down in order in the top of the first inning. As the Rascals' first batter was about to approach the batters box, Gaedel was announced as the pinch hitter. As he approached the plate, the fans cheered him on . . . only to see him go down on strikes.

Fans from the St. Louis Browns Historical Society and Fan Club were on hand to cheer for the Rascals. Pictured above is Bill Rogers, Editor of Pop Flys, the Browns Official Publication, along with Nick Hagan in the role of Eddie Gaedel.

The following photos will give you an insight into the festivities. (Click on Photos to Enlarge)

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)