When A Baseball Is A Grapefruit

When A Baseball Is A Grapefruit

Perhaps, the greatest prank in the history of baseball may have been played on Brooklyn Robins manager Wilbert Robinson.

In 1915 during spring training in Daytona Beach, Florida, Robinson had arranged to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane. He thought this stunt would give the club some much needed publicity after a mediocre fifth place finish the year before.

Airplanes were in their infancy and aerial tricks were all the rage with the American public. Newspaper reporters were alerted and a date was set for the event. To increase interest even more, Ruth Law, one of the first female pilots was supposed to fly above the stadium and drop the baseball from 525 feet. But, Casey Stengel, the team’s wacky right fielder and future Hall-of-Famer, at the last moment (without telling Robinson) switched the baseball with a grapefruit.

Amazingly, Robinson gloved the grapefruit but on impact it exploded squirting a reddish juice onto his face. The manager thought he had lost an eye and started screaming for medical assistance. Stengel rolled on the ground in laughter.

Baseball historians believe this is the reason why spring training in Florida is now referred to as the Grapefruit League. By the way, the Robins improved to third place with a 80-72 record in 1915 and subsequently won their first National League pennant in 1916.