As for Gates Brown and the hot dogs...Brown played for the Tigers in the pre-DH era and was a PH and outfield sub. One day, playing his usual position - on the bench - Gates got a case of the munchies. He somehow got the attention of a food vendor without drawing the attention of manager Mayo Smith (according to Norm Cash, "the dumbest manager in baseball," as related by Jim Bouton in Ball Four) and cadged a couple of hot dogs slathered in ketchup and mustard. Gates was contently munching the wieners when he was unexpectedly summoned to pinch hit. Casually stuffing the dogs in the back pocket of his baseball pants, Brown proceeded to rap out a double. Alas, it was not a stand-up double; Brown slid in ahead of the throw and emerged with multicolored pants featuring streaks of yellow and red with random brown flecks of uneaten dog.
2/15/2018 9:22 PM (edited)