Andy Oyler

Andrew Paul Oyler
(Pepper)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6½", Weight 138 lb.
• School Washington & Jefferson College
• Debut May 8, 1902
• Final Game July 21, 1902
• Born May 5, 1880 in Newville, PA USA
• Died October 24, 1970 in Cumberland County, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Andy Oyler was at Washington & Jefferson College in 1900 and 1901, with the Baltimore Orioles in 1902 and then from 1903 to 1909 was with the Minneapolis Millers.

He is famous for "the 24-inch home run", when he supposedly hit a ball into the mud in front of home plate on a rainy day, and circled the bases while the opposing team tried to find it. A book by that title appeared in 1990, chronicling unusual baseball plays, and the purported baseball, appropriately worn down and mud-stained, even appeared decades later on Antiques Roadshow. However, since Oyler hit few home runs, the truth of the story is unclear, as most of the details don't coincide. The children's book Mudball covers the same topic.

He is in a photo of the 1905 Millers in the book Baseball in Minnesota.

Many references state that Oyler was the shortest man on his Minneapolis team in 1903, but while the 1905 photo shows him as likely shorter than most of the 1905 team, it isn't clear that he was the shortest man at that time.

He wanted to quit baseball in 1906 to care for a sick uncle; in fact he sent a letter to the president of the Minneapolis team in March 1906 informing him that he had quit.[1] As his stats show, he later returned to play ball.

"Oyler's ball playing was always a matter of choice and not necessity, as his parents and relatives are well to do. They have objected to Andrew J.playing baseball for several years, but he has heretofore had his way and was, everywhere on the circuit, regarded as one of the coming players. Yesterday afternoon President Kelley received a letter from Oyler, written from Bed Creek, N. Y., in which the shortstop announced his intention of quitting the diamond. He said he was in New York state with his uncle, who was very ill, and that the uncle had finally prevailed upon him to quit baseball and remain with him this summer. Oyler has a business chance under this relative, and this, coupled with the wishes of his parents, brought about the decision. Oyler was one of the most popular professional baseball players who ever worked on a Minneapolis team and was a star performer. He was lightning fast in the infield work, had a whip that was as sure as a rifle shot and used his head all of the time in the play.

His brother was Billy Oyler.

It was reported that he did not play in 1910 "owing to business".

"Serious as well as curious are the results that have followed the injury sustained by Andrew Oyler, the shortstop of the Minneapolis Club, who was on September 22 knocked unconscious by a ball thrown . . . (He) was removed to a local hospital . . . He cannot recall names; not even his own. His brother, Billy Oyler, who was with the Indianapolis team, called at the hospital, and while the victim of the accident recognized his identity, he could not call him by name. . . The surgeons say that he may recover this ability. It is not likely that he will play ball again, though. It seems that he has had a premonition for some weeks that he was going to be injured, and more than once he said that he would quit the game." - Sporting Life, October 9, 1909

He was the baseball coach for Dickinson College from 1914-1917.

Further Reading

• Matt Monagan: "The shortest HR ever didn't even reach grass: Just imagine the launch angle", mlb.com, March 8, 2021. [2]
• Stew Thornley: "Andy Oyler's Two-Foot Home Run: Is It Okay to Destroy a Legend?", in Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 49, Nr. 2 (Fall 2020), pp. 108-111.

Related Sites

• Andy Oyler at the SABR Bio Project
• Minnesota sports myths