Bob Cain

Robert Max Cain
(Sugar)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut September 18, 1949
• Final Game September 11, 1954
• Born October 16, 1924 in Longford, KS USA
• Died April 8, 1997 in Cleveland, OH USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"I laughed a little bit but I was a little angry. I'd have given my right arm just to have gotten one strike on him. Swift kept trying to encourage me to get the ball lower. Veeck had told Gaedel that he would shoot him if he swung at a pitch, but it looked like he was itching to swing if I'd gotten the ball any lower. But I walked him..." - Bob Cain, to Danny Peary, We Played The Game

Bob Cain was a key component of Major League Baseball's most bizarre moment on August 19, 1951. He was the starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers when Eddie Gaedel stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter to lead off the game for the St. Louis Browns. Bob could not contain his laughter as he walked the 3' 7" Gaedel on four pitches.

Originally signed by the New York Giants, Bob pitched for the Bristol Twins in 1943 before missing 1944-1945 due to military service. He made it to the big leagues in 1949 with the Chicago White Sox. In his first start for the Sox in 1950, he shut out the New York Yankees, 15-0. Traded to the Detroit Tigers during the 1951 season, he defeated Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians 1-0 in the first major league game since 1906 in which both pitchers hurled one-hitters. He was then with the Browns in their final two years in St. Louis, going 12-10 in 1952 and 4-10 in 1953. Cain was a lanky left-hander who finished his major league career 37-44 with a 4.50 ERA in 140 games.

Bob was the only baseball figure present at Eddie Gaedel's funeral in Chicago in 1961. He was a retired salesman for Kraft Foods when he died on April 7, 1997 at age 72 in Cleveland. His death was noted in the national wire stories because of his famous duel with Gaedel.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-cain/ Bob Cain at the SABR Bio Project]