Baseball's Top 10 Missing Links

Once when Dizzy Dean was hit in the head by a baseball, he was taken to the hospital and checked out. The next day, newspaper headlines read something along the lines of "X-Rays Of Dean's Head Show Nothing!" Well, Dean certainly wasn't missing a brain - although later in his career (as an NBC broadcaster), some school teachers wondered as much as he butchered the English language with his own blend of home-grown lexicon. There actually have been some players, though, who excelled on the diamond while missing key physical parts of their body. Despite these handicaps, these players excelled as well as they could have - according to Baseball Todd, who compiled this exclusive list with a lot of help from his good friend and fellow baseball junkie Tom Levescy of Oklahoma City.

HONORABLE MENTION - HARVEY KUENN: Harvey Kuenn was one of the greatest baseball men in the history of the game. He was a solid player and a respected manager. Kuenn was a near-unanimous pick (23 of 24 votes) for American League Rookie of the Year honors in 1953 after leading the AL with 209 hits and hitting .308 as a shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. He led the Junior Circuit four times in hits and, in 1959, he led the league with a .353 average. After that season, he was involved in a blockbuster trade, going to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for home run champion Rocky Colavito. After his playing days, he became a coach for the Milwaukee Brewers and replaced Buck Rodgers as manager in 1982 - leading his "Harvey Wallbangers" to Milwaukee's only appearance thus far in the World Series before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals. He led the Brewers into the Fall Classic despite having one of his legs amputated in 1980 due to a blood clot. He died in 1988.
10. BO JACKSON: Bo Jackson was arguably the greatest athlete to ever grace a baseball diamond. He was the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner at Auburn before picking up his glove and spikes for a baseball career with the Kansas City Royals - for whom he hit a monstrous home run in the 1989 All-Star Game. He also parlayed his gridiron talents into a career as a running back for the Los Angeles Raiders. It was football that robbed him of one of his most precious joints - his hip. The freak injury imposed upon him from an NFL tackler caused him to have hip replacement surgery. But, he came back strong and played baseball again (after a year layoff) with the Chicago White Sox - hitting a home run in his first at-bat upon his return.
9. ROGER METZGER: Roger Metzger, a lifetime .231 hitter, led the National League in triples twice while with the Houston Astros - legging out 11 three-baggers in 1971 and another 14 in 1973. He was sure-handed as a shortstop, leading his position in fielding percentage two times (in 1973 and '76). In 1979, after he was traded to the San Francisco Giants, he severed the fingertips on his throwing hand in a power saw accident. Somehow, Metzger found his way back into the lineup. But, after hitting just .074 in 28 games for Frisco in 1980, the courageous Metzger hung up his uniform.
8. BOB OJEDA: Beginning his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1980, Bob Ojeda led the American League with five shutouts in 1984. He was traded to the New York Mets in 1986 and promptly helped his new team to a World Series triumph (at the expense of the Red Sox) by going 18-5 and finishing second in the National League with a 2.57 ERA. In 1988, the southpaw severed the end of his left middle finger with electric hedge clippers at his house and missed the postseason. He bounced back from that painful injury to go 13-11 in 1989. On March 23, 1993, a tragic boating accident during Spring Training in Florida killed two of his pitching teammates on the Cleveland Indians - Steve Olin and Tim Crews. Ojeda (also on the boat) was left with severe cuts to his head and (if memory serves Baseball Todd right) portions of his scalp had to be surgically reattached. After 11 more games in the majors, Ojeda called it quits. He ended his career with a 115-98 record.
7. MORDECAI "THREE FINGER" BROWN: When Mordecai Brown was seven years old and living on a farm in Indiana, he put his right hand through a grinder. His index finger was amputated just below the knuckle. With his hand still in a cast, he fell while chasing a pig and broke the third and fourth fingers on the same hand. As they healed, they became twisted and bent. Naturally, the unorthodox grip created by his gnarled right paw made his curveball drop off the table. He has the third best career earned run average in major league history with a 2.06 ERA - behind only Ed Walsh and Addie Joss. For six straight years, he won 20 or more games for the Chicago Cubs and helped them to the World Series four times - including world championships in 1907 and 1908. He tossed 55 career shutouts. In 1908, he went 29-9 with a 1.47 ERA. In 1909, he went 27-9 with a 1.31 ERA. In 1906, he led the National League with an unbelievable 1.06 ERA - the second best single-season mark since 1900, behind only Dutch Leonard's 0.96 ERA in 1914.
6. WILLIAM "DUMMY" HOY: Dummy Hoy was directly responsible for the hand signals that today's umpires use to indicate safe, out, balls, and strikes. You see, Hoy was deaf; when he was a baby, a severe fever left him unable to hear. He was a good pre-1900 outfielder for a handful of teams and he hit .287 in his 14-year career with 2,044 hits, 594 stolen bases, and 1,426 runs scored. When you see umpires behind the plate today raise their right arm to indicate a strike, credit Hoy with this innovation. Since he was obviously unable to hear the umpires bark out "Strike!" or "Out!", he asked the umpires to use their arms to signify what was happening. Arm signals were his sign language on the ballfield. Kind of ironic that he was nicknamed "Dummy" don't you think? I guess this would make baseball the first professional sport to adhere to the "Americans With Disabilities" act - about 100 years before the fact!
5. RED RUFFING: Red Ruffing was a righthanded pitching star for the great New York Yankees teams of the 1930s. Four times he won 20 games or more for the Bronx Bombers as they dominated the Junior Circuit. He had a lifetime 273-225 record and was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1967. Ruffing accomplished all he did despite missing four toes on his left foot. He lost the digits in a mining accident as a youth.
4. MONTY STRATTON: Monty Stratton had just established himself as a quality starting pitcher with the Chicago White Sox when a hunting accident cost him his leg. In 1937, he went 15-5 with the Chisox and was named to the American League All-Star team before forging a 15-9 mark the next season. In November of 1938, he was hunting rabbits when he accidently shot himself in his right leg. The leg was amputated and Stratton would never pitch again in the major leagues, but in 1946, he attempted a minor league comeback and almost succeeded in getting back to "the show." He went 18-8 with a 4.16 ERA (and a .974 fielding percentage) for Sherman of the Class C East Texas League. He struck out 108 batters and walked only 43 in 218 innings. His courageous comeback attempt was documented in the movie "The Monty Stratton Story" starring Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart in 1949. The movie won an Academy Award for best original screenplay.
3. JIM ABBOTT: Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott was amazing when he flung a baseball from the mound. At the University of Michigan, he was named the Sullivan Award winner as the top amateur athlete in the United States before helping the 1988 Olympic team to the gold medal in Seoul, South Korea. As a rookie with the California Angels in 1989, he won 12 games. On September 4, 1993, he pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians for the New York Yankees. His best year was for the Angels in 1991 when he went 18-11 with a 2.89 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 243 innings pitched.
2. PETE GRAY: Pete Gray lost his right arm when he was six years old after he fell off a wagon. His dream was to play major league baseball, though. "All I wanted to do was play one game in the big leagues, and that was it." Gray played in 77 games for the 1945 St. Louis Browns and hit .218. He would tuck his glove under his stump and throw the ball in one fluid motion. Grounders gave him some problems, he admitted. But, men with two arms in the major leagues often misplay grounders, too.
1. JOHN KRUK: Okay, I'll admit this one is silly, but I admire anyone who can still play a macho game like baseball after losing one of the "family jewels." John Kruk was a hard-nosed player - a throwback to the good old days. He was a heck of a hitter - even though he was afraid to step into the box against flamethrower Randy Johnson in the 1993 All-Star Game. Kruk took three half-hearted swings at Johnson's offerings. "I wasn't going to let him hit me while I was stationary," Kruk said. "It would be embarrassing to die on national TV." The 1993 season ended with Kruk's Philadelphia Phillies playing for the World Series title against the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to the 1994 season, Kruk underwent surgery for testicular cancer and made a successful comeback. A career .300 hitter, Kruk's best years were in 1987 and '91. In '87 with the San Diego Padres, Kruk hit .313 with 20 homers and 91 RBI. In '91, he hit .294 with 21 homers and 92 RBI. He ended his career in 1995 with the Chicago White Sox. Kruk had aching knees but he went out the way he wanted. He got a base hit in his final at-bat.