When I was 12 years old I fell in love with a book by sportswriter Furman Bisher called Strange But True Baseball Stories. I was so taken with the book that for a month a friend used to call me “Strange But True.” Unfortunately, that nickname never stuck. But that book not only fascinated me, it gave me early practice in telling a story that turns on an unusual happening. Some examples:

The One-Armed Big Leaguer

Pete Gray lost his left arm in a childhood train accident but taught himself to bat and field with one arm. He won an MVP award in the minor leagues and made it to the majors with the St. Louis Browns in 1945. In one doubleheader against the Yankees, he reached base five times on four hits and made nine plays in the outfield.

Lt. Shepard of the Big Leagues

Bert Shepard was a pilot in World War II whose right leg was amputated after being shot down over Germany. In 1945, he pitched in a game for the Washington Senators, becoming the only person to play in the major leagues with an artificial leg.

The Catcher Who Pitched All Night

Odell Barbary was a catcher who constantly ribbed his team’s pitchers about being a better pitcher than they were. Late one season, the manager let Barbary start a game. He threw all 22 innings of an extra-innings victory. Afterwards, he confessed that before that game, he had never pitched an inning in his life.

The Iron Horse

Because of a headache, Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp asked for a day off. His replacement, Lou Gehrig, filled in for Pipp, and ended up manning first base for 2,130 consecutive games – or fourteen straight years! Pipp never regained his starting position.

The Dog That Made a Boxscore

In 1941, Roberto Ortiz of the Charlotte Hornets hit a line drive in the bottom of the ninth that skipped past the centerfielder. As he rounded the bases, a stray yellow dog he’d befriended shot out from under the grandstand and ran with him, sliding into third base alongside him. The next day’s box score in the newspaper included the notation: “y-Yellow Dog ran with Ortiz in the 9th.”

The Shoe-Shine Pitch

In the 1957 World Series, a pitch to Milwaukee Braves pinch hitter Nippy Jones went low and inside, skipping to the backstop. Jones trotted to first, but the umpire called him back, saying it was a ball, not a hit by pitch. Jones retrieved the baseball and shoved it into the umpire’s face, showing a splotch of black shoe polish on it from his shoe. Jones was awarded first base, triggering an extra-inning win and ultimately the Braves taking the Series.

Ol' Diz Makes a Comeback

Dizzy Dean was a dominating pitcher in the 1930s who would eventually be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. By 1947, he was a radio broadcaster for the lowly St. Louis Browns. When the team played so badly, Dean said on the air that he could pitch better than 9 out of the 10 pitchers on the team. The players' wives demanded he put up or shut up. Dean took them up on it. He pitched for the first time in seven seasons, threw four scoreless innings, and only left the game because he pulled a hamstring while running to first after he singled.

Each story was only roughly four pages long. But Bisher knew what he was doing. He’d set up the situation, let you think you knew where it was going, then hit you with the twist. A dog in the box score. A headache that cost a man his career. A broadcaster who proved he could still pitch. I read those stories over and over, not knowing I was learning how to tell one.