ObscureBall

Viewed through a certain lens, the Indianapolis Clowns can be seen as an inpsiring success story. As a black team in the segregated south they managed to endear fans of all races and all walks of life to their uniuqe fusion of comedy and baseball. But in reality, the their story is far more nuanced, complicated and misunderstood.

Small League Productions

Larry Tye

Negro League Baseball Museum

Brian Carroll 

Story Blocks

Hyped Podcast

Castos Mobile App

Image Credit:  Kansas Hstorical Society, Fair Use Image 

1908 was a tumultuous year in baseball. It was a tumultuous year in America. On September 23, a single base running error set off one of the most bizarre chain of events in sports history. Bribery, arson, blackmail, forbidden romance, attempted kidnapping, organized Crime, and two of the best pennant races of all time all collided in just a few weeks.

Links

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Small League Productions
Alexander's Wood Emporium
Storyblocks

Contributors

Stew Thornley
Floyd Sullivan, Author of Called Out
Olivia Carteaux
David Gunn

Sources:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/harry-pulliam/
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/merklfr01.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1190810080.shtml
https://goldenrankings.com/baseballmemorablegamesarticle.htm
https://thisgreatgame.com/1908-baseball-history/

When a plane carrying 11 members of the VVS Moscow Hockey Club crashed, everyone on board died. Then came the cover up...

Contributions from:

Brendan Daniel
James Nickles

Links:
Russian Football News

Small League Productions

Storyblocks

The backstory of how a folksy, quick witted, singing politician from rural Kentucky helped integrate professional baseball

The Negro League Baseball Museum

nlbm.com

Terry Bohn's SABR Page
sabr.org/authors/terry-bohn/

Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral Histories, University of Kentucky Libraries
https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/

Chandler, Albert Benjamin, interview by William J. Marshall. September 03, 1980, A. B. "Happy" Chandler: Desegregation of Major League Baseball Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.

Small League Productions
smallleaguestu.com

StoryBlocks
storyblocks.com

smallleaguestu.com

As Baseball stadiums go, The Metrodome was quirky as they come. But did The Minnesota Twins manipulate the conditions to their advantage?

Small League Productions

Alexander's Wood Emporium

Music for this episode was provided by Storyblocks 

To the average baseball fan Mel Hall was a mediocre ballplayer with an outsized ego. To his victims, he was sexual predator and destructive figure.

ObscureBall is produced by Small League Productions
Music for this episode is brought to you by Storyblocks

Greg Hanlon's piece, The Many Crimes of Mel Hall

RAINN, Sexual Assault Hotline

Image Credit:  Getty Images

In 1900, more than a century before The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox got in trouble for electronically stealing signs, a man named Pearce Chiles orchestrated a complex scheme to steal signs from opposing teams. Also, he went to jail for another thing he did THEN busted out and tried to play baseball again. Classic stuff. Bob LeMoine from The Society For American Baseball Research also helped out with this episode.

ObscureBall is produced by Small League Productions
Music for this episode is brought to you by Storyblocks
Bob LeMoine also contributed to this episode and you can read more about his research by visiting his SABR articles

Other references:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/038d8ca7

As one of baseball's most prolific alcoholics, Ray "Slim" Caldwell was also a low-key talented player. But the right-handed pitcher is perhaps best known for the bizarre events of August 24, 1919.

ObscureBall is produced by Small League Productions
Music for this episode is brought to you by Storyblocks

This episode is an abbreviated and by no means an all inclusive history of The Oakland Raiders

ObscureBall is produced by Small League Productions
Music for this episode is brought to you by Storyblocks
Closing music credits:  Doug Hoyer via Audioblocks