Andrew Paul "Pepper" Oyler (May 5, 1880 – October 24, 1970) was an American professional baseball player who played one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in . In 27 games as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the Orioles, he had 77 at-bats with 17 hits and one home run. He was born in

Newville, Pennsylvania Newville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The borough is located west of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle. The population was 1,376 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Har ...

and attended

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

. He batted and threw right-handed. He was small in stature and was an excellent fielder, but not a good hitter. Even so, he was difficult to pitch to, since he would crouch "pretzel-like" in the

batter's box A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refer ...

to make his strike zone smaller. He died in

East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania East Pennsboro Township is a township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 20,228 at the 2010 census, up from 18,254 at the 2000 census. East Pennsboro is the second most populous municipality in Cumberland Cou ...

Shortest home run in history

In 1953, sportswriter Jocko Maxwell published an article in Baseball Digest and item in Catholic Digest describing the shortest home run in baseball history. Maxwell described a baseball game where Oyler, as a shortstop for the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

, was crouched in the batters' box in the bottom of the ninth inning and ducked to avoid a high pitch thrown at his head. The ball hit Oyler's bat, still resting on his shoulder, and became stuck in approximately 24 inches of mud in front of

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. Oyler was then able to complete an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score a ...

before any opposing players were able to find the ball. Maxwell's article indicated the story was originally told by

WWRL WWRL (1600 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City. WWRL airs an all-news radio format as an affiliate of the Black Information Network (BIN). The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. By day, WWRL broadcasts at 25,000 wat ...

radio station in

Woodside, New York Woodside is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, J ...

. This story was repeated by sportswriter Bill Bryson Sr. in ''Baseball Digest'' in 1958. Another version of the story, as told by

Halsey Hall Halsey Lewis Hall (May 23, 1898 – December 30, 1977) was a sports reporter and announcer in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area from 1919 until the 1970s. Early life Halsey Lewis Hall was born in New York City's Greenwich Village on May 23, 1898 ...

, had Oyler chopping at a low pitch and sticking the ball into the mud 2 feet from home plate.

Controversy

Baseball historian

Stew Thornley Stew Thornley (born July 23, 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an author of books on sports history, particularly in his home state. He is an official scorer and online gamecaster for the Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American p ...

is skeptical of the story of Oyler's home run, pointing out there was no contemporary news report which described the incident. Other modern reference sources recount the story without caveat.

In popular culture

The story was the subject of a book of baseball lore by Michael G. Bryson called '' The Twenty-Four-Inch Home Run.'' It was also the inspiration for the children's book, ''Mudball'' by

Matt Tavares Matthew Manuel Tavares (born December 4, 1975) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. Biography New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Matt Tavares was born in Boston, and grew up surrounded by books and re ...

, which won the 2005 Parents' Choice Awards Gold Award. In the "Author's Note" Tavares describes the story of Oyler's home run as being

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

''Antiques Roadshow''

Oyler's grandson appeared on ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people (g ...

'' on January 20, 2020. He brought his grandfather's ball from that game to which his grandfather had attached a postage stamp and mailed to his grandmother. A vestige of the stamp was still stuck to the ball. Oyler followed up with a letter to his wife that recounted the entire game and the fact that he had made a 24-inch home run. The grandson said he still had the letter although that is not the case. The ball's value was assessed at $3,000 to $5,000.

References

External links