Baseball Hall of Shame II

By Buck Wolf, About.com Guide

With his two slowest runners on base, Cleveland player-manager Lou Boudreau inexplicably called for a double-steal one day in 1942. The lead runner was easily thrown out at third, ending the scoring threat in a game in which Boudreau's Indians went on to lose.

Why did Boudreau make such an awful decision? It wasn't because he was a first-year manager... it was because he was sick and blew his nose from the bench, forgetting for a moment that a towel to the face was his secret signal for a double steal, according to "The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown" by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo.

You might say he blew it.

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• Baseball Hall of Shame: Ping Bodie vs. Percy The Ostrich
• Baseball Hall of Shame: Burleigh Gets Surly
• Baseball Hall of Shame: The Bonehead Club
• Baseball Hall of Shame: Frenchy's Flop
• Baseball Hall of Shame: Blowing His Nose -- And the Game

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