Joe Medwick had been an outstanding all-around athlete at Carteret High School in New Jersey. He had hopes of getting an athletic scholarship to Notre Dame, but he never received an offer. However, Medwick was approached by Charlie Kelchner, a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals. Kelchner wanted to sign the teenager to a minor-league contract.
“Gee, I don’t know,” Medwick said doubtfully. “I’m still hoping for that Notre Dame scholarship.”
“Why not use a different name?” Kelchner suggested.
Many students used false names and played ball during the summer months. Lou Gehrig was just one example. Kelchner thought up the name Mickey King.
“Use that name,” Kelchner said. “Play baseball, and if the scholarship comes, go to college during the fall and winter. If you don’t make good, who’s going to know? Nobody notices a mediocre player.”
Medwick agreed. But the scheme didn’t work. Medwick played 75 games with a team in Scottsale, Pennsylvania. Be batted .419, got 139 hits, and drove in 100 runs. Before long everybody knew that Mickey King was really Joe Medwick.
Joe Medwick became one of baseball’s best right-handed batters. In 1937 he won baseball’s Triple Crown.
From The Giant Book of More Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Medwick
Turns out Liss got handed a bill of goods on this story because it’s basically bullshit. Medwick had gotten an offer from Notre Dame but chose to play ball instead.
He was the last National League player to get the Triple Crown, and that was in 1937, so looks like he made the right choice.
Funny how Notre Dame football seems to beget garbage myths.
– Rudy
– Manti Te’o/Lennay Kekua
– George Gipp/Win one for the Gipper
Lou Holtz being a human being.