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Visit att.com slash guarantee for details. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. And to search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Our next story comes to us from Nick Ragon, host of the popular YouTube channel This Date in History with Nick Ragon. Ray Caldwell put on a Cleveland Indian uniform for the first time and none of the 20,000 fans at League Park had any idea that they were about to see something that defies belief.
Let's take a listen. If you're a baseball fan you're probably familiar with the term electric stuff to describe a pitcher who was on top of his game. Growing up in the 80s it seemed like Dwight Gooden, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and other flamethrowers had their electric stuff every night.
But what if I told you that the term actually originated in the early part of the 20th century? That it wasn't really used to describe a pitcher's throwing prowess but rather traces its origins to one of the strangest events in Major League Baseball history. Heck, one of the strangest events in sports history.
It was August 24, 1919, by all accounts an uncomfortably muggy day at League Park in Cleveland. The first place Indians were hosting the Philadelphia Athletics in front of 20,000 fans. They were excited to see their new pitcher, the journeyman Ray Caldwell, who was recently let go by the Boston Red Sox. Once upon a time Caldwell had been regarded as a generational talent. One of those guys with transcended stuff that screamed can't miss potential.
But years of hard drinking and erratic behavior had left him a shell of his former self. By 1921 Caldwell was desperate for a last chance to show that he could still play the game. He no longer had his dominant fastball and nasty curve, but he did sport one of the game's best spit balls, which in 1919 was still eagle.
On this particular afternoon he had total command of his spitter. The athletic players were flummoxed by the way it bobbed and weaved through the air impervious to contact. A combination of the bright sunshine and saliva-ridden ball had resulted in just four base runners for the A's through the first eight innings, giving the Indians a slim one-run lead heading into the top of the ninth inning. Fans would later say that they noticed dark clouds that seemingly materialized at a Lake Erie and descend upon the stadium with alarming speed, practically enveloping it. With droplets of rain beginning to sprinkle from the heavens, Caldwell worked extra fast hoping to avoid a rain delay.
He quickly got ahead of the first batter and induced a meek pop-up to the shortstop for out number one. A nasty spitter resulted in a second infield pop-up and Caldwell and the Indians were now one out from putting the A's away. By this time the wind was howling. It's as if the stadium was mired in a total eclipse had become so dark.
Some fans had already scattered from League Park, a combination of the rain and sense of foreboding chasing them away. So picture this, Caldwell is towing the rubber and leaning in to get the sign when a flash from the sky explodes into the middle of the field. Indian shortstop Ray Chapman would later say he felt a surge of electricity go down his leg and the violence of the lightning strike causes the players to dive for the ground.
I took my metal mask and threw it as far as I could, said Cleveland's catcher Steve O'Neill after the game. I didn't want to attract any bolts towards me. Seconds after the lightning hit the ground, the players were still staring at each other in disbelief. On the mound lay Ray Caldwell, arms spread wide, completely unconscious.
The lightning bolt had struck him directly. Players rushed to aid Caldwell but the first man who touched him leapt into the air saying he had been zapped by Caldwell's prone body. The players and Umph stared over Caldwell, his chest smoldering from where the bolt burned it. Shortstop Ray Chapman blurted out to nobody in particular, is he dead? The players were terrified to touch him to even take his pulse.
Nobody knew what to do. Believe it or not they were ready to pronounce Caldwell dead when the 31 year old pitcher started groaning and crawled back to his knees and then his feet. His teammates were thrilled to see him alive but they kept their distance from the guy whose chest was on fire just minutes before. One of the umpires offered to assist him off the field and take him to a hospital but Caldwell would have none of it. I have one more out to get, he testily barked at the ump.
He argued the point with the Indians player manager, the legendary Tris Beaker and his intransigence won the day as speaker reluctantly let him stay on the field to try and record the final out. Give me the dang ball and point me towards the plate, he commanded shortstop Ray Chapman who was still in semi-disbelief that Caldwell was alive and pitching. The umpires lingered around the mound as the players slowly took their positions. A shortstop Joe Duggan dug into the batter's box waiting for the ump's to signal play ball. The ump's just look at each other for an extra beat and shrug their shoulders.
Play ball one of them says. By this time most of the fans had scattered in the chaos of the lightning strike but for the few hearty souls who stuck around they're about to witness the conclusion of the strangest game in major league history. With the first pitch Caldwell grooves a fastball to Duggan who hits a screaming line drive to third baseman Willie Gardner who knocks it down with his chest and rushes the throw to first just in time to edge out Duggan. And with that Ray Caldwell in his first start as a Cleveland Indian pitches a complete game victory which includes being struck by lightning. With the media after the game Ray Caldwell was as curt as he was brief. I just wanted to complete the game he hurriedly told reporters as he rushed from the clubhouse purportedly to hit his favorite watering hole.
As if the story isn't fascinating enough there's an interesting footnote actually two footnotes. 17 days after being struck by lightning Ray Caldwell would pitch a no-hitter against one of his former teams the New York Yankees. Someone on his team jokingly told the media after the game that he had electric stuff electric stuff that day and the term stuck. His stuff would remain electric for the rest of the year as he went five and one with the Indians and nearly led them past the White Sox who would famously go on to throw the world series. The following year he notched a 20-win season. Sadly that would be the same year that the Indian shortstop Ray Chapman tragically died after being beamed in the head by the Yankees Carl Mays.
His death prompted several rules changes including banning the spitball and requiring dirty balls to come out of play. So the next time you hear some pitcher has electric stuff just remember he's no Ray Caldwell. And a terrific job on the production editing and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to Nick Ragon and he hosts the popular YouTube channel This Date in History with Nick Ragon. The story of Ray Caldwell here on Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib host of Our American Stories the show where America is the star and the American people but we truly can't do this show without you. Our shows will always be free to listen to but they're not free to make. If you love what you hear consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories.
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