Here are more strange-but-true minor league swaps:
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MUSCLE FOR MUSSEL: The Dallas Submarines had an oceanic name, so it made sense when they traded for seafood. The Texas League club sent pitcher John Martina to New Orleans for two barrels of oysters in 1921. Martina pitched in the Major Leagues for Washington a few years later, where teammates called him “Oyster Joe.”
UP AGAINST THE WALL: The Martinsburg Mountaineers had a busted fence and a talented pitcher. They fixed one but lost the other. The International League’s Baltimore Orioles bought the Mountaineers a new outfield fence in 1920 and received future Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove in return.
MAGIC BEANS: The Wichita Falls Spudders traded pitcher Euel Moore for a plate of beans in 1930.
ONLY FOUR?: The Muskogee Chiefs exchanged George Hubbell to the Hutchinson Wheat Shockers for four new baseballs in 1932. At least the baseballs were new.
Tim Hagerty is the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, and is on Twitter at @MinorsTeamNames. He is also the author of “Root For The Home Team: Minor League Baseball’s Most Off-The-Wall Names.”
