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As Chris Connolly found out, cheating is unimaginative, brutish, and plain crass. Underhandedness, on the under hand, requires a certain moustache-twirling panache—a boldness that beguiles us, no matter what the rulebooks say! Here’s to 7 of the Greatest Underhanded Sports Tacticians of All-Time.
1. The Real McCoy: Giving New Meaning to Hitting Below the Belt
Seeking to psych out challengers in the days leading up to big fights, Hall of Fame boxer Charles “Kid” McCoy frequently feigned illness or spread rumors of an injury. Then, when the bout came around, McCoy would show up in perfect form. (This supposedly prompted reporters to wonder whether they’d be seeing “the real McCoy” in the ring.) But McCoy’s lowest blow? In 1893, when he fought a deaf mute. Toward the end of the fourth round, McCoy simply dropped his gloves and walked back to his corner as though the bell had sounded. When the deaf fighter turned to do the same, McCoy ran over and knocked him out.
2. Red Auerbach: The Host From Hell
Coach Arnold “Red” Auerbach, the cigar-chomping mastermind behind the great Boston Celtics teams of the 1950s and 1960s, wasn’t one to let any advantage go unused. Auerbach knew his home stadium inside and out and manipulated it to create one of the greatest home court advantages in the history of sport. To foster a feeling of alienation among opposing players, he would assign visiting teams a different locker room in the Boston Garden each time they came to town. To foster a feeling of nausea, he reportedly made sure at least one toilet in the visitor’s quarters was stopped up and overflowing. And finally, to foster a feeling of “it’s so hot I’m gonna die,” he contrived to have the building’s boilers stoked and steaming right before tip off and again at halftime.
3. The Spanish Paralympic Basketball Team: Playing Dumb
The grand champions of sport ethics obliteration have to be the members of the 2000 Spanish Paralympic basketball team. How low could they go? After the team snagged a gold medal, it was revealed that 10 of the 12 players had never been tested, and were, in fact, not mentally challenged.
more after the jump!
4. Eddie Stanky and The Stanky Maneuver
One of the all-time greats at probing the limits of sports rulebooks was second baseman Eddie “The Brat” Stanky. The best evidence of Stanky’s creative rule interpretations came in 1950, when baseball commissioner Ford Frick had to forbid Stanky from using what had become known as the “Stanky Maneuver,” a dubious defensive tactic in which he took advantage of his position behind the pitcher by “jumping up and down while waving wildly in an attempt to distract opposing batters.”
5. Jason Grimsley and The Ol’ Bat-and-Switch
When suspicions arose that Cleveland Indians slugger Albert Belle had been corking his bat, it made for a cloak-and-dagger spy-fest. Tipped off about Belle’s bat during a 1994 game against the White Sox, umpires confiscated it and took it to a locker room for later investigation. Knowing Belle’s bat was doctored, and not wanting to lose their best offensive player to a suspension, the Indians dispatched pitcher Jason Grimsley to sneak into the room and switch out the bat for a legal model. Grimsley climbed through about 10 feet of ducts and a false ceiling to pull the switch. The plan might have worked, if only he hadn’t replaced it with an autographed Paul Sorrento model. The caper was quickly discovered, and Belle soon found himself suspended.
6. Donald Crowhurst and Some Not-So-Smooth Sailing
When 36-year-old Donald Crowhurst entered the British Sunday Times Golden Globe round-the-world yacht race in 1968, all he had going for him were an experimental plywood sailboat, a little sailing experience, and a gift for underhanded improvisation.
Crowhurst set out with good intentions, but soon encountered problems with his ship. Dubious about his craft’s chances in the brutal Southern Ocean near Antarctica, Crowhurst simply detoured across the Atlantic and holed up off the coast of South America at a position much farther along the course. As he waited for his competitors to catch up, Crowhurst sent out bogus radio reports claiming he was in second place. The scheme came to a tragic end, however, when he learned that Nigel Tetley, another racer, had capsized in an all-out attempt to catch him, or, at least, his reported position. Overcome with remorse, Crowhurst scratched out a confession, stepped off the side of his vessel, and committed suicide by drowning. We didn’t include this story to depress you; we included it so that you couldn’t accuse us of endorsing cheating.
7. Gene Bossard and the Field of Streams
For groundskeeper Gene Bossard, lending the Chicago White Sox an underhanded hand was the family business. Gene managed the turf at Comiskey Park from 1940 to 1983, and when he stepped down, his son Roger took over operations. Together, the Bossards were known for doctoring and dampening the diamond to give the Sox a true home field advantage. In fact, opposing teams took to calling the infield “Bossard’s Swamp,” because Gene kept it watered down to benefit the Sox’s sinkerball pitchers and to slow opposing baserunners.
Bossard’s most infamous trick, however, seems to be inventing the “frozen baseball.” Perhaps Roger Bossard explained the phenomenon best: “In the bowels of the old stadium my dad had an old room where the humidifier was constantly going. By leaving the balls in that room for 10 to 14 days, they became a quarter- to a half-ounce heavier.” The Sox manager during the frozen ball era in the late 1960s? Number 4 on this list, Eddie Stanky.
NOTE: This piece is excerpted from Chris Connolly’s terrific 10 Underhanded Sports Tactics piece from Vol. 5, Issue 5 (available at the mental_floss store, here).
Comments (21)
Comment
What about A-Rod’s “I got it!” against the Blue Jays?
posted by Karen on 8-14-2007 at 10:11 am
There was the former Metrodome employee who admitted to adjusting the air conditioning vents. When the Twins were down and needed some runs, the vents would blow up and out to help the balls carry further.
posted by InternJason on 8-14-2007 at 10:23 am
Honorable mentions: Rosie Ruiz, Danny Almonte. Also, the kid in the 70’s who used an electromagnet in his soapbox derby racer was pretty classic, and the maneuver was duplicated recently.
posted by ianrey on 8-14-2007 at 10:39 am
There was a wrestler at my high-school who wouldn’t bathe much, so his stink would throw off his opponent. (I’m guessing he’s not the only person to have used/tried this)
posted by EV on 8-14-2007 at 11:17 am
Supposedly, the Colorado Rockies are also “humidifying” their balls. They say it simply counteracts the thin air at Mile-High stadium. I haven’t heard if the MLB is taking action, though.
posted by jenni on 8-14-2007 at 11:22 am
I have read that when Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox were playing for the White Sox, the base lines were sloped towards the mound. A bunt down the line had zero chance of rolling foul.
posted by Rance on 8-14-2007 at 1:09 pm
The University of Iowa painted the visitor’s locker room at its football stadium pink. Apparently, everything, from the carpets to the toilet fixtures are pink.
Via ESPN: “The tradition was started by former Iowa coach Hayden Fry, a psychology major who said pink had a calming and passive effect on people.”
posted by Cheeques on 8-14-2007 at 2:19 pm
Here is another detail about item #5, the Albert Belle corked bat.
Apparently, Jason Grimsley knew that he was putting Sorrento’s bat into the locker. He had to because Belle did not have a legal bat at the park.
posted by n2y2 on 8-14-2007 at 3:45 pm
EV, an MMA fighter by the name of Matt Lindland does that too.
posted by ajadoniz on 8-14-2007 at 4:43 pm
A recent episode of Mythbusters (www.discover.com/mythbusters) proved that balls kept at high humidity don’t go as far when hit, and that corking a bat, rather than making the ball go *further* when you hit it, actually has the opposite effect. The batter can swing faster, but the corked bat absorbs the impact, so the ball leaves the bat at about 1/2 the velocity of an uncorked bat.
posted by Loren on 8-14-2007 at 5:09 pm
Speaking of underhanded – in 1981 NZ had a chance to tie a cricket match with Australia – the would need a 6 off the last ball definately achieveable, so Greg Chappell (captain) told his brother Trevor to bowl underarm, which he did!
posted by Jess on 8-14-2007 at 7:14 pm
The basketball coach at my high school plays his five best players, with absolutely no rotations, the entire length of the game. The only time he ever replaces a player is if they’re injured to the point of hospitalization. Every game I attend, there are 15 other disgruntled players, who have to show up to every practice or be cut, who never get to see action on the court. It’s irksome, at best.
posted by fisch on 8-14-2007 at 11:22 pm
Dare I mention?
BONDS* (I wish I could make a giant asterisk, an asterisk on steroids.)
posted by Tdave on 8-15-2007 at 3:57 am
Roger Neilson, the famous NHL coach, was well-known for bending the rules as well. From Wikipedia:
“Neilson was well known for closely reading the rule book looking for loopholes. During one particular game in the OHL his team was up one goal, but was down two men in a five on three situation for the last minute of the game. Realizing that more penalties could not be called under the existing rules, Neilson put too many men on the ice every ten seconds. The referees stopped the play and a faceoff was held relieving pressure on the defence. After this display the rule was changed so that a call for too many men on the ice in a 5 on 3 situation now leads to a penalty shot.
Neilson also discovered that if he put a defenceman in net instead of a goalie during a penalty shot, the defenceman could rush the attacker and cut down the latter’s angle of shot, greatly reducing the chances of a goal. Today the rule states that a team must use a goalie in net for a penalty shot.”
posted by Dave on 8-15-2007 at 8:40 am
eCommerce, Ben Stein, NPR
(not in the same article) :)
posted by al on 8-15-2007 at 4:40 pm
To Clarify Jess in comment 11 for those that don’t know cricket – was a big deal. Hitting a ‘6′ means that the batter had to hit the ball out of the park on the full (like a home run) which gives them 6 runs. Which New Zealand needed to win the game. So instead of bowling normally, the bowler (Trevor) literally rolled the ball along the ground. After this game that is now illegal. Bloody Aussies!
posted by Scott on 8-15-2007 at 5:22 pm
Actually, the term “the real McCoy” was coined for engineering works of Elijah McCoy. He built parts for steam engines and there were many copycats to his work, often leaving engine owners wondering if the parts they were paying for were “the Real McCoy”.
Also, I think it’s the Special Olympics, not the Paralympics you’re referring to.
posted by David on 8-15-2007 at 6:52 pm
There is also the case of Hopoate (I think that’s spelled right) a rugby league footballer in Australia who would routinely insert a finger into the anus of opposing players while tackling them. More often than not the result was that the shocked player would drop the ball. Most players were too embarrassed to say anything about the incursion. He got away with it for years before someone complained, and suddenly they all came forward to say he had done it to them too.
posted by Mark on 8-15-2007 at 7:33 pm
hey David: I’m pretty certain it’s Paralympics, not Special Olympics (per a quick search on the BBC, and wikipedia). As for the Real McCoy term, we had the article fact checked, and I’m pretty sure it’s right, but when I double checked on some sites, it seems that half the sources credit the boxer, and the other half credit the engineer… so I guess that’s a toss up. I’ll edit the post if I read anything more definitive!
posted by Mangesh on 8-15-2007 at 9:22 pm
This isn’t nearly on the same level as these 7 excellent examples (although #6 did depress me…), but former Maryland Terrapin footballer (and later Pro Wrestler) Darren Drozdoff was known for vomiting onfield before the first play of every game.
Also I’ve heard (can’t confirm this…) that since most pros don’t wear proper protection (i.e. cups), grabbing and squeezing, um, certain sensitive parts is standard practice in football piles. If the commentator claims that a player is “winded” it is often due to his having had his parts squeezed!
posted by Kristian on 8-16-2007 at 8:14 am
Speaking of cricket, there was also the infamous Bodyline series, where Bradman and Co where deliberately targeted with short-pitched balls aimed at their bodies.
posted by Mathew on 8-16-2007 at 1:03 pm