#leon wagner

[alidaisinthevalli]

Paul Newman poses with Cleveland Indians players Leon Wagner, Chuck Hinton, and Rocky Colavito in 1966.

[otd-in-cubs-history]

July 1, 1958

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Rookie second baseman, Tony Taylor hits 2 home runs, including an inside the park home run in the Cubs 9-5 victory over the @sfgiants.

This @wrigleyfield​ inside-the-park home run certainly deserves an asterisk in the record books -- In the first inning, Taylor rapped Johnny Antonelli’s pitch down the left field line, and the ball ended up rolling down the left field wall rain gutter (past the Cubs bullpen). This gave the Cubs’ bullpen crew the opportunity to impact the game (without throwing a pitch)... Jumping up from the bench and pointing underneath it, the relievers  caused the Giants’ rookie left fielder, Leon Wagner, to assume the ball was trapped in the pen (when in reality, the ball was 50 feet further down the gutter near the left field corner).

While Wagner searched in vain for the ball, with the Cubs’ relievers “aiding” him, Taylor circled the bases - easily recording the first of his two home runs that day (the second was a fourth-inning, wind-aided, garden variety shot into the left-center field bleachers)...just another day at the Friendly Confines...

[vintagesportspictures]

Paul Newman with Cleveland Indians players Leon Wagner, Chuck Hinton, and Rocky Colavito (1966)