1/6 Baseball oddity

[MrMet]

Ping Bodie was an outfielder in the American League from 1911 to 1921. During Spring Training in 1919, Bodie, who was playing for the Yankees, challenged an ostrich to a spaghetti eating contest (yes he was Italian). The epic encounter ended when the ostrich keeled over.

A little more info from sabr.orgs bio project

"After the eleventh plate Percy could barely make it to the platter....Percy looked at the twelfth plate and swooned to his knees. Ping, sensing victory, grabbed his plate of spaghetti and downed it. The ostrich never recovered, and Ping was the winner."

 

[Brewer Andy]

Bumpus Jones and Ping Bodie. The names are as good as the stories!

 

[MrMet]

Seems like an interesting guy...

His real name was Francesco Stephano (Frank Stephen) Pezzolo, but baseball people called him Ping Bodie. Ping for the way the ball sounded coming off his 52-ounce bat, Bodie for a town in California where he once lived.

 

[MrMet]

Bumpus Jones and Ping Bodie. The names are as good as the stories!

Ha, I just addressed that in here