Andy Oyler
From BR Bullpen
Andrew Paul Oyler (Pepper)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 6½", Weight 138 lb.
- School Washington & Jefferson College
- Debut May 8, 1902
- Final Game July 21, 1902
- Born May 5, 1880 in Newville, PA USA
- Died October 24, 1970 in East Pennsboro Township, PA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Andy Oyler was at Washington & Jefferson College in 1900 and 1901, with the Baltimore Orioles in 1902 and then from 1903 to 1909 was with the Minneapolis Millers.
He is famous for "the 24-inch home run", when he hit a ball into the mud in front of home plate on a rainy day, and circled the bases while the opposing team tried to find it. A book by that title appeared in 1990, chronicling unusual baseball plays. However, since Oyler hit few home runs, the truth of the story is unclear. The children's book Mudball covers the same topic.
He is in a photo of the 1905 Millers in the book Baseball in Minnesota.
Many references state that Oyler was the shortest man on his Minneapolis team in 1903, but while the 1905 photo shows him as likely shorter than most of the 1905 team, it isn't clear that he was the shortest man at that time.
His brother was Billy Oyler.
It was reported that he did not play in 1910 "owing to business".
"Serious as well as curious are the results that have followed the injury sustained by Andrew Oyler, the shortstop of the Minneapolis Club, who was on September 22 knocked unconscious by a ball thrown . . . (He) was removed to a local hospital . . . He cannot recall names; not even his own. His brother, Billy Oyler, who was with the Indianapolis team, called at the hospital, and while the victim of the accident recognized his identity, he could not call him by name. . . The surgeons say that he may recover this ability. It is not likely that he will play ball again, though. It seems that he has had a premonition for some weeks that he was going to be injured, and more than once he said that he would quit the game." - Sporting Life, October 9, 1909
