Much is known of that day on August 19, 1951. The 26-year-old Gaedel stepped up to the plate for the St. Louis Browns against the Tigers as the first batter in the second game of a doubleheader. Wearing number 1/8, he walked on four straight pitches from Bob Cain. He was pinch-run for by Jim Delsing and his career ended as abruptly as it had started.

Eddie was not of course a career baseball player. He appeared in the game as a promotion concocted by Browns owner Bill Veeck.

Ordinarily, the story would end there. Stories about ex-major leaguers who played in only one game are not newsworthy, even the story of a pint-sized player. Nobody bothered to find out much about Gaedel after his fifteen minutes of fame. Nobody could tell you about Eddie the man instead of Eddie the ballplayer which is forever inscribed into the game’s annals.

But the story of Eddie Gaedel the man is worth telling.

After his famous game, St. Louis baseball writer Bob Broeg found him and started asking him questions. The first few questions were routine and Gaedel gave routine answers. Broeg then told him that he was what he always wanted to be, an ex-big leaguer. Eddie then became very proud of himself. The men shook hands and that was it.

Bob Fishel was the Brown’s publicist and spent a few days with Eddie before the game, the only baseball man to have a chance to know the man personally. “Veeck was looking for a midget, not a dwarf. When we saw him, there was no question that he was right. However, I didn’t think the world of him” without elaborating further.

Eddie appeared on several TV shows in the following weeks earning $17,000 a very large amount for those days. His playing contract had been for $100.

Three weeks after the game, on September 2, Eddie was arrested in Cincinnati for screaming obscenities. He tried to convince a policeman he was a big league player. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and released on a $25 bond. According to an interview with his mother Helen in 1971, Eddie’s tiny size had gotten him in trouble for a good part of his life.

Born in Chicago, his growth was stunted from the age of three by a thyroid condition. He was picked on as a kid according to his mother. He made it through high school and was an errand boy for Drover’s Daily Journal, a Chicago newspaper. He worked as the Buster Brown shoe man appearing at store openings in Chicago and St. Louis. He also worked in the Ringling Brothers Circus in the 50s and as a promotion man for Mercury Records but refused to go with the company to California because he was scared to go out.

In 1961, Veeck now the owner of the White Sox hired Gaedel and other midgets as salesmen in the box seats. This was because fans were complaining about vendors blocking their view.

The end was near however. Eddie was suffering from high blood pressure and enlarged heart. On June 18, 1961 he was mugged on a Southside Chicago street corner for the $11 he had with him. After the mugging, he apparently staggered home and died in his bed of a heart attack as paramedics were unable to revive him. The coroner reported he had bruises on his face and knees.

His mother, penniless and out of touch with her other children was devastated. Adding insult to injury, she was swindled out of Eddie’s bats and Browns uniform by a man claiming he was representing the Hall of Fame Museum. The only remnants the Hall of Fame has are pictures of his brief career with catcher Bob Swift on his knees to receive a head-high pitch.

Gaedel’s death attracted little notice. The only person connected with baseball who attended his funeral was Bob Cain. “I never even met him but I felt obligated to go” said Cain who was by then retired from baseball after a six-year career. “It kind of threw me for a loop that no other baseball people were there.”

Cain summed up Eddie’s life “It was a pretty sad situation. It’s a shame he had to die the way he did, but I guess he got in quite a bit of trouble off and on. He ended up with the wrong crowd.”

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Fly fishers like to nickname their prey, and bonefish are no exception. The bonefish is nicknamed the “Gray Ghost”, and if you have ever witnessed these creatures in their Andros Island or Florida Key habitat you know they have earned this nickname. Perfectly camouflaged for their environment these creatures rarely give away their whereabouts easily. Easily for the novice that is, a good guide can seemingly see them in the abstract. And although I am not a huge guide proponent, preferring trial and error, there are times when a guide is a necessity; especially after having spent a nice sum on airfare and lodging. Not to mention the accoutrements required for catching this most worthy of fish.

The bonefish is worthy because of the flat out, jaw dropping, blistering runs it can make; stripping off yards of line at mind boggling speed. One great bonefish run can make up for hours of frustration. If you are not used to casting forty yards into a stiff wind, having to make pinpoint accuracy out of these casts, and then knowing where all your line is in relation to your feet, then your first experience with these creatures are bound to produce some frustration. But it all will peel away like stress at a spa, when you hear your reel sing in the highest pitch imaginable, greedily feeding line to that running bonefish.

In actuality bonefish do two nice things for the novice fly fisher, or the experienced trout fly fisher getting their salt shoes wet for the first time. One, they occasionally do something called ‘tailing’; which means they have their tails upright out of the water, while searching for food; although tails can often be mistaken for mangroves or weeds.

The other ‘nice’ habit they possess is that of creating ‘muds’. Hordes of bonefish school together and create a muddy area to form a protection against sharks or barracudas. Although technically casting into these muds has very little to do with the actual flats fly fishing experience, they do give the first timer a taste of hooking a bonefish. These fish tend to be small, 2 pounds or so, an occasional six pounder and up can be hooked this way.

A big bonefish is a double digit one, over ten pounds. And this is ten pounds of very athletic fish indeed. So be prepared, although some anglers prefer a six weight rod, most prefer an eight weight. Also remember you will be required to cast into the wind and distances of at least forty feet, a fast action eight weight is highly recommended. A good guide will help you modify your cast for the wind. There are plenty of bonefish lines on the market, and don’t forget the extra backing needed as well. For this reason a large arbor reel is recommended.

While most bonefishing is done aboard the deck of a boat, for obvious reasons, you can cover more ground and have the advantage of height. Wading is also done. Sometimes getting away for a quiet few hours of wading, reminds you of the real reason you might be there; namely natural beauty and solitude. But after awhile, wading can also remind you how exhausting it is. For better results take your fishing partner, if not a guide, and trade off casting and sighting fish. It is great practice, and very enjoyable when done at a medium pace.

For bonefish flies, , one does not have to break the bank or cover every possibility. As mentioned above technique is of most importance. However, there are some must haves, those include the Gotcha Fly, Crazy Charlie, Clouser minnows, Raghead Crab, and a Mantis Shrimp.

Despite all the intimidation factors, the bonefish really are a great species to get your feet wet on when attempting saltwater fly fishing for the first time. The sight fishing aspect is similar to dry fly trout fly fishing, and the size of the fish and equipment is not a huge jump. One of the great rewards of today’s fly fishing is the vast variety out there, and it is one of the least realized aspects of our great passion.

About the Author

Cameron Larsen is a retired commericial fly tier. He now owns and operates Big Y Fly Co at http://www.bigyflyco.com. A retail and wholesale outlet for quality fly fishing flies and other products.

Use Sunday to prepare for the work week ahead and you will be ahead of the competition.

The reporter asked a routine question to begin his interview with an internationally acclaimed marketing executive. He got a surprising answer in return.

“To what do you attribute your highly successful career?” he asked.

“Sunday nights,” came the answer.

“Sunday nights? I don’t understand what you mean.”

“It’s just common sense, when you stop to think about it,” the executive explained.

“I work hard every week from early Monday morning until late Friday afternoon. From Friday night until about mid-afternoon Sunday, I take care of personal things and I play hard. I recharge my mind and body.

“Then I wind down the playing and devote Sunday night to preparing for the work week ahead. I eat an early, sensible dinner. I review the previous week ? my wins and my losses. Next, I go through my briefcase, reading everything that bears on the coming five days. I concentrate on what I want to accomplish during the week. I create my game plan. I set specific goals. I write out a checklist with priorities for myself. I prepare the same sort of list for my secretary. I write various “please do” memos for my secretary.

“I even plan my wardrobe for the week and I polish my shoes. That may sound a little bit strange. But don’t laugh. I just do not want anything to distract me from the important things I want to accomplish.

“I make sure I read the Sunday newspapers and at least skim over the highlights of the weekly news magazines. I know something will come up about current events during the week, and I don’t mean to be caught mumbling and changing the subject.

“Finally, I go to bed, visualizing what I am going to accomplish during the week. I get a good night’s sleep.

“When I walk into the office on Monday morning, I am already ahead of the game.

“In a nutshell, this achiever was talking about simple planning and preparation to make the best of his time, his energy ? all of his resources.

This common sense idea seems as obvious as the nose on your face. But there are a great many people who don’t act on it. Doesn’t this create a real opportunity for those who are dedicated to building a winning career?XXX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR