Ex-Tigers Pitcher Cain, Who Walked Veeck’s Midget, Dies Of Cancer

Bob Cain, a Detroit Tigers left-hander who pitched to a midget in 1951 in a gimmick dreamed up by Bill Veeck, died Monday of cancer. He was 72.

Cain, who broke into the majors with the Chicago White Sox, also pitched with the Tigers and the St. Louis Browns. But it was four straight balls thrown to 3-foot, 7-inch midget Eddie Gaedel on Aug. 19, 1951, that made him a part of baseball lore.

Veeck, trying to inject some fun into a dismal Browns season that was drawing poor crowds, hired Gaedel and ordered him to take four straight pitches as a pinch-hitter in the second game of a Browns-Tigers doubleheader.

Cain was 9-12 with the White Sox in 1950 and was traded to Detroit in 1951, going 11-10 with the Tigers. He pitched two seasons with the Browns, finishing 12-10 in 1952 and 4-10 in 1953.