Lefty O'Doul's Left Arm Comes Home
- Author: Min-Q Kim
- Posted on: Monday July 26, 2010 at 1:00 PM
- Filed under: sports, lefty o'doul, san francisco, new york giants, tokyo giants, baseball, san francisco seals, exclusive
Bay Area baseball legend Lefty O'Doul had a career with many twists and turns. A San Francisco native, he would pitch for the Yankees and Red Sox, then, because of arm trouble, patrol the outfield for the Giants, Phillies, and Dodgers. He hit for a .398 average in 1929, the highest for a National League outfielder in the 20th Century. His managing career is equally legendary: fourteen years with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, he'd become the PCL's most successful ever manager, seeing the likes of Joe DiMaggio climb through his ranks. He was also one of the game's most important ambassadors, and is credited with bringing baseball to Japan. In fact, he was the one who gave the Tokyo Giants (to this day, Japan's most popular baseball team) their name, in honor of the New York Giants who gave him a second chance as an outfielder when his pitching arm failed him. He was inducted in both the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Lefty O'Doul (Photo: AP)
The restaurant / bar he founded before his death, Lefty O'Doul's in San Francisco, is a landmark: home to all sorts of baseball memorabilia and a mean bloody mary (Lefty's recipe). Among the memorabilia is Lefty's jersey, displayed proudly on a mannequin in the restaurant. For the last three years, however, that mannequin was missing its left arm -- the result of some pranksters who decided it would be funny to steal it (presumably after a few beverages). Since then, we've come to find out, Lefty's left arm has apparently been on a wild ride through America's heartland, before it was returned last week anonymously, with photo evidence of the long strange trip -- just another wonderful twist in a long list of them for Lefty O'Doul.
Lefty O'Doul's arm was returned to its rightful owners after a three year joy ride through the Midwest. (Photo: Chad Ziemendorf / The Chronicle)
It is without question one of our favorite sports-related stories of the year.
The photos came accompanied with a handwritten note: "We felt it was time for Lefty to return home. He will be missed but long remembered! Lefty's friends."
Lefty's friends, wherever you may be, we salute you.
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“ The same should happen to Justin's fingers since he plays so well. ”
