Charlie Faust ca. 1911
One last one for today, that I enjoy more for the backstory than anything:
Charlie "Victory" Faust was a mascot for John McGraw's New York Giants. Faust, who appears to have been delusional, came to McGraw during 1911 season and claimed that a fortune teller had predicted that the Giants would win the pennant if Faust pitched for them. McGraw, who was very superstitious, kept Faust on the team for the remainder of the season. With Faust as a mascot, the Giants went on a tear, winning 40 of their last 53 games and valuting from 3 1/2 games back to win the pennant by 7 1/2 games. After the flag was secured, Faust was allowed to appear in two meaningless games, where he allowed 1 run in 2 innings and scored twice. He continued as mascot, though not in uniform, in the 1912 season and then was cut loose. Faust died of tuburculosis in an insane asylum in Washington in 1915.
Can you imagine ANY manager nowadays adding someone to the team, let alone actually allowing them to pitch in a game, just because they said, "Miss Cleo said you would win if you let me pitch?!"
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