Just picked up a 1931 Autograph Book and it had this Vintage 1931 Autograph of Hall of Fame Outfielder Sam Rice in it , and wondered if anyone had heard the story of Rice's "Phantom catch" and thought I'd share it.
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The most famous moment in Sam Rice's career came in defense. During game three of the 1925 World Series with the Senators playing the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Senators were leading the Pirates 4–3. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Sam Rice was moved from center field to right field. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Pirates catcher Earl Smith drove a ball to right-center field. Rice ran down the ball and appeared to catch the ball at the fence, potentially robbing Smith of a home run that would have tied the game. After the catch, Rice toppled over the top of the fence and into the stands, disappearing out of sight. When Rice reappeared, he had the ball in his glove and the umpire called the batter out. The umpire's explanation was that as soon as the catch was made the play was over, and so it did not matter where Sam Rice ended up.
This caused great controversy on whether Rice actually caught the ball and whether he kept possession of the ball the entire time. Rice himself would not tell, only answering: "The umpire called him out," when asked. Magazines offered to pay him for the story, but Rice turned them down, saying: "I don't need the money. The mystery is more fun." He would not even tell his wife or his daughter
The controversy became so great that Rice wrote a letter to be opened upon his death. After Sam died, the letter was opened and it contained Rice's account of what happened. At the end of the letter, he wrote: "At no time did I lose possession of the ball."
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Even more fascinating.... in 1912 While Rice was in Illinois for a baseball tryout a tornado swept through Morocco Indiana and destroyed the house where his family had taken shelter killing his wife & two children, his two sisters and his mother and father. He remarried years later and adopted his wife's daughter from a previous marriage. It wasn't until he revealed the details of the disaster in an interview many years later that his wife and daughter were first made aware of it. In addition to being a Hall of Fame outfielder obviously Sam Rice knew how to keep a secret !!!
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jim@stinsonsports.com
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