Baseball Characters | Led by Bill "The Spaceman" Lee
Most of us remember baseball players for their power, speed, pitching, or defensive prowess. However, throughout the sport’s history, some players are better remembered for other more unique reasons. For example, over the years there have been a handful of players who have stood out for their eccentric personalities and antics. Here are some of those players:
Bill “The Spaceman” Lee – remembered for his on-field antics and for his personalized “Leephus” pitch, his version of the low-speed junk pitch known ordinarily known as an Eephus pitch.
Al “The Mad Hungarian” Hrabosky – remembered for his Fu Manchu mustache, long hair, and for his tendency to stomp to the back of the mound to psych himself up.
Turk Wendell – best known for his plethora of superstitions, including brushing his teeth in the dugout between each inning.
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych – Became an instant fan favorite as a rookie in 1976 due to his on-field success and strange behavior. For example, Fidrych often talked to himself and to the baseball while on the mound and would also strut around the mound after each out. He was nicknamed “The Bird” due to his unusual resemblance to Sesame Street character Big Bird.
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THE HISTORY OF PEPSI COLA
Caleb Bradham of New Bern, North Carolina was a pharmacist at the turn of the century. He had a soda fountain in his drugstore, where he served his customers refreshing drinks, that he created himself. His most popular beverage was something he called "Brad's drink" made of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, pepsin and cola nuts.
"Brad's drink", was later renamed Pepsi Cola in 1898 after the pepsin and cola nuts used in the recipe. In 1898, Caleb Bradham wisely bought the trade name "Pep Cola" for $100 from a competitor from Newark, New Jersey that had gone broke. The new name was trademarked on June 16th, 1903.
Bradham's neighbor, an artist designed the first Pepsi logo and ninety-seven shares of stock for Bradham's new company were issued. After seventeen years, Caleb Bradham lost Pepsi Cola. He had gambled on the fluctuations of sugar prices during W.W.I, believing that the prices would continue to rise. They fell instead leaving him with an overpriced sugar inventory. Pepsi Cola went bankrupt in 1923.
In 1931, Pepsi Cola was bought by the Loft Candy Company, who struggled to make it a success. They even offered to sell Pepsi to the Coca-Cola company, who refused the offer. In 1940, history was made when the first advertising jingle was broadcast nationally. The jingle was "Nickel Nickel" an advertisement for Pepsi Cola that referred to the price of Pepsi and the quantity for that price. "Nickel Nickel" became a hit record and was recorded into fifty-five languages.