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Fred Merkle, Lou Gehrig, and the Yankees’ trade that never happened

Related Topics: Fred Merkle, Al Bridwell, Lou Gehrig

Fred Merkle is an infamous name in baseball. In 1908, a 19-year-old Merkle was on first base when Al Bridwell hit a single that scored a runner from third, seemingly winning the Giants the pennant. There were two outs in the inning, however, and Merkle never touched second base. After fans stormed the field to celebrate, the Cubs second baseman got the ball back and touched second base. Merkle was ruled out, the inning was over, and the run didn’t count.

Since there were fans on the field, the game could not be resumed that day.