Bob Dillinger

Third baseman Bob Dillinger had a short career and is not very well remembered. But we owe him one of the funniest baseball story involving glasses. During a minor league game in 1939, Dillinger took a pitch that the umpire called strike two. Disgruntled, Dillinger took off his glasses and offered them to the umpire. Amazingly, the umpire didn’t eject him. Instead, he took the glasses and put them on under his mask. The next pitch came in, Dillinger didn’t swing and the umpire called strike three. Then he handed the glasses back to Dillinger.

Dillinger broke in the Majors with the Saint Louis Browns in 1946 at age 27. He was a speedy third baseman who led the American League in stolen bases in 1947, 1948 and 1949 (with 34, 28 and 20 steals). In 1948, he collected 207 hits, 34 doubles ,10 triples and 2 homers to finish the year .321 AVG/ .385 OBP/ .415 SLG. In 1949, he played only 137 games but was just as productive: 176 hits, 22 doubles, 13 triples, 1 homer, .324 AVG, .385 OBP, 417 SLG.

In 1951, Dillinger played 101 games with the Pirates and White Sox. He batted .292, but retired after the season at age 33. Apparently, he didn’t want to play baseball anymore. He'S a career .306 hitter.