Cal Abrams

Played for the Danville Dodgers in 1946

IS IT TRUE? Dodgers outfielder Cal Abrams was ordered to publicly berate the Reds' manager, then was traded to that team a few days later. According to the story...

Dodger manager Chuck Dressen didn’t care for Cal Abrams. Before a game against the Cincinnati Reds, Dressen said to Abrams, "The guy managing the Reds is Rogers Hornsby. If you want to stay with my club, get on him. Call him every #$@! name you can think of. I want you to get him so mad he can’t think straight.”

Abrams spent the first game of a double-header bellowing and screaming taunts at Hornsby. The Dodgers won the first game, 6 to 1. Hornsby was raging. In the clubhouse, Dressen said to Abrams, “Don’t bother to dress here. You’ve been traded. You’re playing for the Cincinnati Reds. Abrams, your new manager is Rogers Hornsby.”

Snopes says FALSE! It's just a baseball tall-tale. Don't be mistaken though, Dressen did not like Abrams. In fact, he refused to play him on "Cal Abrams Day" at the ballpark.

ABOUT ABRAMS Cal started his big league career with the hometown Brooklyn Dodgers. Unfortunately, Abrams was signed to a team with too many established stars for him to be able to crack the starting lineup regularly. He found himself relegated to pinch-hitting and occasional starting. He was bound to his team by the reserve clause that prevented players to declare free agency.

Abrams’ legacy among Dodgers fans is a negative one. Many remembered how he was thrown out trying to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the last game of the 1950 season, losing the pennant to the Phillies.

• Brooklyn Dodgers (1949–1952)

• Cincinnati Reds (1952)

• Pittsburgh Pirates (1953–1954)

• Baltimore Orioles (1954–1955)

• Chicago White Sox (1956)