Below are ten sports trivia facts that many sports buffs probably don't know.
- Until 1859, the umpire sat behind home plate in a padded rocking chair.
- Babe Ruth was the first baseball player credited to ordering a bat with a knob on it. They were produced by Louisville Slugger in 1919.
- Boxing was filmed for the first time in 1894 in a match between Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing.
- The fastest serve in a game of tennis was in 1963 by Michael Sangster. It was clocked at 154 mile per hour.
- Horse racing is one of the oldest sports around. It was originated by nomads around the year 4500 B.C. It is possible that the sport began before this time but 4500 B.C. is when they first started keeping written records.
- If a horse wins a race "hands down" it means the jockey never raised his whip during the race.
- Even though it was outlawed in 1920, the last legal spitball was thrown by New York Yankee Hall of Famer, Burleigh Grimes in 1934. At the time of the outlaw, anyone already using a spitball was allowed to continue. Burleigh Grimes continued for another fourteen years.
- Official baseball rules state that an umpire may not be replaced during a game except if he becomes ill, injured, or if he dies.
- Before the turn of the century, prize fighters fought bare fisted. Matches sometimes lasted more than one hundred rounds and were counted by knock outs.
- In bowling, three strikes in a row was called a turkey. The term originated in the 1800s when at holiday time, the first member of a team to score three strikes in a row won a free turkey.
Bonus fact:
In Scotland, golf was strictly a Gentlemen-Only- Ladies-Forbidden sport. Hence the name Golf.
