This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosity's, A Production of IHeart Radio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these

amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the

Cabinet of Curiosity's. If you've ever watched a baseball game closely, you'll notice something particular about the way the players communicate.

There's not a lot of shouting on the field. Much of the way players talk is through hand signals and body language.

And this isn't surprising. After all, sports stadiums are noisy places, and in baseball,

every play needs to happen with clockwork efficiency. A pitcher and a catcher also need to strategize without the batter knowing what pitch will come next. Quick, clear communication

is the difference between a

win and a loss. In the year 1900, the New York Giants brought a pitcher up from the minor

leagues to finish out their season. His name was Luther Taylor, a 26-year-old from a small

town in Kansas. He wanted to be a boxer as a kid, but his parents didn't approve,

so he became a baseball player instead. As soon as he joined the Giants, people thought this

rookie wouldn't be up to the task of the major leagues. He was in over his head, didn't have

what it takes. In a game against Boston, five players on the other team attempted to steal third base,

assuming that Taylor wouldn't be alert enough to throw them out.

But he did, one after the other.

He did this all without saying a word, and because of that, he would earn the nickname Dummy Taylor.

Now, in spite of the rude nickname, he was a popular member of the team.

His teammates would remember him as a steady hand on the pitching mound.

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