In the age of Dizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, and the Gas House Gang, no one in baseball matched the wild unpredictability of Cletus Elwood “Boots” Poffenberger. Called up to the Detroit Tigers in 1937, Boots defeated Lefty Grove in his debut, compiled an impressive 10-5 record as a rookie, and seemed destined for stardom. But “The Baron,” as we was also known, was just too eccentric to last. After one antic too many, Boots was booted to Brooklyn and then cast out of the Big Time altogether.
Undaunted, Boots set out on a remarkable odyssey across baseball’s landscape—through the minor leagues, the semi-pros, and several Marine Corps teams during World War II. In his three-season career with the Tigers and Dodgers, Boots set the record for funny stories per innings pitched.
