The Forest Gump of baseball? How Clyde Sukeforth played a pivotal role in baseball’s biggest moments

Baseball is full of improbable stories, but there are few as unlikely and lovely as Sukeforth’s. Who could make this up? He was a small catcher (5-foot-10, 155 pounds) from Washington (pop. 800) in Lincoln County, Maine, who found his way to the majors by chance and ended up batting .354 for the Reds in 1929. He overcame a hunting accident that left him with diminished vision in his right eye, and he suffered a personal tragedy that he took with him to his grave.

In 1945, when he was a 43-year-old Dodgers coach and the team was hurting for players because of the war, he strapped on his gear once again ... and hit .294 in 18 games. It was later that very summer when Rickey sent Sukeforth on his top-secret mission.

What else? He could claim that no manager ever had a higher winning percentage in the history of baseball—he was 2-0. (“Quite a record,” he said.) He was the man who had to decide who was the better choice to face Bobby Thomson before the Shot Heard ‘Round the World.