The MLB Pitcher Who Survived a Lightning Strike and Finished the Game

On this episode of Our American Stories, Ray Caldwell put on a Cleveland Indians uniform for the first time that fateful day—and none of the 20,000 fans at League Park had any idea they were about to witness something beyond belief. We'd like to thank Nick Ragone, host of the popular YouTube channel This Date in History with Nick Ragone, for sharing this incredible story with us.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And to search for the Our American Stories podcasts, go
to the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Our next story comes to us from Nick Ragone, host
of the popular YouTube channel This Date in History with

(00:30):
Nick Bragone. Ray Caldwell put on a Cleveland Indian uniform
for the first time, and none of the twenty thousand
fans at League Park had any idea that they were
about to see something that defies belief. Let's take a listen.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
If you're a baseball fan, you're probably familiar with the
term electric stuff to describe a picture was on top
of his game. Growing up in the eighties, it seemed
like Dwight Good and Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and other
flamethrowers have their electric stuff every night. But what if
I told you that the term actually originated in the
early part of the twentieth century, that it wasn't really
used to describe a picture's throwing prowess, but rather traces

(01:10):
its origins to one of the strangest events in Major
League Baseball history. Heck one of the strangest events in
sports history. It was August twenty fourth, nineteen nineteen, by
all accounts, an uncomfortably muggy day at League Park in Cleveland,
the First Place Indians were hosting the Philadelphia Athletics in
front of twenty thousand fans. They were excited to see
their new picture, the journeyman Ray Caldwell, who was recently

(01:33):
let go by the Boston Red Sox. Once upon a time,
Caldwell had been regarded as in generational talent, one of
those guys with transcended stuff that screamed can't miss potential,
But years of hard drinking and erratic behavior had left
him a shell of his former self. By nineteen twenty one,
Caldwell was desperate for a last chance to show that

(01:54):
he could still play the game. He no longer had
his dominant fastball and nasty curve, but he did sport
one of the game's best spit balls, which in nineteen
nineteen was still egal. On this particular afternoon, he had
total command of a spidder. The Athletic players were flummixed
by the way it bobbed and weaved through the air,
impervious to contact A combination of the bright sunshine and

(02:17):
saliva ridden ball had resulted in just four base runners
for the A's to the first eight innings. Given the
Indians a slim one run lead heading into the top
of the ninth inning, fans would later say that they
noticed dark clouds that seemingly materialize at a lake erie
and descend upon the stadium with alarming speed, practically enveloping it.
With droplets of rain beginning to sprinkle from the heavens,

(02:40):
called a worked extra fast, hoping to avoid a rain delay.
He quickly got ahead of the first batter and induced
a meek pop up to the shortstop for out number one.
A nasty spidder resulted in a second infield pop up,
and Caldwell and the Indians were now won out from
putting the A's away. By this time, the wind was howling.

(03:00):
It's as if the stadium was mired in a total eclipse.
Had become so dark some fans had already scattered from
League Park accommodation of the rain and sense of forebode
in chasing them away. So picture this. Caldwell is towing
the rubber and leaning in to get the sign when
a flash from the sky explodes into the middle of

(03:21):
the field. Indian shortstop Ray Chapman would later say he
felt a surge of electricity go down his leg, and
the violence of the lightning strike causes the players to
dive for the ground. I took my metal mask and
threw it as far as I could, said Cleveland's catcher
Steve O'Neill after the game. I didn't want to attract
any bolts towards me. Seconds after the lightning hit the ground,

(03:44):
the players were still staring at each other and disbelieve.
On the mound lay Ray Caldwell, arms spread wide, completely unconscious.
The lightning bolt had struck him directly. Players rushed to
aid Cauldwell, but the first man who touched them leapt
into the air, saying he had been zapped by Caldwell's
prone body. The players and ump stared over Caldwell, his

(04:07):
chest smoldering from where the bult burned it. Shortstop Ray
Chapman blurted out to nobody in particular, is he dead?
The players were terrified to touch him, to even take
his pulse. Nobody knew what to do, believe it or not.
They were ready to pronounce Caldwell dead when the thirty
one year old pitcher started groaning and crawled back to
his knees and then his feet. His teammates were thrilled

(04:31):
to see him alive, but they kept their distance from
the guy whose chest was on fire just minutes before,
one of the umpires offered to assist him off the
field and take him to a hospital, but Caldwell would
have none of it. I have one more out to get,
he testedly barked at the ump He argued the point
with the Indians player manager, the legendary Tris Speaker, and

(04:52):
his intransigence won the day, as Speaker reluctantly let him
stay on the field to try and record the final out.
Give me the day ball and point me towards the plate,
he commanded shortstop Ray Chapman, who was still in semi
disbelief that Caldwell was alive. In pitching, the umpires lingered
around the mound as the players slowly took their positions.

(05:13):
A shortstoped Joe Dugan dug into the batter's box, waiting
for the umps to signal play ball. The umps just
look at each other for an extra beat and shrug
their shoulders play ball. One of them, says. By this
time most of the fans that scattered in the cast
of the lightning strike, but for the few hardy souls
who stuck around, they're about to witness the conclusion of

(05:34):
the strangest game in Major League history. With the first pitch,
Cordwell grows a fastball to Dugan, who hits a screaming
line drive to third baseman Willie Gardner, who knocks it
down with his chest and rushes the throat at first
just in time to edge up Dugan, and with that
Ray Caldwell, in his first start as a Cleveland Indian,
pitches a complete game victory, which includes being struck by lightning.

(06:01):
With the media after the game, ray Caldwell was as
curt as he was brief. I just wanted to complete
the game, he hurridly told reporters as he rushed from
the clubhouse, purportedly to hit his favorite watering hole. As
if this story isn't fascinating enough, there's an interesting footnote,
actually two footnotes. Seventeen days after being struck by lightning,

(06:23):
Ray Caldwell would pitch a no hitter against one of
his former teams, the New York Yankees. Someone on his
team jokingly told the media after game that he had
electric stuff that day, and the term stuck. His stuff
would remain electric for the rest of the year, as
he went five to one with the Indians and nearly
led them past the White Sox, who would famously go

(06:44):
on to throw the World Series. The following year, he
matched a twenty win season. Sadly, that would be the
same year that the Indian shorts up Ray Chapman tragically
died after being beamed in ahead by the Yankees kral Maze.
His death prompted several changes, including banning the spitball and
requiring dirty balls to come out of play. So the

(07:06):
next time you hear some pitcher has electric stuff, just
remember he's no Ray Caldwell.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to
Nick Ragone and he hosts the popular YouTube channel This
Date and History with Nick Ragon the story of Ray Caldwell.
Here on Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, host

(07:34):
of Our American Stories, the show where America is the
star and the American People. But we truly can't do
this show without you. Our shows will always be free
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(07:56):
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