As the American sport with the longest professional history, much has been written about Major League Baseball oddities such as players with the funniest names like Urban Shocker, Coco Crisp, Boof Bonser, Johnnie Oscar "Ugly" Dickshot, Stubby Clapp, Dick Wantz, Randy Johnson, Randy Bush, Dick Pole and on and on. (Complaints can be sent to their parents. I am just the writer.)
Another Major League Baseball oddity is the ugliest uniforms of all time, hilariously described here with great photos.
Number 5 on that list debuted 40 years ago today, on August 8, 1976, when the Chicago White Sox coupled their already hideous un-tucked, collared jerseys with - wait for it - shorts. The story is told perfectly by Rolling Stone Magazine.
The ChiSox wore the shorts in just three games, mercifully retired a few weeks later by team owner Bill Veeck, the P.T. Barnum of his day and industry, but who should also be remembered for when, as the owner of the Cleveland Indians in July 1947, he signed Larry Doby to become the first African-American player in the American League, a few months after Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers in the National League.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a journalist and corporate communications managing editor who blogs on humane issues.)