How a Potato Ended a Minor League Baseball Player’s Career
A well-intended prank involving a potato will go down as one of baseball’s strangest stories
Dave Bresnahan had a closer connection to professional baseball than most. His great uncle, Roger Bresnahan, was a Hall-of-Fame catcher during a 17-year big-league career. Dave was good enough to play in the minor leagues, but it was what he did with a potato, rather than a ball, that he will be remembered for during his time in the game, and what contributed to the end of his playing career.
Unlike Roger Bresnahan, who hit .279 and was a key cog of some of the earliest New York Giants teams led by legendary manager John McGraw, his descendant Dave had a more modest baseball resume. Selected in the 18th round of the 1984 draft by the Seattle Mariners, he never truly took off, joining the Cleveland Indians system in 1986 and falling into the role of a backup catcher — not the position a young player wants if they are trying to make it to the majors.
In 1987, Bresnahan was with the Williamsport Bills, the Indians’ Double-A affiliate, when he made a decision that would change his baseball legacy forever and also bring an end to his playing career. He decided to play a prank.
