Orioles first baseman Jimmy Hart* earned himself a lifelong ban from baseball when, on August 5, 1901, he punched umpire John Haskell after Haskell called him out at third base. Hart played a mere 58 major league games in his career, accumulating 64 hits in 206 at-bats (a .311 batting average), with 23 RBIs.
* I’ve also seen his name listed as Burt Hart, but I haven’t been able to figure out where the discrepancy comes from. If anyone has some insight, please enlighten me!
EDIT: Thanks to The Baseball Bloggess, I have an answer to the mystery! Hart was born James Burton Hart, and apparently had originally gone by “Burt,” until the media kept referring to him as “Jimmy.” Gotta love the press! It almost makes it sound like the guy had multiple personalities, which brings up the question: which one punched John Haskell? Jimmy or Burt?
