Andrew Paul "Pepper" Oyler (May 5, 1880 – October 24, 1970) was an American professional baseball player who played one season in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles in 1902.
Biography
Oyler was born in Newville, Pennsylvania, and attended Washington & Jefferson College. He stood 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall and weighed 138 pounds (62 kg). He batted and threw right-handed.
MLB Career
Oyler made his major league debut on May 8, 1902, at age 22, and played his final game on July 21, 1902. In 27 games, he appeared primarily as a third baseman, but also played second base, shortstop, center field, and right field. Over his brief career, he accumulated 77 at-bats, recording 17 hits, 1 home run, 6 runs batted in, and 3 stolen bases, with a batting average of .221, an on-base percentage of .318, and a slugging percentage of .273.
Minor League Career
After his major league stint, Oyler played for the Minneapolis Millers of the minor leagues from 1903 to 1909. He was known for his exceptional fielding ability and his unusual batting stance, in which he would crouch "pretzel-like" in the batter's box to reduce his strike zone.
The "24-Inch Home Run" Legend
Oyler is most famously associated with a legendary baseball story known as "the 24-inch home run." According to an account published in 1953 by sportswriter Jocko Maxwell in Baseball Digest, Oyler, playing for the Minneapolis Millers, was at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning on a rainy day. He ducked to avoid a high pitch, which struck his bat still resting on his shoulder. The ball became embedded in approximately 24 inches of mud in front of home plate. Oyler then circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run while opposing players searched for the ball.
Baseball historian Stew Thornley has expressed skepticism about the story, noting that no contemporary news reports described the incident. Nevertheless, the tale has persisted in baseball lore. It was the subject of a 1990 book by Michael G. Bryson titled The Twenty-Four-Inch Home Run and inspired the 2005 children's book Mudball by Matt Tavares, which won the Parents' Choice Awards Gold Award.
In 2020, Oyler's grandson appeared on the television program Antiques Roadshow with a baseball purportedly from that game, which was appraised at $3,000 to $5,000.
Later Life
Oyler served as the baseball coach for Dickinson College from 1914 to 1917. He died on October 24, 1970, in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, at the age of 90, and is buried at Rolling Green Memorial Park in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
