A little unorthodox, yes, but today this week we’re starting Hamster History Month a few days early with a brand new segment I like to call: Famous Hamsters in History (brought to you by State Farm Insurance)!

Bud: Shortstop

It was hard for a hamster in early 1900s, and few people knew that better than Bud the Hamster. As a young boy, there was nothing he wanted more than to be up at bat with his heroes: pitcher Cy Cunningham of the New York Yankees, outfielder Alan “The Mash” Reynolds of the Athletics, and catcher Franklin Pierce Alexander of the Phillies. But Bud heard the same refrain over and over again: “you will instantly be trampled to death.”

Despite young Bud’s constant protests that there’s nothing in the rule book that says a hamster can’t play baseball, no one would listen to him. Undaunted, Bud, and a few of his hamster brethren set out on a mission to make things right within the American pastime. And so were born the Hamster Baseball Leagues.

The Hamster Leagues flourished for several years, growing in popularity and eventually expanding westward. Many applauded the hamsters for playing in these leagues, especially when one considered that these creatures were playing under much more intense conditions than their white, human counterparts. The large magnifying sheets placed above the stadiums made the playing arena incredibly warm as the sunlight was refracted around them. The length of the game, no different than a normal baseball game, was quite stressful for the small hamsters and hour long breaks between innings became routine. It was during a doubleheader that Bud the hamster eventually passed away, along with the rest of his team, and the opposing one.

No doubleheaders were ever scheduled during the run of the Hamster Leagues.

In 1940, the long dead Bud would have been pleased when the first hamster, Nico, was drafted to play for the minor league team the Syracuse Chiefs. Bud would have then been displeased as Nico was instantly trampled to death.