This man was a former pro baseball pitcher. In his career he appeared in a major league uniform for over fifty years and 4,000 games. Along the way he was "titled" and became a baseball tradition. The likes of which baseball probably will never see again. Do you remember him?

A guy named Big Daddy had it right. So did a bloke named Mugs. Many others just kept saying "Yea, yea, yea, he had something to do with baseball, I think".

They thought right. In his colorful life Max Patkin bumped elbows with many a famous ball player. There were two things all agreed on. He was funny, very funny. He also did things on a ball field that few, if any, could duplicate. Here is his story from somebody with a personal touch.

Max Patkins by Deb

I was introduced to Max Patkins back in the 1960's by my grandparents as his home was located directly behind my grand parents home in Willowgrove, Pa.

He was a very funny man and filled a great role in baseball history.

The fans all loved him.

Max Patkin - Known as the Clown Prince of baseball for his goofy antics in an oversized uniform at minor league games, Died at the age of 79.

The West Philadelphia native was hospitalized with a ruptured aorta for a week and died unexpectedly of an of an aneurysm at Paoli Memorial Hospital, His daughter Joy Tietsworth said. Patkin had been living with her for several years in Exton.

Patkin, who starred as himself in the minor league movie " Bull Durham, "was a minor league pitcher before World War II. He began clowning around in lopsided games while in the service, catching the attention of Bill Veeck, who hired him as a comic coach to boost the attendance of the Cleveland Indians.

When the Indians began to win and did not need Patkin to draw crowds,Veeck got him started with minor league ballclubs. Though Patkin always wanted to return to pitching, he was convinced by Joe DiMaggio among others to continue with his rubber-faced slapstick, which became a baseball tradition.

One of his famous routines was to mimic the first baseman as he went through infield warmups.

In 1993, Patkin fell on the dougout steps at Fenway Park and injured an ankle,snapping what he estimated to be a streak of more than 4,000 consecutive games over 50 years without missing an appearance.

In March, Patkin made headlines when he was robbed on camera while filming a television special in downtown Philadelphia. Patkin helped insure a lenient sentence by asking the judge to go easy on the man, who took $35 from his hand and ran off.

Many fans remembered Patking handing out baseball cards of himself. Doctors said Patkin was handing out his cards from his hospital bed the night before he died.

"He was a great father. I loved him dearly, and I'm really going to miss him," Tietsworth said.

Max Patkin
1892-1984