r/dirtysportshistory

Photo: Sports Illustrated

Like--how did this happen??

Have to go with Arizona beating the great Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th inning in Game 7 at the 2001 World Series.

The Yankees had won four straight, and Rivera had successfully converted 24/25 postseason save opportunities at that point, and was carrying a 0.70 era.

Still stunning.

Defensive lineman Eugene Lipscomb got the nickname "Big Daddy" from his habit of calling everybody else "Little Daddy." A forerunner of today's Relative Athletic Score phenoms, Lipscomb was a massive man who was somehow as fast as a running back. "I know how a mouse feels when a big cat is after him," running back Billy Wade said.

NFL legend Jim Brown called Lipscomb "the Empire State Building with a mustache."

> "He had the strength of an elephant and was so fast he frequently ran down backfield men from behind. He was the one player in the league who could practically control a play. What gave me pause was the known fact that Daddy could stop a ball carrier in his tracks with a giant bearhug, then straighten him up like a board, then bend him every way imaginable. There was nothing illegal or dirty 'bout this sort of thing. But just thinking about it, you could feel your spine tingle. You knew it wouldn't take much to give Daddy an excuse for twisting you into a piece of abstract sculpture." -- Jim Brown

Ebony magazine wrote in 1960 that Lipscomb was the biggest man in the NFL that season. Teams tried everything to stop him, even quadruple teams. But despite his success on the field, Lipscomb was a troubled man plagued by a traumatic childhood.

At the age of 11, his mother was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, and Eugene carried photos of the crime scene with him for the rest of his life. He moved in with his grandfather, a harsh man who charged the middle school student room and board to live with him. Lipscomb took odd jobs to come up with the money. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps after high school.

Not surprisingly given his rough upbringing, Lipscomb was a troubled young man. A friend described him as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" -- a gentle giant who loved kids and joked around with teammates, but also was prone to violent outbursts and binge drinking. He would go to bed with a gun under his pillow and would sometimes cry himself to sleep. In hotels, he would sometimes drag the bed and push it against the door to block it closed.

Jim Brown said Lipscomb would pick up a 230-pound player, smash him into the ground, and then gently help him up after. He was a violent, angry man with "the sensitive soul of an artist," Brown said.

He was signed by the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent without ever playing in college. The Rams waived him after three injury-plagued seasons and he signed with the Baltimore Colts, where he blossomed into a terrifying defender, helping the Colts to back-to-back championships in 1958 and 1959. When he got angry, no matter what the defensive assignments were supposed to be, Lipscomb would growl to his teammates: "Just leave 'em to Big Daddy."

During the off-seasons, Lipscomb toured as a professional wrestler across the United States and Canada!

Big Daddy was traded to the Steelers prior to the 1961 season, and in 1962 he was named to the Pro Bowl for the third time. He was voted lineman of the game after recording 11 tackles, a blocked punt, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Despite the late start to his career, he was blossoming into a star.

Four months later, on May 10, 1963, Big Daddy and his friend Tim Black partied with women until 3 a.m., then shot up with heroin. Black said when he couldn't wake Lipscomb up, he took him to a hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival. His autopsy showed five times the "safe" amount of heroin in his bloodstream.

Thousands went to a public viewing in Baltimore, and a thousand more went to the funeral in Detroit. In attendance were NFL players Erich Barnes, John Henry Johnson, Dick (Night Train) Lane, Lenny Moore, Luke Owens, Jim Parker, Sherman Plunkett, and Johnny Sample. Also at the funeral were three women, each claiming to be his fiancée.