Frank Stephen “Ping” Bodie

B: Oct 8, 1887, San Francisco, CA — D: Dec 17, 1961, San Francisco, CA

One of the most feared sluggers in the 1910s, Ping took the surname Bodie from the California town he once lived in. A colorful character, sportswriter Ring Lardner appears to have used him as a model for a character in his fictional baseball series, You Know Me, Al. In 1910, playing in the Pacific Coast League, Bodie hit 30 home runs, a feat in the “dead ball” era. He was the first in a long line of Italian-American big leaguers from San Francisco, including the DiMaggio brothers. Babe Ruth’s Yankee roommate, in 1919 Ping won fame by defeating an ostrich in a spaghetti-eating contest.