Blue Moon Odom: MLB pitcher

Once upon a time, there was a baseball player named Blue Moon Odom. With a name like that, you might think he played in the 1880s. Nope. Blue Moon played from 1964 to 1976.

The dude was two-time All-Star! Why have we not heard of “Blue Moon Odom”? Partly, because all his baseball cards say “John Odom”. How bland. John.

Three baseball cards of John "Blue Moon" Odom: 1968 Topps, 1969 Topps, and 1970 Topps

Baseball Reference lists his name as Blue Moon Odom; and in smaller type, full name as Johnny Lee Odom. That would have been a snappy name—Johnny Lee Odom. He strikes the balance when signing his name: John “Blue Moon” Odom.

Blue Moon has some dark history nine years after he stopped playing. Wikipedia reports:

Odom was arrested twice in 1985. The first time was for selling cocaine to a co-worker. Then, during the trial, he was arrested a second time on December 11, for assault with a deadly weapon as he held his wife, Gayle, at gunpoint with a shotgun, holding police at bay for six hours. He ended up spending six weeks in alcohol rehabilitation and another 55 days in jail for the drug conviction.

Yipes.

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