Voting Station

Goose Tatum

Please vote to return to collections.

Basketball Player

The Resume

    (May 31, 1921-January 18, 1967)
    Born in El Dorado, Arkansas
    Birth name was Reece Tatum
    Played baseball for the Louisville Black Colonels (1937-40), Birmingham Black Barons (1941-42) and Indianapolis Clowns (1943,1946-49)
    Played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters (1941-42,1945-54) and Harlem Magicians (1954)
    #50 retired by the Globetrotters
    Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (2011)

Why he might be annoying:

    He dropped out of school to play semi-pro baseball.
    He was nicknamed ‘Goose’ for his 7+-foot wingspan.
    He would disappear for days or weeks without explanation during Globetrotter tours.
    He often had a furious temper off the court, with fellow Globetrotter Marques Haynes saying, ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde had nothing on Goose.’
    He stabbed Kansas City Monarchs pitcher Hilton Smith with a screwdriver.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, primarily as an entertainer for the troops.
    He was a good enough baseball player to make the Negro League’s East-West All Star Game (1947).
    He is often credited with inventing the hook shot – which he could sink without looking at the basket.
    He was a crowd pleaser considered the original ‘clown prince’ of the Globetrotters.
    He studied mimes and circus clowns to develop new routines to incorporate into his playing.
    Baseball’s clown prince, Max Patkin, said, ‘Goose Tatum is the funniest man I’ve ever seen.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 11 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 59 Votes: 44.07% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying