Uranian Pitcher Survived Lightning Strike

The game of baseball has many strange but true stories. It has so many that the children’s book Strange But True Baseball Stories would be followed by More Strange but True Baseball Stories. But the strange but true story of Ray Caldwell was not included in either book, nor was the astrology that made it strange.

Late in the 1919 baseball season, pitcher Ray Caldwell was acquired by the Cleveland Indians. He arrived with a reputation as a talented pitcher who had ruined his career by drinking to extremes. Early in his career, he was thought to have the potential of Christy Mathewson or Walter Johnson. But by 1919, both the Yankees and the Red Sox had given up on Caldwell. Yet Cleveland manager Tris Speaker would give him a chance to redeem his career.

On August 24, Caldwell made his first appearance in an Indians uniform. His debut game began auspiciously. After eight innings, he held the Philadelphia Athletics to one run and four hits. Caldwell was pitching well and he had even batted a single.

In the ninth inning, the weather suddenly changed. At Dunn Field, clouds moved in from Lake Erie bringing rain. The Indians were ahead 2-1, and Caldwell was just one out from a complete game victory. Lightning struck. The big right hander was felled by a bolt. The team gathered around him. Players who touched him said they felt electricity from his body. Minutes passed before he regained consciousness. Caldwell then insisted he be given the baseball. The big right hander went back to work. One pitch later, the last batter grounded out to third base. The game was over. Caldwell finished the job he started, a hard-earned win and complete game.

Ray Caldwell Struck by Lightning Aug 24, 1919 4:00 pm Cleveland, Ohio EST

A student of the astrology of lightning strikes should study the transits of Aug 24, 1919. Uranus rules all things electrical, including lighting. On that day, Uranus was in the 29^th degree of Aquarius and directly opposed by the Sun and Saturn which were conjunct at 0 and 1 degrees of Virgo. Uranus energy is very fast energy and needs a conduit to be grasped. In the Zodiac, Saturn served as the conduit. On Earth, the body of Ray Caldwell would serve as the conduit.

Ray Caldwell April 26, 1888 Corydon, Penn. noon chart

It is uncanny that any human being could attract the energy of a lightning bolt let alone survive its strike. But Ray Caldwell’s birthchart has a strong Uranian component that gave him an ability to hold a lightning bolt. His birthchart has Mars conjunct Uranus. It also has the Uranian sign of Aquarius on the South Node. Together these aspects gave him an affinity for high voltage. Indeed, Ray Caldwell could almost have been the key attached to Ben Franklin’s kite.

Interestingly, Ray Caldwell was never described as a pitcher with “electric stuff.” Like any successful pitcher, he did have a good fastball. But his most effective pitch was the spitball. Usually spitball pitchers have aspects between their Mercury and Neptune, or Mercury in a water sign. Instead, his Mercury is in the sign of Aries and conjunct to Venus.

What transits was Caldwell experiencing when hit by lightning? I lack a time of birth for him therefore I cannot know the aspects to his axis points. Still there are interesting transits to observe to his noon chart. The Uranus Sun opposition of the day formed a square to his natal opposition between Jupiter at 4 degrees Sagittarius and Pluto at 4 degrees Gemini. Another powerful aspect for the day was a stelium of Mars, Jupiter and Neptune in early Leo. These three planets were conjunct to his natal conjunction of Saturn at 0 degrees Leo and the North Node of 5 degrees Leo. The lightning bolt reportedly struck Caldwell in the chest, an area of the body ruled by the sign of Leo.

The Leo element of the Ray Caldwell’s tale is not to be overlooked. Uranus brought the strange and the true, but Leo delivered the drama and the story.