the origin of the name "grapefruit league" has several versions. one popular myth was that casey stengel threw a grapefruit at brooklyn dodgers manager wilbert robinson. the accepted version is that aviator ruth law threw the grapefruit. in 1915, law had been throwing golf balls from her airplane to advertise a golf course. someone suggested throwing a baseball from her airplane. robinson, whose team was in the daytona beach area for spring training, agreed to try to catch the baseball. flying 525 feet above robinson, law realized she had forgotten her baseball and threw a grapefruit that she had. when robinson tried to catch it, the grapefruit exploded in his face, at first leading him to believe he had been seriously injured.