EXCLUSIVE
Forget steroids, pro baseball teams should be looking for SMALLER players if they wanna be successful ... this according to the stars of "The Little Couple" who tell TMZ Sports there's proof shorter is better.
Bill Klein and Jen Arnold were out in NYC Thursday when we asked about little people in pro sports -- and that's when the couple told us about Eddie Gaedel, a bonafide little person who played in the MLB in 1951.
"He was retained because of his small strike zone," Bill said.
It's true ... Eddie only played one game -- and WALKED -- making his career on-base percentage a solid 1.000.
Bill and Jen say the "short" formula could be a recipe for success in the future -- "It's forward thinking. Hopefully there are more managers that think that way!"
Fun Fact -- Eddie's grandnephew is 6'4" and plays minor league baseball for a San Diego Padres farm team.
