At Hilltop Park in New York on June 30, 1908, Cy Young of the Red Sox no-hit the Highlanders (now the Yankees) in a 8-0 victory. At the age of 41, it was the third time that Young had accomplished the feat, and he was the oldest pitcher to have done so until Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter on June 11, 1990.
It [baseball] will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.
~Walt Whitman
Here’s a piece that was published alongside “Patient Hitter” in Resin from the Rain in April 2002. Here we see the other side of the battle in the pitcher-hitter showdown. The juxtaposition of these two poems reminds me of a Spanish poem my class read in high school, “El Matador,” by Rafael Alberti, which features a conversation between a matador and a bull. I love the mind games and the stare-down atmosphere involved.
*
They expect a fireballer—
Someone stronger, taller
Than me. I nick edges, tantalize,
Induce flail and lunge and cries.
Curve, splitter, sinker, change—six
Different speeds and infinite tricks—
Screwball. Imbalance
Power. Shake off signs, rinse
My craft with resin, climb
The slope and break their rhythm,
No matter if the crowd is with them.
We’ll take their tappers and pop-ups any time.
And, yes, we need our team camaraderie
Or risk assault-and-battery.
Here’s a poem by David Horowitz, which was published in Resin from the Rain in April 2002. I like how the speaker of the piece attempts to differentiate between himself and the pitcher — he speaks in a manner that indicates, or tries to create, a calmer state of mind than that of his opponent.
*
Yes, I can smack your knucklers and spitters,
Dodge your beanballs, and stroke
Your curves to right for hits. Good hitters
Learn patience, adjust. We watch you choke
And grimace, sweat. We simply hit
And win, as you knuckle, bean, and spit.
I watch a lot of baseball on radio.
~Gerald Ford
Nolan Ryan speaks about work ethic and dedication in his Hall of Fame induction speech. He also discusses life after baseball. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be, to dedicate your life to a single profession, and one day walk away from it.
In a blowout against the Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park on June 22, 1925, Max Carey of the Pittsburgh Pirates collected two hits in both the first and the eighth innings. Collecting two hits in one inning twice in one game is a feat that would not be accomplished again until 1975, when Rennie Stennett, also with the Pirates, would do so in the first and fifth innings. Carey’s performance helped the Pirates on their way to a 24-6 victory.
Here’s a tribute by The Baseball Project to the Minnesota. I confess, I’m just as guilty as anyone of calling the Minnesota team the “Twinkies,” especially when they are facing off against the Royals. This song provides some pretty good history of the team. And I like the style — this is my kind of music!
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.
~Hank Aaron
I’ve had a few posts lately talking about switch pitchers, which is, without a doubt, a difficult skill to develop. But what about pitching with one’s feet? That’s exactly what Tom Willis did on Monday, when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at AT&T Park.
Inspirational Tom Willis tosses ceremonial first-pitch strike – with his foot: http://t.co/6VSZtSy6tF pic.twitter.com/frVifnFNqn
— MLB (@MLB) June 16, 2015
Born without arms, Willis has learned to function by relying on his feet. And, as we can see, he’s learned to do quite a bit that way. Not only did his toss make it to the catcher on the fly, it also appears to be a strike.
As it turns out, this wasn’t Tom Willis’s first go at this kind of thing. On May 27, 2008, he had the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Padres game. Looks like he’s been putting in some work on his location since then.
