“Nolan Ryan,” by Gene Fehler

Hitting a Major League fastball is a difficult feat against any pitcher, but against Nolan Ryan, the task was even harder.  Gene Fehler captures the difficulty of doing so when he compares it to hitting a pea with a toothpick in this poem published in 1991.

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He threw a white pea
fast faster faster fastest
of them all,
Try hitting a pea
with a toothpick
and you’ll see what it’s like
to bat against the
fast faster faster fastest
of them all.