This is not a poem.
I love the game of baseball, and stories related to the game.
When baseball great Ty Cobb was seventy years old, a reporter asked him, 'What do you think you'd hit if you were playing today? '
Cobb, who was a lifetime .367 hitter, said 'About .290, maybe
.300.'
The reporter said, 'That's because of the travel, the night games, the artificial turf, and all the new pitches, like the slider, right? '
'No, ' said Cobb. 'It's because I'm seventy.'
On September 23,1962, Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers broke Ty Cobb's modern day record for most steals in a single season. Wills stole three bases against the St. Louis Cardinals, giving him a record-setting 97 for the season.
Yes, that day his total was 97, and then he stole 7 more that season for a total of 104. His record stood for 12 years until Lou Brock stole 118 bases in 1974.
You say Ty Cobb was not very nice on the baseball paths. That is correct. He used to slide into the bases with his spikes aimed not at the base but at the baseman.
I'm a baseball fan. Had never heard this story before. Enjoyed it very much.
So did I, when Hank shared it with me. Thanks, Ron, for your multiple comments.
Smoky, thanks for the comment. I was beginning to think that nobody had seen this, or appreciated the wit of old Ty Cobb, who reportedly was not a very nice person on the baseball paths.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Ty Cobb stole 96 bases in 1915, and that record stood until Maury Wills broke it in 1962. Wills went on to steal a total of 104 that year. I remember it well.
I remember it well, also. Maury Wills revolutionized base stealing back in those days.