Aug
3
“In 1951 Warren Spahn, on the way to becoming the winningest left-handed pitcher in the history of baseball, was pitching for the then-Boston Braves against the then-New York Giants in the then-Polo Grounds. The Giants sent up to the plate a rookie who was zero for twelve. It was clear this kid, name of Willie Mays, could never handle big league pitching. Spahn stood out on the mound 60 feet and six inches away, threw the ball to Willie Mays, who crushed it - first hit, first home run. After the game the sports writers came up to Spahn in the Club House and asked, “Spahnie, what happened?” Spahn said, “Gentlemen, for the first 60 feet that was a hell of a pitch!”
George Will, Not a State-Broken People
