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 Post subject: By the numbers
PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2005 11:24 pm 
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Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 1324
Location: N 36° 57' 9", W 121° 24' 2"
One through nine are pitchers' loneliest numbers

To players, club executives and hard-core fans, the sight of a one-digit pitcher is jarring.

In 41 seasons, I haven't noticed that pitchers rarely wear single-digit numbers. I have, however, noticed modern players wearing their pants cuffs at their ankles, and that's more "jarring" to me than a uniform number — almost as jarring as the silliness of this story.


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 Post subject: Re: By the numbers
PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 1:47 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 1775
Location: Baltimore
Before a spring training game Ted Williams approached an umpire and asked him where he thought the player's knees were.

Williams stood perfectly straight. The ump tapped a spot 6 inches below a knee.

Teddy Ballgame retired before I ever swung a bat. Still, thinking of that story, I made sure to roll my uniform's legs up to near my knees. I was a high ball hitter and wanted to take almost any pitch lower than mid-thigh. I wanted a small strike zone.

Players with their pant legs nearly touching their shoes look as if they should be figure skating. But i'm an old fart who was nearly thrown off an all-star team for having long hair, so what do i know about fashion?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 10:42 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 741
Location: The Empire State
It is rather jarring at that to see a pitcher wearing a single-digit number. Good piece! Thanks for posting it.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2005 11:07 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 3135
Location: Albuquerque, N.M. USA
Is this the Post-Gazette playing fill-in-the-blank?

Atlee Hammaker wore No. 7 with the Giants in 1985 after giving his No.-- to a returning veteran, Vida Blue.

Reminds me of Rick Telander at the Chicago Sun-Times, who was said to have filed columns littered with xx's, where copy editors were expected to plug in facts and figures.


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