May 16, 2004
THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE GAME:
Baseball Notes (Gordon Edes, May 16, 2004, Boston Globe)
Legend holds that Hall of Fame shortstop Luke Appling, known as Old Aches and Pains, once fouled off 17 consecutive pitches before lining a triple. Already the stuff of legends is the at-bat Alex Cora of the Dodgers had last Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Facing Matt Clement of the Cubs, Cora fouled off 14 straight pitches with a 2-and-2 count, then launched a home run, the Dodger bench exploding in celebration. Dodgers manager Jim Tracy called it the greatest at-bat he'd ever seen in the major leagues. Cora's brother, Joey, is the third base coach for the White Sox, and when his game was rained out, he said he turned on the Dodger game. "That was awesome," Joey Cora said. "I was so proud of him I almost cried. I was with [manager] Ozzie [Guillen], and we had a beer on the first pitch and by the end of the at-bat we were so drunk that we had to call a cab to take us home." Just a slight exaggeration there. And for aches and pains, Alex Cora didn't escape unscathed. The next day, Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano plunked him in the elbow. Apparently, the Cubs weren't impressed by the way Cora flipped his bat after taking Clement deep . . .
Posted by Orrin Judd at May 16, 2004 12:41 PM
As much as I hate to say it, the at-bat where Pete Rose fouled off probably 8 or 10 Nolan Ryan fastballs before making him throw a curve (and getting a game-tying hit) in the 1980 NLCS may be the best at-bat ever. Unless you count the time Robin Roberts hit a fan twice in the same count.
Posted by: jim hamlen at May 16, 2004 10:08 PMHorace Clark of the New York Yankees once fouled 10 pitches in a row off against Bert Blyleven before launching a home run. The twist here was it was at the old Yankee Stadium, and the home run traveled about 296 1/2 feet down the right field line before landing just over the 4-foot high fence at the foul pole. Talk about one mad Dutchman during the interview after the game...
Posted by: John at May 16, 2004 11:42 PMAin't nuthin. Ron Hunt used to actually throw himself at the pitch to get on base.
(Now there was one ballplayer with an acute sense of his hitting abilities.)
Posted by: Barry Meislin at May 17, 2004 1:31 AMA post about horse racing, and now baseball? What's next -- odes to shuffleboard?
Posted by: jim at May 17, 2004 1:36 AMYou'll know the Canadians are being appeased for some reason when there's a post on curling-- shuffleboard on ice.