Baseball By the Numbers

Some numbers tumble down the hallowed halls of baseball’s past - a sport of numbers after all, these memories hold fast. Stan Musial wore #6, Lou Gehrig, #4; the “luckiest man in all the earth”, great player AND much more. McCovey, Reggie – 44, Hank Aaron wore it too. Remember those World Series gems? Koufax wore 32. My favorite: “Say Hey” Willie Mays wore #24; he’s famous for “The Catch” and yes, that childlike smile he wore. Ted Williams: .406 - .394 for Tony Gwynn, if ’94 had known no strike, who knows what might have been? 5,714 K’s Ryan amassed, plus Nolan’s 7 no-hitters: neither will be surpassed. “Records are made to be broken”, but THIS one never shall: 2,632 consecutive games for Cal. 1947 – Jackie Robinson’s big year, He broke the color barrier and had a great career. Roger Maris – 61* in ’61, but wait… it seems some other cheaters passed him up in ’98. I don’t consider some worthy to mention by their name – Their steroids sadly stained the reputation of the game. Some other numbers come to mind: Babe Ruth’s 714 Hack Wilson’s RBI’s – 191, obscene! There’s Rickey Henderson’s 130 steals, divine! Dimaggio’s streak of 56; Hershiser’s 59. But if a sacred record falls, we oughtn’t be perplexed, The game’s baton is passed – one generation to the next. Now Aaron Judge wears 99 – I think he wears it well, Bryce Harper’s #3 will shine, as far as I can tell. Young Bellinger wears 35, Mike Trout sports 27, And Albert Pujols, #5 – their swings, pure baseball heaven. Today is baseball’s Opening Day, a LONG-awaited season. What new numbers might come in play - aligning rhyme with reason? The stands will all be empty though, as COVID keeps us home – The closest I could come to being there is write this poem. These numbers represent some well-loved gamers known for winning; Even the Good Book recognizes them: “In the Big Inning”! * - Maris passed Babe Ruth’s record of 60 HRs in a season, but it was a longer season, so the commissioner issued an edict that an asterisk be placed in the record books to annotate a ‘tainted’ new record. Billy Crystal made a brilliant movie about that, calling it 61*