Did you ever notice the connection between 92
And baseball, like the story of the usher for the Cubs
Still working at age 92? Or the 92 year old Major League
Scout from New Jersey? Or the 92 year old Rangers
Fan who finally celebrated his team’s World Series win?
Or Willie Mays, who too soon turned 92 and starred for
My Mets (and played a few years for the Giants, I guess)?
Of course, it’s more fun when one enters the realm of the fantastic
And envisions the effect that being 92 might have had on
Other well-known baseball players (and for this I credit
Writer Chris Jaffe and a magic article he once produced).
Consider if you will the motivating factor, the too-soon
Passing of Bob Feller, 92, Hall of Famer and decorated hero
Of World War Two, who volunteered the day after the
Sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Here are Jaffe’s time-travel
Fantasies: If Ty Cobb had lived to 92, he would have seen
Lou Brock break his record for stolen bases in a career;
If Babe Ruth had lived to 92, he would have witnessed
Henry Aaron hit number 715; Lou Gehrig, had he been spared of
ALS and lived to 92, would have observed Cal Ripken
Play in his 2,131st consecutive game; And Old Hoss
Radbourne (Look him up), who completed all 73 starts
He had one season and won 59 of them . . . what would
He have thought in 1946, when he’d have been 92, watching
Pitchers struggle to win 20? My God, what would Old Hoss
Say today when a pitcher with two complete in a season
Is looked upon as a maker of miracles? Mirabile visu!
Yes, 92 and baseball – – – a match for the ages.