But I don’t know how to classify this bit of uber-trivia from Numbers Don’t Lie: Mets: The Biggest Numbers in Mets History
The chapter for “10” features Tom Seaver’s 10 consecutive strikeouts against the visiting San Diego Padres on April 22, 1970 and comes with this fun fact: Seaver was the first major league pitcher to throw a two-hitter on Earth Day.
Whaaaaa?
April 22, 1970 was the first Earth Day. You could also say so-and-so (and no, I’m not going to do the research) was the first to hit a home run on Earth Day (or any other holiday, real or greeting card company-created) or steal a base or drive in three runs.
On a recent Pardon the Interruption, one of the questions was, and I’m paraphrasing: should we be impressed by an outfielder’s throw that was pegged at over 100 miles per hour. Tony Kornheiser answered as our representative: when did this become a thing? Sure we have exit velocity on home runs and other metrics that indicate how much time it takes an outfielder to get to a ball, not to mention his route efficiency. But at what point do these “firsts” and “onlys” reach a ridiculous mass? You don’t think Robert Clemente three hard? Or Carl Furillo, aka, the Reading Rifle? They just didn’t keep track of such things in “the old days.”
I’m sure the authors meant it in a lighthearted manner but it does beg the question: At what point do we finally say, “who cares?”
is available on Amazon.com,
Comments on this entry are closed.