Plimpton at Bat 1
1
32 APRIL 2016 UPFRONT 20 The most pitches ever thrown to one batter in a single at-bat in MLB, by Bartolo Colon to Ricky Gutiérrez in 1998. .394 Tony Gwynn’s batting average in 1994, the best average by a 34-year-old in the modern era. “Roy caught the pitcher’s eye. His own had blood in them. Youngberry shuddered. He threw— a bad ball—but the batter leapt at it.” The Natural (1952) In Bernard Malamud’s first novel, 34-year-old Roy Hobbs gets a second chance at the big leagues as a right- fielder for the New York Knights. His secret weapon? A bat (carried in a bassoon case) he calls “Wonderboy.” Out of My League (1961) In this groundbreaking work of par- ticipatory journalism, the writer, a rangy pitcher whose career peaked at Phillips Exeter, faces off against Frank Robinson, Willie Mays, and Ernie Banks. Ernest Hemingway called it “the dark side of the moon of Walter Mitty.” 23 Pitches Plimpton threw to Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks. .350 Roy Hobbs’s batting average in his comeback season, at age 34 (as estimated by Bill Simmons in a 2001 ESPN.com article). inthefall of 1958, before a post-season exhibition game at Yankee Stadium between the American and National League All-Stars, a lanky, sandy-haired young man took to the mound. “J. Alfred Prufrock,” boomed the announcer. It was not, however, the speaker of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, but George Plimpton, the 31-year-old editor of The Paris Review, who had orchestrated an ambitious prelude to the game itself: One by one, he would face off against each of the assembled all-stars. Remarkably, in 70- odd pitches, he conceded only one home run, forcing fly outs from Willie Mays and Ernie Banks before he was relieved, exhausted but much to his chagrin, by Yankees player-coach Ralph Houk. Out of My League, his good-natured account of the endeavor, is back in print this month, reclaiming its place in the dugout of great American baseball books. Here, our starting lineup of the game’s best literary chroniclers. thesportinglife PLIMPTON AT BAT Roth on deck, DeLillo in the hole storyjohnbolen illustrationsjohnstitch VJLOVERO/SPORTSILLUSTRATED/GETTYIMAGESGWYNNFOCUSONSPORT/GETTYIMAGESBANKS “The pitcher is happiest with his arm idle. He prefers to dawdle in the present, knowing that as soon as he gets on the mound and starts his windup he delivers himself to the uncertainty of the future.” R1_RHAP0416_032_UF_BTN_Plimpton_v4.indd 32 R1_RHAP0416_032_UF_BTN_Plimpton_v4.indd 32 14/03/2016 13:56 14/03/2016 13:56
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Transcript of Plimpton at Bat 1
32 APRIL 2016
UPFRONT
20The most pitches ever thrown to one batter in a single at-bat in MLB, by Bartolo Colon to Ricky Gutiérrez in 1998.
.394Tony Gwynn’s batting average in 1994, the best average by a 34-year-old in the modern era.
“Roy caught the pitcher’s eye. His own had blood in them. Youngberry
shuddered. He threw—a bad ball—but
the batter leapt at it.”
The Natural (1952)
In Bernard Malamud’s first novel, 34-year-old Roy Hobbs gets a second chance at the big leagues as a right-fielder for the New York Knights. His secret weapon? A bat (carried in a bassoon case) he calls “Wonderboy.”
Out of My League (1961)
In this groundbreaking work of par-ticipatory journalism, the writer, a rangy pitcher whose career peaked at Phillips Exeter, faces off against Frank Robinson, Willie Mays, and Ernie Banks. Ernest Hemingway called it “the dark side of the moon of Walter Mitty.”
23Pitches Plimptonthrew to Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks.
.350Roy Hobbs’s batting average in his comeback season, at age 34 (as estimated by Bill Simmons in a 2001 ESPN.com article).
in�the�fall�of 1958, before a post-season exhibition game at Yankee Stadium between the American and National League All-Stars, a lanky, sandy-haired young man took to the mound. “J. Alfred Prufrock,” boomed the announcer. It was not, however, the speaker of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, but George Plimpton, the 31-year-old editor of The Paris Review, who had orchestrated an ambitious prelude to the game itself: One by one, he would face off against each of the assembled all-stars. Remarkably, in 70-odd pitches, he conceded only one home run, forcing fly outs from Willie Mays and Ernie Banks before he was relieved, exhausted but much to his chagrin, by Yankees player-coach Ralph Houk. Out of My League, his good-natured account of the endeavor, is back in print this month, reclaiming its place in the dugout of great American baseball books. Here, our starting lineup of the game’s best literary chroniclers.
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PLIMPTON AT BAT
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“The pitcher is happiest with his arm idle. He prefers to
dawdle in the present, knowing that as soon as he gets on the mound and starts his windup
he delivers himself to the uncertainty of the future.”
R1_RHAP0416_032_UF_BTN_Plimpton_v4.indd 32R1_RHAP0416_032_UF_BTN_Plimpton_v4.indd 32 14/03/2016 13:5614/03/2016 13:56
