AUGUST 31st - There are Qualifiers for Everything



On this day in 1896, Billy Hamilton of the Philadelphia Phillies stole seven bases in one game. That’s a lot, even if stolen bases were tabulated differently in the 1890’s. I’m not really sure what was different. But then again baseball has so many intricate rules and classifications, I have no doubt there were differences. Even so. 7 bases in one game is pretty strong. Did the opposing pitcher just give up when Hamilton got on base? “Speedy Billy’s on again. Don’t even bother trying to pick him off.” It wasn’t like Billy was some scrub who just drank some rocket fuel before the game either. He was a pretty big deal back in his day. Back when taking drugs meant getting bombed on whiskey and no one had heard of steroids. Of course not all the best athletes were playing in the Majors. African-Americans were still segregated to the Negro Leagues. So there were definitely some qualifiers to Billy’s romp around the bases. But there are qualifiers to everything. For instance, nobody disputes the fact that T-Rex had really small arms. But you need to qualify that by noting its arms were only small compared to the rest of his body. If you put a T-Rex’s arms on a beaver: A. it would look really freaking weird and 2. Beaver-Rex would have some pretty damn big arms. It would probably topple over from the weight and not be able to perform its beaverly duties. Which is probably why a beaver doesn’t have T-Rex arms. Point is, there are qualifiers for everything. Doesn’t mean Billy Hamilton wasn’t Hall of Famer who could haul ass around the bases though.

This Day has been Marked.

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