Quote:
Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS
I still enjoy this Eck!
To join our interests for a moment:
John L Sullivan in 1914 on Baseball in this era.
"In many respects I do not think baseball of to-day is any better than it was thirty years ago. It has improved in finesse, of course, but I do not think it can boast of any more skillful individual stars. I still think Charley Radbbourne the greatest of pitchers, and I would like to see a better catcher than Buck Ewing, Charley Bennett, or the famous King Kelly."
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...649C946596D6CF |
Thanks, man! Even though I think to keep something like this going for any length of time, you have to mostly be writing for yourself, it's still nice to know that there are at least one or two people out there reading along.
As for the Sullivan quote, I always love that nostalgia for the great players of one's youth. I grew up watching Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, Steve Garvey, and the other stars of the late 1970s/early 1980s. These players are often favorably compared to today's stars, but I remember being a kid and being told all my heroes were nothing compared to Mickey, Duke, Willie Mays, etc. I'm sure back then people were talking about an earlier generation.
Probably back in the 1700s, the best local town ball players had to hear about how the previous generation of boys were so much better at the game. It's such an entertaining feature of human nature.