Needless to say, I have more no-hitters than Nolan Ryan.

It's been a terrific life.

Sparky's the only guy I know who's written more books than he's read.

Everybody in the minor leagues - if you're a player, an announcer, whatever - wants to be in the big leagues.

So much happened (in 1968) it was hard to keep up with everything. We had Denny McLain's thirty-one victories, Gates Brown's great pinch-hitting in the clutch, Tom Matchick's home run to beat Baltimore in the ninth inning, then Daryl Patterson striking out the side to beat them in the ninth. Excitement every day in the ballpark.

Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World Series catch, and then dashing off to play stickball in the street with his teenage pals. That’s baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying, ‘I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.’

A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball.