“It ain’t gambling if you know. It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

How many gorgeous sunrises in a row can we appreciate? We get bored, even with greatness.

Gwynn faced the great Greg Maddux 107 times in his career. He never struck out. Not once.

In 1909, Wagner was far and away the most famous and beloved baseball player in America. As such, when the American Tobacco Company decided to put together its baseball card set, he was the most important player for the company to secure. It’s unclear how the ATC negotiated with players for photo rights. In most cases, they probably didn’t. A few

A young pitcher, facing Hornsby, complained about a pitch being called a ball. “Son,” umpire Bill Klem said, “when you pitch a strike, Mr. Hornsby will let you know it.”

Only 36 percent of the home runs Roberts gave up were with runners on base. That’s a pretty good percentage; it’s tied for 14th among the 100 pitchers who gave up the most home runs in baseball history.III

Only three men as big as Frank Thomas—Derrek Lee and Mike Morse are the other two—have hit .300 in a full big-league season. Thomas did it nine times.

The only trouble is: Does anyone want balance in Ty Cobb’s story?

in 1920, a 25-year-old Hornsby—a lifetime .310/.370/.440 hitter to that point—hit .370/.431/.559, leading the league in all three splits, and he also led the league in hits, doubles, RBIs, and total bases. Over the next five seasons combined—this is so ridiculous—Hornsby would hit .402. Nobody, not even Ty Cobb, hit .400 over five full seasons.