George Plimpton, the 31-year-old editor of The Paris Review, pitched against some of baseball's all-time greats in an exhibition game in 1958. He managed to force fly outs from Willie Mays and Ernie Banks and only conceded one home run before being relieved after 70 pitches. Plimpton later wrote about the experience in his book "Out of My League," which has been back in print and reclaimed its place as one of the great books about baseball. The article also mentions Roy Hobbs, the main character from Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural," and his fictional comeback season stats at age 34.

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
TonyGwynn’s batting
average in 1994, the
best average by a
34-year-old in the
modern era.
“Roycaughtthe
pitcher’seye.Hisownhad
bloodinthem.Youngberry
shuddered.Hethrew—
abadball—but
thebatterleaptatit.”
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-
ticipatoryjournalism,thewriter,arangy
pitcher whose career peaked at Phillips
Exeter,facesoffagainstFrankRobinson,
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).
in the fall of1958,beforeapost-season
exhibition game at Yankee Stadium
between the American and National
League All-Stars, a lanky, sandy-haired
youngmantooktothemound.“J.Alfred
Prufrock,”boomedtheannouncer.Itwas
not, however, the speaker of T.S. Eliot’s
famouspoem,butGeorgePlimpton,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
assembledall-stars.Remarkably,in70-
oddpitches,heconcededonlyonehome
run, forcing fly outs from Willie Mays
andErnieBanksbeforehewasrelieved,
exhausted but much to his chagrin, by
Yankees player-coach Ralph Houk.Out
ofMyLeague,hisgood-naturedaccount
of the endeavor, is back in print this
month,reclaimingitsplaceinthedugout
ofgreatAmericanbaseballbooks.Here,
our starting lineup of the game’s best
literary chroniclers.
the sporting life
PLIMPTON
AT BAT
Roth on deck,
DeLillo in the hole
story john bolen
illustrations john stitch
VJLOVERO/SPORTSILLUSTRATED/GETTYIMAGESGWYNNFOCUSONSPORT/GETTYIMAGESBANKS
“Thepitcherishappiestwith
hisarmidle.Heprefersto
dawdleinthepresent,knowing
thatassoonashegetsonthe
moundandstartshiswindup
hedelivershimselftothe
uncertaintyofthefuture.”
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