Exacting Baseball Schedule

Royt Blount, quoted by Karin Winegar in Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune When Ralph Houk was manager of the New York Yankees, baseball schedules were even more exacting than they are now, with double-headers almost every week. Occasionally a player would get sick of the grind and approach Houk, asking for permission to sit out a game.

"I know how you feel," the manager would say genially. "Sure, take the day off, But do me a favor. You're in the starting lineup. Just play one inning. Then skip the rest of the game."

The player would honor Houk's request&md;and almost invariably get caught up in the spirit of the game and play it out to the end.