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Writer Didn’t Hear of ‘Never Say...

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On Sept. 20, 1923, Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers went 4 for 4 against the Boston Red Sox to break Honus Wagner’s major league record of 3,430 career hits.

“But the end is not yet,” said The Sporting News, speculating that Cobb would play a few more years. “In the end, Cobb’s record probably will be one never to be equaled--though never is a long time.”

Several years after Cobb retired in 1928, Grantland Rice wrote an article for Collier’s titled “Beyond Reach.”

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Among the unreachable records, he listed Babe Ruth’s 714 home runs, Walter Johnson’s 3,508 strikeouts and Cobb’s 4,191 hits.

Henry Aaron has taken care of the first. Nolan Ryan and others have wiped out the second.

Your turn, Pete.

Add Rose: What did Cub first baseman Leon Durham say to Rose after Rose tied the record in Chicago Monday?

Rose said Durham told him: “Don’t move. I want to get some TV exposure here.”

For What It’s Worth: Pete Rose uses a bat made by Japanese sports manufacturer Mizuno, but it’s made from Indiana ash. It weighs 34 ounces. Ty Cobb used a 40-ounce hickory Louisville Slugger.

Trivia Time: When Alabama clinched the 1978 national championship with a 14-7 victory over Penn State in the 1979 Sugar Bowl, who was the Penn State back that Tide linebacker Barry Krauss stopped on a fourth-down dive from the one-foot line? (Answer below.)

Oops Dept.: In Monday’s trivia item, Lou Johnson was credited with scoring the only run in Sandy Koufax’s perfect game against the Chicago Cubs in 1965 after hitting a double. Wrong. Johnson doubled in the seventh inning but didn’t score. He scored in the fifth inning after drawing a walk. After Ron Fairly sacrificed him to second, he stole third and came home when Cub catcher Chris Krug threw wildly into left field.

35 Years Ago Today: On Sept. 10, 1950, Joe DiMaggio became the first man to hit three home runs in spacious Griffith Stadium as the New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 8-1.

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DiMaggio, who also doubled, had four hits, four RBIs and four runs scored in four at-bats. The distance down the left field line in Griffith Stadium was 405 feet. That’s 10 feet farther than the distance to center field in Dodger Stadium.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Ivan Lendl, the first right-handed tennis player to win the U.S. Open since 1973, plays golf left-handed.

Sorry, all you contributors, but it’s time to pull the plug on palindromes. But, here, courtesy of Kim Krogfoss and Stan Wilson of Long Beach is the palindrome to end all palindromes: “Doc, note I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.”

Trivia Answer: Mike Guman.

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