Grit

Yesterday, I was watching the Giants vs. Detroit game, and I witnessed Detroit starter Doug Fister take a comeback hit off his head in the second inning, and still finish his start, throwing 6 innings of 1 run ball.  He even came up to bat in the second inning after the shot off his head, and put up a decent at bat, seeing 5-pitches, or approximately twice as many as Granderson ever does.  Seeing Fister's level of grit made me ask the question, when was the last time the Yankees were so gritty?  And of course the answer takes us back to the 1920's when our lineup, dubbed murderers row, actually had 4 players who were on death row for murder.  Our rotation, led by the Irishman Gritty McFiercen, and tall tale hero Lumberjack Strongarm, used to strike out 22 players a game, and then strike down 22 players in drunken brawls after the game.  That was around the time that our clean up hitter, the dutchman Doesntchoke Likearod, often known better by his nickname the Flying Drunkman, used to record 3 homeruns a night, all in the 7th-9th innings and only in close games.  That was back when chewing tobacco was for the weak, and chewing lead was the preferred option.  Pitchers threw 180 pitches a night, and pitched every day.  When the fans booed, the players charged into the seats and shut them up with their fists.  In fact, the 40 man roster was originally conceived to have 25 players, and 15 bareknuckle boxers to attack booing fans.  These were simpler times, when stealing a base resulted in bench clearing brawls, and stealing signs meant that the visiting team stole the advertisements posted on your outfield wall.  Players worked 18 hours in the factory, and 3 hours playing baseball every day.  Man, those were the days.