Noble Thoughts

[G-Fafif]

Marty Noble brings it here...



https://tinyletter.com/NYBBWAA/letters/issue-6https://tinyletter.com/NYBBWAA/letters/issue-6



Love how much detail he retains from tracking a Spring Training story whose significance would have to be described as fleeting when it was reported.

[Guest 41Forever]

That's golden, and should be required for anyone covering baseball today.

I had come to know Zimmy the old-fashioned way -- by being around him, treating him with respect, laughing at his stories (they were legitimately hilarious because of how he delivered them) and listening to his responses to what I thought were good questions. He knew more that I did about the game. And even if he said something I disagreed with, he was the story. I wasn't. I listened.

And this conversation with Whitey Ford is classic:

I explained that parts of obituaries are written well before deaths occur so that stories can be posted quickly when deaths do come. "Newspapers have many obits done for famous people," I said. "The [New York] Times updates the President's almost every day." After a moment's thought, Whitey looked at me quizzically and asked, "So, did you write mine?" I said, "Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did." "How'd it turn out?" he asked. And I said, "OK. I've known you personally since -- what? -- '74, and I was a Yankees fan as a kid. I had a lot to say about you." "What'd you say?" was Whitey's next question. "Well, you know, we get along," I said. "I took care of you, don't worry. You won 236 games. I gave you 241. No one will notice." Then Whitey laughed, his eyes brightened and he asked, "Did they publish it yet?"

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Terrific. Gotta admire his competitiveness, and as I noted in the TCD thread, the idea that papers compete anymore is almost dead. Love knowing Newsday had a 4 am deadline and the contrast to today's shove-it-out-there deadlines. Love that he saw an oiled 1B glove on the stool, damn!



I was worried Marty was sick or something, hadn't seen him out there in some time.