1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,900 Well Ty, you faced Walter Johnson's past when he had more smoke than a burning oil well. 2 00:00:07,900 --> 00:00:10,120 Now you're facing the mic. 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,120 Which team's the easier? 4 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:16,320 Well I think I'll take a chance on Walter. 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,440 This mic kind of gives me stage fright. 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:24,640 Well Ty, you've asked me not to make this too personal, but you have played in more 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,520 ball games, you have made more hits, you have stolen more bases, and you have scored more 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,080 runs than any player that ever lived. 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,720 A record like this is a personal matter with a good many million people. 10 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:42,560 First of all, I would like to ask you the biggest thrill you ever got in any one game. 11 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:49,400 Well Gretlin, I've played in over 4,000 ball games in the last 25 years, and the biggest 12 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:55,320 thrill I ever got came in a game against the Athletics in 1907. 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:01:03,760 I was only 20 years old then, not quite 21, and it looked as if this game meant the pennant. 14 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,360 The Athletics had us beaten with Rue Baudel pitching. 15 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:13,000 They were two runs ahead in the ninth inning when I happened to hit a home run that tied 16 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:14,760 The score. 17 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:22,960 This game went 17 innings to a tie, and a few days later we clinched our first pennant. 18 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:28,200 You can understand what it meant for a 20-year-old country boy to hit a home run off the great 19 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:32,080 Rueb in a pennant-winning game with two out in the ninth. 20 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:38,040 Boy, I suppose you've missed the old game a lot, Ty, all the frills and crowds and the 21 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,120 headlines and all. 22 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,560 I thought I would miss it a lot, Graham, but I haven't. 23 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:51,760 It's a great old game, but I've almost felt like a prisoner who was set free. 24 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,440 What do you mean, Ty? 25 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,840 Baseball to me was more work than play. 26 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,120 In fact, it was all work. 27 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:06,320 You see, I was lucky enough to lead the league when I was 20 years old. 28 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,880 After that, I wanted to lead it every year. 29 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:16,520 I never thought I was in a genius, so I gave up my life to the game for 25 years. 30 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:24,640 I suppose I was in nearly 30,000 plays, and I at least tried to think about every play 31 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:26,440 and how it should be made. 32 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,640 Here is one example. 33 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:31,840 I figured out one play to use against Hal Chase. 34 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,240 He used to snap the ball over to third to catch me rounding the bag. 35 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,320 I'd always slide back. 36 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:45,800 I had to wait two years for the right time to work it, but one day I just kept on going 37 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,320 and managed to score the winning run. 38 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,600 Did you have any set system to work on, Ty? 39 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:52,600 Yes. 40 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,680 My system was all offense. 41 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,180 I believed in putting up a mental hazard for the other fellow. 42 00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:06,760 If we were five or six runs ahead, I'd try some wild play, such as going from first to 43 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:07,760 home on a single. 44 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:13,320 This helped to make the other side hurry to play in a close game later on. 45 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,800 I worked out all the angles I could think of to keep them guessing and hurrying. 46 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,920 Every play was a problem of some sort. 47 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,200 That's what I meant by the strain and grind of 25 years. 48 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,360 Who was the best pitcher you ever faced, Ty? 49 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:36,600 Walter Johnson had more stuff, although Ed Walsh in his prime was a wonder. 50 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:43,560 But the ones who gave me the most trouble were pitchers like Moegridge, Carl Wildman, 51 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:50,360 and Carter, all left-handers who depended more on slow curves and dinky dinks. 52 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,640 They bothered me more than speed or fast curves. 53 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,920 Well, who was the hardest hitter you ever saw? 54 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,080 Well, you can't beat the babe. 55 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:06,560 Ruth is one of the few who can take a terrific swing and still meet the ball solidly. 56 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,760 His timing is perfect. 57 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:14,560 Lazioey was the hardest line-hitter I ever saw, and I'd like to see Sam Crawford, Joe 58 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,320 Jackson, and Frank Schulte lay against this modern ball. 59 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,720 But none of them had the combined eye and power of Ruth. 60 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,600 There's one thing, Ty, I've always wanted about, and so have many others. 61 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:34,360 How did your legs ever stand the strain of more than 4,000 ball games and more than 4,000 62 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,960 hits when you were always at top speed? 63 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:44,360 Well, in the first place, I always tried to keep in condition. 64 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,920 And I can tell all the boys that means everything. 65 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,400 For instance, I only ate two meals a day. 66 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,440 I built up my legs in two ways. 67 00:04:55,440 --> 00:05:00,520 I hunted all through the winter, frequently walking all day long. 68 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,320 I almost lived on my legs. 69 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,120 In addition, I always hunted in heavy boots. 70 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:14,200 When the training season opened, I fixed a piece of lead to my shoes. 71 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:20,600 I took the lead off when the pennant race opened, and I felt as if I could run faster. 72 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:27,340 I lost some of the old spring in the last year or two, but my legs today are as strong 73 00:05:27,340 --> 00:05:30,560 as they were. 74 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,480 If you want good legs, you have to put them to work. 75 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,400 I never gave mine any holidays. 76 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,800 How did you steal so many bases, Ty? 77 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,160 There were others just about as fast. 78 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:49,120 As I said before, you had to do more thinking in the old days when home runs were fewer. 79 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,560 Games were close, and every play counted. 80 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,760 The two most important things in base stealing are getting the jump on the pitcher and making 81 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,320 your slide away from the baseman. 82 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:07,800 On stealing bases, I always watched the baseman's eyes to know where the ball was coming. 83 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,640 His eyes had to watch the ball. 84 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:16,400 I didn't have the time for this, but his eyes told me, and then I knew where to throw my 85 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,920 body away from the baseman. 86 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:25,400 I am pretty sure, Ty, everybody would like to have you pick the next two pennant winners. 87 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:31,560 For any good pennant-winning ball club, the second year is the easiest to repeat. 88 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:38,080 The athletics and the Cubs were both good teams, and I think they will be fighting it out again 89 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,080 in the next World Series. 90 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:56,440 That's my pick anyway.