I never used to hit into double plays. Mark's always on first, and he's not fast enough to break up the double play. It really can get you down. It gets me down, that's for sure. So said Brian Jordan after a mid-summer 1998 Cardinals loss.
Ballplayers say the darnedest things after a loss.
But Brian Jordan, in 1999, is having a career year as an Atlanta Brave. That would be Ray Lankford. Of course, Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs while batting third in Tony La Russa's 1998 Cardinal line-up. Baseball's best statistics are most useful when they seem to enhance the game itself. And baseball's best statistics are magical when they reveal the game's details.