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Hank I replied, Im going to do something
never done before in baseball. Im going to take
my time and did a hole in the rubber, then Im going
to turn my back on you and throw the hardest ball
ever thrown in the history of professional baseball -
I dont know where it will go, upper grand stand or
right or left field pavillion - Hank looked at me and
said - "Well if its any where around homeplate
I'll endeavor to catch it - Hornsby was waiting at the
plate as cool as Christmas on Lake Michigan - He had the
biggest pupil in his eye I ever saw, he could see at night -
Now the crowd had been waiting for the kill, the
coup de grace. The Matadors thrust and I had never dissapointed
them - Well I finally wound up and threw the hardest pitch
of my life. The ball was a perfect strike , no one in
the park moved. Hornsby hit [?] over the center
field fence, over the Y.M.C.A. building the longest
home run ever hit in the St Louis Ball Park.