"I can't believe I'm hearing this ... this heresy out of you Doc. Nolan Ryan woulda whupped Cy Young's butt if they'da ever gone head-to-head."

"I beg to differ, Chief," Kristin Westphalen shook her head, giving the man next to her a skeptical look. "It takes more than just a pitcher to play baseball, so Nolan Ryan could not 'whup' anyone."

In the next seat, Manilow Crocker groaned. "A technicality, Doc. I'd take a pitcher with almost six thousand career strikeouts and seven no-hitters any day."

"Over a pitcher so legendary that he has one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports named after him?"

Crocker rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying Young wasn't a good pitcher. He was. But he pitched in an era with relatively untiring sidearm deliveries, multiple days between games and a shorter distance to the plate."

"Even so, Cy Young had nearly two-thirds as many career wins as Nolan Ryan, including six seasons with twenty or more wins," Kristin objected. "And after all, in the end, isn't it the win that's most important."

"Yes, but Doc ..."

As the argument continued on, Nathan Bridger appeared, loaded down with food and drinks -- nachos, hot dogs, peanuts, and, most importantly, beer. When Crocker had approached Nathan several days earlier with tickets to a baseball game during their shoreleave in Florida, Nathan had jumped at the chance to spend time with Kristin and Lucas. But now he was beginning to regret saying yes.

Kristin and Crocker paused only long enough to claim their snacks from Nathan before returning to their Ryan/Young debate.

"Did I miss anything?" Nathan asked, turning to the fourth member of the group, sixteen year old Lucas Wolenczak.

"Patterson hit a double to clear the bases," he replied, liberating his tray of nachos from the now much less burdened Nathan. "And Frick and Frack over there haven't stopped arguing the whole time."

"Yes, but was any of those seven a perfect game?" Kristin's voice interrupted them.

"The whole time?" Nathan asked.

"The whole time," Lucas nodded.

"I hate to say this, but better you than me, kiddo."

"Nathan," Kristin's voice interrupted them again. "Nathan, settle an argument for us. Who was the better pitcher: Nolan Ryan or Cy Young?"

He sighed, eyes flipping back and forth between two anxious faces. "Well, I would consider the mark of a great pitcher his ability to dominate both the batters and the other pitchers he faces during his career. Now, Kristin, you agree that Nolan Ryan was a dominant pitcher from the late sixties through the early nineties ..."

Reluctantly, Kristin nodded.

"And Gator, you agree that Cy Young was one of the most dominant pitchers of the turn of the century ..."

Receiving another grudging nod, Nathan continued on. "There you go. They were both great pitchers. To say anything more than that would be like comparing apples and oranges."

Crocker and Kristin exchanged a reluctant glance. "Fair enough," she finally conceded. "But you cannot tell me Mark McGwire was a better hitter than Babe Ruth."

Lucas just groaned.
 
 

The End