6 Rules of Life

One of the books I’m currently reading is Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates by John Moody.  The Pirates were a perennial cellar-dwelling team.  They finished last in 1954, last in 1955, second to last in 1956, and last again in 1957.  In 1960 they would make it to the World Series only to face the heavily favored New York Yankees team (which featured 4 future Hall of Famers). Between 1949 and 1964 the New York Yankees would appear in all but two World Series and would go on to win 9 of the 14 they played in during that time span. But in the 1960’s World Series, the Pirates would win off Bill Mazeroski’s (now famous) walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in game seven.  You can hear the play-by-play for that hit here and see video of the hit here. Mazeroski’s hit was deemed to be the most memorable home run of all-time (and was the only one to have ever ended a World Series game 7).

This Pirates team – and that hit – left an undeniable mark on Pittsburgh. The left field section of the brick wall has over the years been on display in different venues and today a portion of that brick wall remains standing on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Pittsburgh’s Oakland District as a memorial.  It is still referred to as “Mazeroski’s Wall.”

I digress because the book is as much about that 196os team as it is about growing up in Pittsburgh and the star ace of that team – Vernon Law.  Law collected a series of “witticisms, aphorisms, and rules” during his years in professional baseball – all of which he wrote down in a series of red notebooks he called his Words to Live By.  He is also credited with saying, “a winner never quits and a quitter never wins.” and “experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.” Here’s a Baseball Digest from July 1960 covering Vernon Law, his high morals and these notebooks.

Law also wrote down for himself six rules that he tried to follow as a player. Here are his 6 Rules of Life

I will never criticize my superiors

I will never insist I am right to the extent of angering others

I will never forget that I am one of God’s marked men

I will always remember I am made of the same stuff as the worst sinner