Things I learned this weekend.

I heard Tim McCarver say this yesterday and it's true: Johnny Sain threw the last pitch to Babe Ruth (an exhibition game in 1943) and he threw the first Major League pitch to Jackie Robinson 60 years ago today, on April 15, 1947.

During World War II, he became a Navy aviator and pitched for a military team that included Ted Williams and other big leaguers. On July 28, 1943, his team played an exhibition game at Yankee Stadium against a group of major leaguers managed by Babe Ruth.

"In the fifth inning, Babe decides to pinch-hit," Mr. Sain once recalled. "So here I am, pitching to the Babe. Between me and the ump, we walked the Babe."

It was the last time Ruth ever appeared in an organized game. Four years later, on April 15, 1947, Mr. Sain was the first pitcher to face Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

And watching Tim McCarver interview David Maraniss this morning, I was reminded that sportswriters used to quote Roberto Clemente phonetically.

So, Robinson may have ushered in a new era, as I've been hearing all day long, but sportswriters are slow to change.

But you know the third thing I learned? Marco Scutaro (career .386 slugging average) can take Mariano Rivera deep.