Here’s the best kind of question: one to which the answer is ultimately pretty pointless in the grand scheme of things, but answering it takes a lot of thought. David Waldstein of the New York Times sets it up:
Several Yankees players were in the batting cages at spring training when one of them wondered how many swings Derek Jeter had taken in his professional career — not only in regular major league games, but also during spring training games, All-Star Games, minor league games, off-season training and during his thousands of batting practices.
Then he tries to answer it, starting with the 30-50 practice swings a day Jeter takes on random days in January and early February down at the Yankees facility in Tampa. Just counting his pre-spring training workouts -- not spring training, but pre-spring training -- Waldstein gets over 30,000 swings. Then he goes on. And yeah, the number gets pretty huge.
Print this one out and put it in your pocket for your next road trip. It’ll be sure to enrage the other guys in the car.
