Padres slugger Nate Colbert often had to fight off a balky back to stay in the lineup. The pain was perhaps at its worst on the morning of this date — Aug. 1 — in 1972.
Only you never would have known by the five balls that he smashed over the wall in a doubleheader at Atlanta Stadium.
“I played with a real bad back and that day it was the worst,” Colbert, 74, recalled in a conversation in April. “My trainer took me out early and he gave me all kinds of therapy. … Our manager, Don Zimmer, said to take a few swings in batting practice and tell me what you feel.