Famous for a Day

Back in 1952, I was famous for a day I struck out twenty-seven, it was the thirteenth of May I was pitching for the Pirates down in Bristol town Of the thirty batters up, I sat twenty-seven down Everything was working, the heater, the slider, the curve Ice water in my veins, steel in every nerve The twenty-seventh victim reached first base on a passed ball So I struck out number twenty-eight, the umpire cried, "That's all" I was famous for a day all those years ago It was sweet in every way, but I had to let it go I'm still the same as ever, I can swear it's true But nothing lasts forever, no matter what you do They brought me up to Pittsburgh in the fall of that same year I lasted for a mere six weeks, that was my career I was drafted to the army in 1953 And when I got back, the Pirates and the game were done with me I was famous for a day all those years ago It was sweet in every way, but I had to let it go Well, I'm still the same as ever, I can swear it's true Nothing lasts forever, no matter what you do They teach you how to grip a ball and then you let it fly It works until it doesn't, it was there until it wasn't The rest of your whole life, you're left wondering why From the Monongahela Valley here, I look back upon my past Some things are so fleeting, those precious things that last Sometimes I get a letter from a fan from far away And I'm back in 1952, famous for a day I was famous for a day all those years ago It was sweet in every way, but I had to let it go I'm still the same as ever, I can swear it's true Nothing lasts forever, no matter what you do I'm still the same as ever, I can swear it's true Nothing lasts forever, no matter what you do