“Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie”

Statistics are important in baseball. American television journalist Harry Reasoner (1923-1991) is credited with saying:
 
“Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie.”
 
It’s not known when Reasoner said this, but it has been credited to him since at least 1992.
 
   
Wikipedia: Harry Reasoner
Harry Truman Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist for ABC and CBS News, known for his inventive use of language as a television commentator, and as a founder of the 60 Minutes program.
 
Over the course of his career, Reasoner won three Emmy Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award in 1967.
       
3 April 1992,The Sun (San Bernardino, CA) “Kaleidoscope,” pg. C2, col. 1:
THE UPPER CRUST:
Then there’s this one from legendary network newscaster Harry Reasoner: “Statistics are to baseball what flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie.”
 
4 April 1992, The Globe and Mail (Toronto, ON), “Truth and Rumours: William Houston’s World of Sport” by William Houston, pg. A17:
Savouring statistics
“Statistics are to baseball what a flakey crust is to mom’s apple pie.” - the late Harry Reasoner, broadcaster and baseball fan.
 
Google Books
1,001 Baseball Quips and Quotes:
Baseball’s Funniest Quips, Quotes, Zingers, and Malapropisms
By Glenn Liebman
New York, NY: Gramercy Books
2002
Pg. 192:
“Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie.”
Harry Reasoner
 
Google Books
The Best Things Anybody Ever Said about Sports, Management and Marketing
By Louis E. Boone and David L. Kurtz
Thomson South-Western
2005
Pg. 176:
“Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie.”
Harry Reasoner (1923-1991)
American television news reporter
 
Google Books
College Mathematics Through Baseball
By Fred Worth
Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.
2015
Pg. 36:
“Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie.”— Harry Reasoner
 
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“Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom’s apple pie.”
― Harry Reasoner (born this day, April 17, 1923)
7:25 AM - 17 Apr 2017