Holy Cow(baseball) origin?

[Sam Clements]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>

> Sam Clements writes:

Mitigating against it being Dan-O'Leary-the-major-leaguer
>             (militating? -- MAM)

> is his reported death in 1922.

M-W says, under "mitigate" :  [Mitigate is sometimes used as an
intransitive(followed by against) where militate might be expected.  even
though Faulkner used it<some intangible and invisible social force that
mitigates against him--William Faulkner> and one critic thinks it should be
called an American idiom, it is usu. considered a mistake.]

Since Bill isn't around to speak for himself, I'll just say that he was
positively 'brilliant'.  YMMV.

Sam Clements