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One Among Many

    Wordsworth from Wadsworth
    Mesa, Arizona


Your paean to baseball is rhapsodic, naive and lacks veracity. Peter J. Franklin, the dean of sports radio said there are three important elements in winning baseball, 1. Pitching, 2. Pitching, and 3. More pitching.

In my law school years, I caucused with the biggest bookmaker in Ohio since Jimmy the Greek. One day he was making the odds for MLB games, and he consulted a reference book. That book contained statistics for one and only one position: the pitcher.

A pitcher can control a game by himself unlike any other sport. A pitcher can shatter the illusion of teamwork, especial in the pre and post-steroid eras. A quarterback is a guy looking for blocking.

Most NBA teams are dominated by stars who can create their own shot. But the best teams are led by players like Ervin Johnson and Larry Bird who integrate all players into the game and make them better. College basketball is a team game with the coach paramount.
    Oct. 14, 2012 at 11:47 a.m.
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