Letters from Larry

Published:  Monday, March 24, 2008 (6 months, 2 weeks ago)
Print

By Larry Baum

It is one of my main pleasures to click on ESPN.com daily, sometimes twice daily, to navigate through the reports and scores. There are some scores I just need to know. I need to know the NBA scores and player contributions each night.
Also, the NBA articles by the beat sports journalists like Marc Stein. I like to review the weekly rankings and why they are placed where they are. I like college hoops, but only when I get swept up in March Madness. It wouldn’t take much for me to get behind Michigan State (daughter Rebecca’s school) or Univ of Ill (nephew Zach’s school), or the Univ of Tenn., (daughter Johanna’s and Bernard King’s alma mater, Bernard a Knick Hall of Famer).
I need to know the golf leaderboard, and note each day where Phil and Tiger are at. If it’s a Major I really need to watch this event on as large and clear a TV as possible with a cold brew in hand. If you’ve ever golfed, you know how hard it is to place the ball precisely where you want it like the pros. The TV coverage is usually excellent. You have to go to a golf tournament or two to get the actual feel of the course and how the professionals attack it, then you can appreciate the TV coverage better.
I watch my fair share of NFL football. I look at the scores and some of the player stats, although not like the NBA or MLB which is a far more exhaustive statistical review. I saw Joe Willie Namath several times at Shea Stadium in ’69 and ’70 and I’ll never forget his white shoes and swagger and accurate passes to Don Maynard.
I rarely care about in season baseball scores, but always care about the stats. My baseball love goes way back. We played pick up games as young’uns in the ’50’s and ’60’s and loved the grass and home runs and fielding grounders. I couldn’t hit a fastball, but I still loved it. I was a better fit for softball with the slower ball coming in to the plate. My father took my best friend and me to Ebbots Field (Brooklyn) in ’58 and saw Duke Snider and Johnny Podres play.
Guess what? The Dodgers moved in ’59 to LA, so we were very glad we went! Also, we caught several Giant games times at the Polo Grounds and saw Willie Mays play centerfield, in his “say hey days” before the San Fran move. This is great stuff, so don’t forget to do those kind of events with your kids.
TV was the source of many great sports viewings. I saw Bill Mazeroski crush a game winning home run for the Pittsburgh Pirates in ’61 in the bottom of the ninth at Forbes Field. The Yankees lose and I screamed like a wild little boar around my house and my mother did not have any idea what was going on or what could have caused this reaction. It’s impossible to explain to the novice. That’s why we watch. It’s freaking THRILLING.
I also saw Reggie Jackson blast those three homers in ’77 on 4 pitches in the World Series. How about Kirk Gibson’s fist pump rounding first in the NL championship in ’84 after his home run coming off the bench when he was limping so badly. You don’t even want to talk about Carlton Fisk’s homerun against Cincinnati in ’75 in Game 6 in the Series. Cincy was stupendous and they won the Series anyway. I saw Bucky Dent’s homer in the famous play-off game in ’76 with Boston on TV as well.
Did you see when Boston came back and beat the Yanks in ’05?  Ridiculous. They were a pitch away from losing it all, then came back from the dead in Game 5 and won 5, 6, and 7 in spectacular fashion. No writer could have done a better job. That is why you have to watch, why you have to follow ESPN.com to tell you about the games every day. So, when all is said and done, what is the best sport. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, BASEBALL. The history and the stats build on each other to make it so.
Did you enjoy the Sosa/ McGuire home run battles?  Fantastic. I grew up seeing Roger Maris hit 61 in ’61, so you bet I was interested to see Sammy and Mark race past 60 and keep on going. When Barry hit his 73 I was in awe. When they said later that it was steroid induced it made me sick but that’s the way in the modern era.  All the athletes look for an edge. Drugs and sports go hand in hand, but when you go too far, it’s either illegal or just not playing fair. I don’t like it, but I’m not going to let it ruin the enjoyment of the game. It’s too good.
You think Tiger will win all four majors this year, or Detroit will contend for the World Series, or who could be the next Secretariat? Stay tuned brothers and sisters, its 2008 and here we go again for another year.

0 Reader Responses to “Letters from Larry”

Complete the form below to leave a response of your own.