Maybe Nobody Is The Greatest, Certainly NOT By Proclamation

Hearing Abraham Foxman speak about the before and after of the Holocaust and the “to this day,”  beyond exponentially shameful, tragic and stupid attacks on PEOPLE because of their skin color or ethnicity, puts the rest of this post in perspective.

I confess to the completely ridiculous and horrible fact I cared far too much about sports results in general and comparisons in particular.

Young and just starting a “chore” we all have to do and do (pun intended with apologies, but there is a poignant point to this), someone opened the bathroom door highly embarrassing me and causing this, in some ways, still baby to act out.

My grandmother, the biological mother of an uncle who resembles another David (Greenglass) in that he helped kill his sister (my mother) yet flourishes well past the age of 90, calmed me down saying–“if you knew what that woman went through in her life ….

This was  before ‘they’ killed Kennedy(s), Dr. and Reverend King (sorry about the order) and my parents and grandmother, luckily, not directly victimized by the horrible events in Europe, kept them from me.

Think “Chicago’s” “Old Days,” especially about baseball cards.

Anyway, without details, a) who cares who is the best/greatest and b) as Marty Glickman told a man, who despite the fact I dug him out of mental institutions–doing much to get him beyond monosyllabic despair–has hurt me yet again, doing what so many have done to me and what so many of you also do to others, which is cut them off (a truly cruel thing to do!!), there is no greatest.

Why Jordan and not Kareem and certainly why Vin Scully?!

Mr. Scully is enjoyable, detailed and they say well prepared. Yes, but….

Below I will play his recollection of the ’65 World Series and note his mistake.

On April 12, 1971 he is promo-ing the Cards visit to L.A. two days later and says the “St. Loo” team is being led in by Orlando Cepeda.

That is more than a brain freeze. Later in the game, Jerry Doggett, an excellent broadcaster, long overshadowed by Scully, informs that Cepeda homered for Atlanta, in what I believe to have been a Braves’ loss that night. I will check. It was, John Bench hitting 2 home runs for victorious Cincy, their first win in what was to be their one “off year” in the entire ’70’s (’70-’79). 

Yet Verducci, who fits the image and Costas, an immense talent who as we were, was denied more and better quality baseball, will wax poetic, not about the infield fly rule, but about Scully.

Again Mr. Scully is great but he does not walk on water. Not even close. He can not even “Cha-Cha” correctly.

 

First of all, I cry watching this eloquent recollection of an event that was so great for me. Mr. Scully interviewing Sandy and then Lou Johnson is forever (hopefully) etched in my memory bank. 

The factual error is that Ken McMullen was not even with the Dodgers. John Kennedy was the defensive replacement for Jim Gilliam, fielding Tony Oliva’s (I had typed Joe Nossek as I certainly do not walk on water, but I checked.) routine grounder and throwing to Wes Parker, for the first out of the Twins’ 9th. 

Maybe it is that Zero year and that zero next to my # of broadcasts. Maybe it is Scully saying “try the minor leagues.” 

Believe me, he can stand the criticism as he has endured, living a great life, being a superb broadcaster, enduring heartache and embracing triumph. 

A religious man, Vin will easily get there and if he reads this, will not be surprised when Saint Peter and I do not mean Mr. O’Malley, will tell him Orlando “Cha Cha” Cepeda had been traded by the Cardinals, to the Braves, in exchange for Joe Torre after the 1968 season.