19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

PICK STICKERS
Sirs:

Now that the baseball season has come to a close, I thought it would be interesting to note the outcome of the predictions made by your capable writers at the beginning of the season (LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER, April 18). I used a system of subtracting one point for each missed place. For instance, Herm Weiskopf picked Detroit to finish first in the American League and, since the Tigers finished third, he would be minus 2 for that prediction.

Congratulations to Tom Brody, who selected the first-and second-place teams in both leagues. He was only minus 8 in the National League, while Les Woodcock was on top in the junior circuit with minus 10.
NEAL B. HARRELL
Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sirs:
I assigned five points for hitting any team's finishing position on the nose; four for being one place off, up or down; three for two off; two for three off; one for four off; and none for five or more off, since that's a guess, not a prediction. A perfect score would be five points for 20 places, or 100 total. Your best man, Brody, hit 76, against an average of 67.5 for all eight.

In addition to Brody, Bob Creamer and Les Woodcock each picked Baltimore to win. Adding the total points of your eight men for each individual team, I find that Los Angeles and Cincinnati were the biggest National League foolers. But the biggest margin of error fell on the Yankees. Not one of your staff had the foresight—or heart—to pick them last.
GEORGE J. GRIESHABER
Wyoming, Ohio

Sirs:
I wish to congratulate Tom Brody for placing first in the baseball picks I also want to let Publisher Garry Valk know that someone did notice that his longshot pick of the Yankees failed.
MICHAEL LEVINE
Lawrence, N.Y.

CALL OF THE WILD
Sirs:
As a charter member of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, I am fully aware of the many fine articles you have printed throughout the years. Harold Peterson's account of Sylvan Hart (The Last of the Mountain Men, Oct. 3) is one of your finest.
ALBERT F. JOYCE
Havertown, Pa.

Sirs:
I select Sylvan Hart as the man I most want to be with when The Bomb falls. Who else could make it?
THE REV. LARRY E. KETTLEHAKE
Bay Village, Ohio

SCRIMMAGE
Sirs:
Your cover photo of the "puzzling" L.A. Rams on the October 3 issue is an obvious fake. How could this play take place between the near inbounds line and the nearside hash mark? All plays must begin with the ball on or between the two hash marks, depicting the center zone of the field. All the players shown couldn't have moved that far toward the near inbounds line.
ROBERT R. ROTH
Massapequa Park, N.Y.

?As we stated in the accompanying text, the Rams "train in a baseball park, where this week's cover photograph was taken of an intrasquad scrimmage."—ED.