19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

HERE'S TO MR. ROBINSON
Sir:
If Frank Robinson is able to put into action the ideas he has already put into words (I'll Always Be Outspoken, Oct. 21), there is no doubt he will more than just succeed in his quest for managerial respectability. For sure, there are few who know the ins and outs of baseball much better than he does. Guiding the hapless Cleveland Indians to a championship would be a monumental task for any mortal—black, white or polka dot.
PATRICK J. WHEELER
Mt. Vernon, Ohio

Sir:
Frank Robinson will put the man back in manager.
JOHN C. BLOOMSTROM
Wyoming, Ohio

AFTER THE BALL GAME
Sir:
The day after the first game of the Series an NBC sports commentator described the game by saying "It had everything, including the phantom double play." Then, to my astonishment, he ran a taped replay showing a throw to second base caught by a player standing four feet from the bag! The umpire's thumb automatically came up and the TV commentator broke out his widest grin.

The point of the commentator's exercise seemed to be that such phantom double plays, where the bag is not touched, are a humorous but accepted part of baseball. I was stunned to see a high-priced, big-league umpire blow such an obvious call, particularly in a close World Series game. But even more shocking was the apparent lack of interest in correcting this blooper.
WILLIAM W. MORRISON
Richmond

Sir:
First baseball trade of the winter: NBC obtains Vin Scully for Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek and a mouth to be named later.
GREGG HUTSKO
Seal Beach, Calif.

MACHINE AT WORK
Sir:
Robert Vare is to be congratulated on his detailed and incisive expose of "Woody's Machine" in your Sept. 9 issue. I can vouch for the accuracy of his reporting, because my son was operated on by the Machine, while his mother and I became both participants in and eyewitnesses to the experience. We had meetings with members of the Athletic Committee Mr. Vare referred to, visited Mr. Galbreath's farm, visited the campus more than once, were wined and dined several times, received constant attention from the coaching staff and a personal visit to our home by Mr. Hayes, along with a large dose of charm and graciousness. All of these events and experiences conspired, as planned, to overwhelm one teen-age boy and his parents.

A fitting sequel to Mr. Vare's article would be one that views the scene after "Woody's Machine" completes its task, and the object of attention becomes a piece of delivered merchandise. The sudden transformation from the ethereal world of recruiting into a disparate world of harsh realism is wonderful and fearful to behold. It is a world of despotic rule where human dignity is minimized and man's inhumanity to man is maximized.
MERLE JONES
North Olmstead, Ohio

FIRST THINGS FIRST
Sir:
I was appalled to read (SCORECARD, Oct. 14) that the staffs of the service academies are considering the proposal to allow "talented academy athletes" to spread their active service over a longer period of time, enabling them to play professional sports at the same time they are discharging their obligations to their country. The stated mission of the Military Academy at West Point is to instruct and train each cadet so that he can progress and continually develop professionally throughout his career as a Regular Army officer. Intramural and intercollegiate athletics at West Point are designed to develop those physical and mental attributes essential to the professional soldier, and not, as Navy Coach George Welsh would have you believe, to develop professional athletes. It is time that the academies got away from the national schedule and exposure, and structured athletics to the purposes and missions of the academies. Despite the five-year service obligation and despite rigid height and weight standards, the academies can field representative teams, but the prayer that they can be competitive against such rich recruiting powerhouses as Notre Dame and Ohio State must and will remain unanswered. Should an academy athlete desire to play professionally, let him take the route of Mike Silliman, Roger Staubach, Joe Bellino and Bob Anderson, all of whom fulfilled their obligations before turning to professional athletics.
RICHARD L. EHRENREICH
West Point '67
Amherst, Mass.

THE BULLS (CONT.)
Sir:
Giles Tippette's Of Noble Rites (Oct. 7) was nicely done, underplayed, and it caught the routine dreariness of those small border fights while never losing the inherent drama that exists in any corrida.

But please! Golondrina not golderinas (bulls), descabello, not descabellar (coup de grace), and, por favor, Manol� Martinez not Manol� Martinez. Even that splendid matador's worst detractors would not say that about him.
BARNABY CONRAD
Carpinteria, Calif.