19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

BEST TEAM
Sir:
I would like to congratulate the Pittsburgh Pirates on their sensational comeback victory over the Orioles, and I also would like to congratulate you for looking into your crystal ball and coming up with the article Pitt, the City Where They Hit in your April 9 Baseball Issue. The '79 Pirates didn't let that tradition down. Dave Parker said it all when he raised his index finger in the air on the cover of the Baseball Issue.
PETER MARINELLO
Albertson, N.Y.

Sir:
In your 1971 major league preview (April 17, 1971) you called the Baltimore Orioles "the best damn team in baseball." The Pirates beat them in the World Series. In this summer's Silver Anniversary Issue (Aug. 13) you moderated your stance and only called the Orioles "the best team in baseball." Again, Pittsburgh beat Baltimore in the Series. The next time you declare the Orioles the best, I shall take a second mortgage and bet the bundle on the Bucs.
SHERMAN BERGER
Spring Valley, N.Y.

ANOTHER VOTE FOR DRYDEN
Sir:
Ken Dryden's review of hockey's evolution in recent years is the most accurate account I have seen (A Game in Search of Some Contests, Oct. 8). Many athletes wish to put "something back" into the game that has done much for them. Dryden has done this with a sincere and honest insight into a great game in need of a transfusion. The NHL should monitor "Dr." Dryden's diagnosis for future cure. Better yet, the NHL should retain Dryden as its resident "physician."
MARSHALL JOHNSTON
Hockey Coach
University of Denver
Denver

COMING HOME
Sir:
I enjoyed the Homecoming articles in your Oct. 22 issue. I happened to be visiting the Brothers of Holy Cross at Columba Hall on the Notre Dame campus that weekend. Ray Kennedy captured perfectly the entire weekend—Friday pep rally to Sunday mass. What a pleasure to read four such entertaining and nostalgic stories.
THOMAS J. DEWITT
Rocky River, Ohio

Sir:
I thoroughly enjoyed the Homecoming stories and I'm glad I read them in the order I chose: Fimrite, Underwood, Deford, Kennedy. To have finished with Deford's depressing account would have dulled my appreciation for the whole—like grounds in the last sip of a good cup of coffee.

It's too bad that the snobbery that the Big Three pass off as literate gentility is allowed to dampen the many worthwhile aspects of intercollegiate athletics. I need only look down the road to Stanford University for evidence that the Ivy League notion that arts and letters are incompatible with competitive football at the highest level is an idle one. Come on. Harvard, Yale and Princeton, I'll stack Stanford's schools of law, medicine, engineering, humanities, etc. against yours any day, and throw in a bowl game to boot!
RIC TEAGUE
Stanford, Calif.

Sir:
Although I enjoyed parts of Frank Deford's homecoming—what Princeton graduate wouldn't?—he ultimately failed to convince me that he had come away from my alma mater with any "smarts." If he had graduated with an ounce of intelligence to compensate for the pounds of sarcastic but unfortunately sexist humor, he would have realized that Princeton football "has gone all to hell" not because "they let girls in the school," but because, after letting them in, they didn't let them play!
RENEE CREANGE
Princeton '79
Washington, D.C.

Ps AND Qs
Sir:
In the 19TH HOLE section of your Oct. 22 issue, a reader suggests that Jack Quinn, who pitched for New York and Cincinnati, among other teams, holds the record for most home runs hit by a player whose name begins with the letter Q. We looked up Jack Quinn in The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball. All of the facts were correct, he did pitch for the New York team and the Cincinnati team, he did hit eight home runs in his career. But although he played under the name of John Picus Quinn, his real name turned out to be John Quinn Picus. So it appears that Jamie Quirk can relax, still holding the record for most homers hit by a person whose real name begins with Q.
JERRY VANSCHAIK
TOM VANSCHAIK
Dayton

Sir:
I believe I may have found the true leader of the Qs. Neither Jack Quinn nor Jamie Quirk has the distinction of being the alltime home-run hitter whose last name begins with Q. Joseph J. Quinn hit a grand total of 30 homers from 1884 to 1901. He may also hold the record for most times changing teams by a "Q" person. He started with St. Louis of the Union Association, then followed with St. Louis of the National League, Boston of the NL, Boston of the Players League, Boston of the NL, St. Louis of the NL, Baltimore of the NL, St. Louis of the NL, Cleveland of the NL, St. Louis of the NL, Cincinnati of the NL and Washington of the American League. He was player/manager for St. Louis in 1895 and Cleveland in 1899. Amazingly, the Cleveland team he managed for 116 games in 1899 finished 84 games out of first with a record of 20-134! And people thought Casey's Mets had a rough time.
DOUGLAS A. COUSER
Patrick AFB, Fla.

FERGUSONS
Sir:
Your SCORECARD item (Oct. 22) omitted one other Ferguson: Tom. He has won the world championship in calf roping (1974) and in steer wrestling (1977 and '78), and he has won or shared the past five world all-around titles (1974-78). His total career earnings now stand at $523,734 in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.