19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

THE CHAIRMAN AND THE FIGHT GAME
Sirs:
I read several articles in SI on the fight game and it was indeed very enlightening. You may rest assured that our new Commission will do everything in its power to put boxing on a high level.
JAMES H. CROWLEY
Chairman
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
State Athletic Commission
Williamsport, Pa.

? SI welcomes the enlightened Chairman to this vital Commission. We know that Mr. Crowley will tackle his new assignment with the vigor, forthrightness and success that made him one of the most distinguished players and coaches in football history.—ED.

AS IF SHAKING HANDS
Sirs:
SI's article on Branch Rickey was truly a double-header, with its revealing account of Mr. Rickey's contribution to baseball and good living, and the smooth and easy control of Gerald Holland's writing arm that pitches the warmth and intimacy of his interview as though you were shaking hands with Branch and actually hearing his own words of philosophy.
JAMES METCALFE
Dallas

MAN OF DISTINCTION
Sirs:
I'm just an ordinary sort of person but I do feel entitled to one small claim to distinction. Possibly I was the only person in the world who read the piece on Branch Rickey with one foot parked on the bathtub and clutching my pajama bottoms with one hand and holding the magazine with the other. That article so enthralled me that I wasn't even aware of my somewhat bizarre appearance until I finally came to the end.
HAROLD SEVERSON
Kenyon, Minn.

WILL THEY EMERGE FROM THE CELLAR?
Sirs:
The opening spread on spring training camps by Creamer and Sutton was truly informative. SI, since it is a weekly publication, should be able to keep the baseball fan much closer to the game than other publications which do not appear on sale so often.

The article on Mr. Rickey by Mr. Holland was tops and it is a good sample of just what made Rickey so colorful. With a man like Rickey as head of the Pirates we can't help but feel that Pittsburgh will improve this year and make that N.L. race very tight. However, the Chicago Cubs are bringing up a strong contingent of minor league star pitchers which means the Pirates probably will have to pass some other team in '55 to emerge from the cellar. The Cubs have two 20-game pitchers, Thorpe and Andre, one 18-game hurler, Amor, one 17-game winner, Elston, plus three 16-game winners in Stanka, Hillman and Cohen to give the Chicago club the finest array of young pitching talent to come up to a major league team in history.
J.B. DONNELLON
Mt. Vernon, N.Y.

BACKSEAT DRIVER
Sirs:
After reading the article Mr. Rickey and The Game (SI, March 7), I believe Mr. Rickey could use this Back Seat Driver's License. Would you be kind enough to forward it to Mr. Rickey for his signature and make sure that he carries it with him when he is chauffeur-driven.
PETER L. HOLLIS
Cooperstown, N.Y.

?Thanks from Mr. Rickey, and reader Hollis' appointment as one of the Pirates' grandstand managers has been recommended.—ED.

THE BEST
Sirs:
I read your article on Branch Rickey and think that it is the best I have ever read on him. I think that the author of it should be congratulated on a fine piece of work.
GARY ARNOLD
Los Angeles

THE MAN AND THE JOB
Sirs:
What a man! That Branch Rickey. What a job he has done for baseball, so entertainingly described by Gerald Holland. It's made me a baseball fan for the rest of my life.