19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

DIP AND DOFF
Sirs:
The Pittsburgh Pirates should dip their pennant and Rocky Nelson should doff his cap to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.

I have a strong feeling that your April Scouting Report on Rocky was at least partially responsible for this earnest, deserving ballplayer connecting with the Pirates—and coming on to do his best—both in the season and in the Series.
R. W. STALKER
El Paso

Sirs:
The gratitude of all Pittsburgh fans goes out to you for your fine coverage of the 1960 season in general and the Pirates in particular.
ROSS KERSHEY
Coatesville, Pa.

Sirs:
Your story of the home run that won a pennant was a gem (The Day Bobby Hit the Home Run, Oct. 10). Then, just a week later, another historic homer won a wildly exciting World Series. Is someone on SI's staff psychic or do you use a crystal ball?
THEO CORNELIUS
Chicago

MEMORY TEST
SIRS:
GILBERT ROGIN'S STORY (You're Looking at Success, Oct. 24) IS A SHOCKING DISPLAY OF HIS LACK OF REPORTING ABILITY. THE STATEMENTS ALLEGEDLY MADE BY ME IN REFERENCE TO THE ST. LOUIS HAWKS' PAST COACHES ED MACAULEY AND ALEX HANNUM ARE COMPLETELY ERRONEOUS. BOTH OF THESE MEN ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FINEST PRODUCT OF THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION. ANY DIFFERENCES EVER EXISTING BETWEEN THEM AND MYSELF WERE OVER HONORABLE ISSUES AND DECENTLY RESOLVED WITHOUT RECRIMINATIONS OR FURTHER ILL FEELING. BOTH MEN STILL STAND HIGH IN MY ESTEEM.

ASIDE FROM CHARACTERIZING ME AS A SUPREME EGOMANIAC, WHICH OPPROBRIUM IS NOT WARRANTED. I DO FURTHER THOROUGHLY RESENT MR. ROGIN'S UTTER LACK OF ACCURACY RESPECTING THE HAWKS' TREATMENT WHILE IN MILWAUKEE AND THE REASONS THE TEAM CAME TO ST. LOUIS.
BEN KERNER
St. Louis

•Mr. Kerner's memory is faulty. Mr. Rogin was accurate.—ED.

NE PLUS ULTRA
Sirs:
Having seen Softball catcher Dot Wilkinson in action (PAT ON THE BACK, Oct. 17), we would say that she is the finest ballplayer, offensively and defensively, male or female, we have ever seen.
CHARLOTTE & ED MULFORD
Monroe, Conn.

IRISH IRE
Sirs:
When you ridicule hurling, perhaps the oldest field game recorded in literature, you insult the whole Irish nation (Irish Sport Is Happy Mayhem, Oct. 10).

It is not, as you maintain, a reckless game with "almost no rules." It must have 150 rules. Nor is it a brand of warfare.
P. BEES
Playa del Rey, Calif.

Sirs:
You display a deplorable lack of taste.
SHAYMUS O'BRUDAIR
Los Angeles

HORSES, HORSES
Sirs:
I can't tell you what a great pleasure it was reading Catherine Drinker Bowen's wonderful story (How to Keep 'Em Down on the Farm, Oct. 17).

I love horses, too, and like the races—but I have never, in my 55 years of watching races, known or cared too much about trotters and pacers. Now I must pay more attention.
M. LEVENTHAL
Jackson Heights, N.Y.

Sirs:
The absurd wholesomeness of the article and your apparent love of harness racing over "running horses" is sickening.
JOHN O'LEARY
Milwaukee

1 x 2= 50, ETC.
Sirs:
You say two holes in one by Dr. J. E. Ailor were "a real first" (FACES IN THE CROWD, Oct. 10). I have compiled hole-in-one records for a third of a century and at least 49 other golfers have shot two in a single round.
JOHN M. PIPES
Big Spring, Texas

Sirs:
The New York Yankees closed out the season with a "15-game winning streak, for the longest pennant-winning finish in history." So you say (SCORECARD, Oct. 10).

If my memory is correct, the Chicago Cubs of 1938 finished the season with 19 straight wins, to nose out the Pirates on the last day of the season, and win the pennant. I have no records available to prove it.
CHARLES W. SALTONSTALL
East Woodstock, Conn.

•It was in 1935 that the Cubs won 21 straight games and the pennant, but the winning streak was broken before the finish.—ED.

R: THE WHIP
Sirs:
Let's not forget that under fiery Phil Watson, the hapless New York Rangers made the Stanley Cup playoffs twice—so he can't be sold short (Gentle Iceman at Work, Oct. 17).

As for the new coach, Alf Pike, I don't believe he's the answer at all. With so few good players, Pike will have to crack the whip, too. Even then he'll be fortunate to make the playoffs.
JAMES MCMILLEN II
Kew Gardens, N.Y.

KARATE'S MANY MOODS
Sirs:
Karate does not "stress attack," as you stated (SCORECARD, Oct. 17). Three fundamental rules are drummed into the head of every karate student: 1) use karate for self-defense only; 2) never use it except in emergency; 3) let your adversary strike the first blow.

Furthermore, karate is not merely a means of defending one's self. It is also a way of life—its ritual and principles reflect many of the ideas expressed in Buddhism and other Oriental religions.
DAVID BRAGDON
Boston

DON'T TELL ME
Sirs:
My wife and I have just returned exhausted from a 16-day trip through five countries shepherding 52 people on a "trial of nerves."

We must agree that Art Rosenbaum's My Misguided Tour (Oct. 24) is factual, terrifying, humorous and thoroughly delightful.
W. MURRAY METTEN
Travel Editor
The News-Journal Co.
Wilmington, Del.

PHOTO

HURLING: PACIFIC PRECISION