The reader writes, Trout "will never overtake Ruth," and he's likely correct about that.
I received a series of e-mails from a reader who sounds like the world's greatest Mickey Mantle fan. Close, but no cigar. I'm No. 1. I'll grant the reader No. 2 status.
The reader takes issue with me because in a column I suggested Millville's Mike Trout has greatness stamped all over him. I stopped short of anointing him the next Mantle or Babe Ruth because he's only played for five years. But I did suggest the possibility exists that he's the real deal.
The reader writes, Trout "will never overtake Ruth," and he's likely correct about that.
Bob Shryock Some of the reader's thoughts: "Trout isn't half as good as Mantle, who was the most popular athlete on the planet. He won a Triple Crown. Hit 50 home runs twice, 18 World Series home runs, led the league in runs scored six times, and won three MVPs. He led the Yankees to 12 pennants and seven world championships. He hit 536 regular season home runs, many of them tape measure shots. Then you say Mike Trout could become the greatest player of all time. No, that's Babe Ruth, who reinvented and saved baseball."
Since baseball is based largely on statistics, the argument for Trout becoming more than an ordinary player has its roots in the daily "Scoreboard" updates on Mike's career that appear in the South Jersey Times.
It seems Trout's seasonal output for a fourth place club is rather ordinary, yet in Friday's capsule he is among the American League West leaders in batting average (.323), runs scored (109), hits (153), RBI (88), walks (96), homers (27), and on base percentage (.442).
And who can say what Trout's numbers would be if he played for a contender, not an Angel team that's languishing 20 1/2 games out of first place?
I like the reader's loyalty to The Mick. I'm biased, for sure, a Mantle and Yankee fan since emerging from diapers.. If Mike Trout can some day achieve Mantle's numbers, and help his team to glory, I won't say I told you so.
But Babe Ruth? A different story from a vastly different era.
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Judy Clark Dickinson, a four-time winner on the LPGA tour and former tour president, will be inducted into the All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. at 8 Burt St. in Bridgeton.
Between 1985 and 1992, Dickinson captured tour events in San Diego, Boston, Rochester and Seattle. She served as LPGA president in 1990, 1991, and 1992.
She has one international victory and two legends championships.
Currently head professional at West Palm Beach Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Dickinson has been honored often and is in two halls of fame.
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The name of Yvonne Giovannitti's charity for "Dancing With Gloucester County's Stars" was rebranded in April. The new name is "United Methodist Communities at Pitman Fellowship Fund."