This review is from: Charlie Rose with Dan Marino; Michael Davies; Roger Kahn (January 1, 2001) (DVD)
Pitching as Kahn makes clear in his opening remarks is an art, and a 'head game'. His candidate for greatest pitcher of them all was Christy Mathewson. Mathewson was something rare for the baseball players of his day, a university graduate.( Bucknell) He was also a world- class gamesman, who reportedly was capable of taking on six at a time in checkers. Mathewson according to Kahn was a tremendously smart pitcher who knew the opposing batters and how to pitch to them. Kahn also speaks about other great pitchers such as Warren Spahn, Grover Cleveland, Lefty Grove, Sal Maglie Bob Gibson Roger Clemens. He tells of how Sandy Koufax at one point was so wild he could not get close to the strike zone , learned to concentrate and become one of the most unhittable pitchers of all time. He tells the story of how Sal Maglie became a different pitcher after trying to intimidate Jack Robinson by throwing behind his back, only to have Robinson bunt the next pitch and intend to bowl into a covering Maglie at first base. Maglie after the bunt stood on the mound immobile and after this incident Kahn claims was never quite the same pitcher again. An interesting interview for those who love what Babe Ruth called ' the only real game in the world'.
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