The New York Times-20080127-In-Box- -Sports Desk-
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Full Text (517 words)Saluting Don Cardwell
To the Sports Editor:
When I heard the news of Don Cardwell's death on Jan. 14, I was very saddened. Besides being an outstanding pitcher, Don was a good friend and a great teammate.
He was physically strong but had a quiet demeanor. On the field or off, Don had a way about him that made all of us respect him very much. Over his career, he had some outstanding games, including pitching a no-hitter. But being a member of the 1969 championship team ensures that his name will live on forever.
Part of the legacy of that wonderful team is that everyone contributed to its success. I am sure every pitcher on the team would say that Don Cardwell helped him in some way.
One game in particular that Don pitched stands out in my mind. On Sept. 12, 1969, in the midst of fighting for the National League East pennant, we played the Pittsburgh Pirates in a doubleheader. The Mets swept both games, each by 1-0, and the starting pitcher drove in the winning run in each: Jerry Koosman in the first and Don in the second.
Over the years, whenever we were all together, Koosman and Cardwell would continue to argue about whose base hit was hit the best.
Don Cardwell, like all the other 1969 Mets, will always be part of the many great memories from that year.
Art Shamsky
New York
The writer played for the 1969 Mets.
An Olympic Sop to China
To the Sports Editor:
Re Olympic Teams Vying to Defeat Beijing's Smog, Jan. 24: This is an outrageous insult to the hundreds of Olympic athletes who are training to compete in Beijing's heavily polluted air.
The International Olympic Committee should be ashamed of its selection of Beijing for the 2008 Summer Games. Why should these wonderful athletes be forced to endanger their health and their physical abilities to accommodate the Chinese government's unrestrained determination to join the modern league of nations after years of Communist tyranny?
Robert Henkel
Stratford, Conn.
The Real Eli Manning
To the Sports Editor:
Finally, Eli Manning has been discovered by the Giants fans. Yes, Eli is for real, and we Ole Miss fans have known it for years! It is no surprise to us here in Mississippi and to all Southeastern Conference football fans.
There is a reason that Eli was the No. 1 draft pick, and now Giants fans are now seeing the real Eli.
Perhaps now they will get behind him with all their support. He's going to be one of the best quarterbacks in N.F.L. history. Alva Pritchard Jr.
Gulfport, Miss.
[Illustration]PHOTO: Don Cardwell died Jan. 14. He was a mentor to a young pitching staff when the Mets won the 1969 World Series. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED PRESS)CHATTER BOX: 'We're not saying he's Phil Simms or anything. I just never thought he was as bad as some people thought he was.' ARCHIE MANNING, speaking of his son Eli, who had just led the Giants to an upset of the Packers for a berth in Super Bowl XLII.