3 sports legends depart with no one to take their place

September has been a cruel month considering who from the sporting world has

departed this orbiting arena of sports. Within a span of 9 days the worlds of

basketball and baseball saw two of their greats depart, and whose personalities and

prowess on the court or field will never be replaced.

On September 13th Moses Malone passed away quietly in his sleep at the age

of 60. Mose’s professional basketball career started when the Utah Stars of the old

ABA drafted the future All-Star and MVP center out of high school at the prime age

of 19. It did not take long for Moses to make his presence felt under the boards and

throughout the league.

For 21 years Moses battled it out with the best centers in the ABA and NBA.

Depending upon how you spin the statistics, Moses Malone either ranks 5th

(counting NBA rebounds only) or 3rd (if ABA rebounds are included) as the all time

leading rebounder. The “Chairman of the Board,” as Moses was known as, does own

the record for most offensive rebounds at 7,382.

Moses only NBA championship came in 1983 when the 76ers swept the

Lakers. Prior to the playoffs Moses uttered one of the most memorable predictions

in his southern drawl, “fo-fo-fo.”

The 76ers would lose one game in route to the NBA title to the Milwaukie

Bucks in the Eastern Finals while sweeping the Knicks in the first round and of

course sending the dreaded Lakers back to Los Angeles with out anything to hang

their hat on.

Moses played for 8 different teams in the both the ABA and NBA over his 20-

year career, playing against and with such centers as: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert

Parrish, Bill Cartwright, David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwan.

While Moses Malone was a prolific journeyman of sorts who was short with

words, Yogi Berra could be viewed as a prolific hitter who played for one team from

the beginning of his professional career to his retirement and was graced with flare

for speaking Yogi-isms.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” is one of the countless Yogi-

isms that will surely pass the test of time. Then there are these mind twisting quips:

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you

might not get there,” and “If I didn’t make it in baseball, I won’t have made it

workin’. I didn’t like to work.”

Baseball might not have been work for Yogi Berra considering the cast of

characters he played with. While Yogi was a character himself, a character that was

feared at the plate because of his uncanny ability to hit pitches outside of the strike

zone, he caught one of the games more colorful pitchers in Lefty Gomez.

One of this sports writer’s favorite stories about Yogi and Lefty takes place

during a World Series. Yogi gives Lefty a sign and Lefty shrugs it off, another sign

and again Lefty shrugs it off, a third sign that is shrugged off which forces Yogi to

trot out to the mound.

Yogi asks Lefty, “I just gave you three perfectly good signs, what’s the

problem with them?” Lefty responses, “Remember that trade we were talking

about? The hunting dog for the gun, I think we need to rethink it.”

There’s no rethinking about Yogi Berra and Moses Malone, regardless of

whether you love or hate the Yankees, whether you think the 76ers are an ill run

francize, these two athletes brought a certain grace to their sports that will pass the

test of time.