[obaslg]

I think JM is right on here. He was such a great player that I love hearing his analysis. He's the biological barometer of the importance of various aspects of the game.

I don't care what ANYONE says; I stand by Joe that neither pitching nor hitting can guarantee postseason success. I might go a step further and and say that nothing can guarantee postseason success, but I'd want to hear JM's thoughts on that first.

As Joe says, excelling in only one stat could never get you a pennant, even if that stat were, say, ERA. If you rely on your pitchers, you will always have to deal with the fact that stronger offenses may score more runs off them than weaker ones.

We can learn a lot from the great baseball of Joe's era. Would Earl Weaver be in the Hall of Fame if all he relied on was the 2-run homer?

Ultimately - and I think Joe would back me on this - the secret to winning is scoring more runs than your opponent. But that just goes to show what a funny game baseball is.