Why Baseball is Different From Golf

With Tom Watson in contention late in the final round of golf’s British Open at the age of 59, I was trying to come up with what the baseball analogy to what Watson accomplished would be.

Well the most notable Major Leaguer born during the same week as Tom Watson back in early September of 1948 is outfielder Gary Maddox. Maddox was once traded for former Met Willie Montanez and he retired in 1986, 23 years ago.

So I guess what Tom Watson is doing is roughly analogous to Gary Maddox leaving his post on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia, returning to Major League baseball and leading the league in hitting, which would be a highly unusual event.