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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; OK, so let&rsquo;s take a little break from politics, debates, COVID-19, fake news and the lack of statesmen and women in our Congress and state legislatures.
				Yes, let&rsquo;s talk baseball.
				So we are now in the throes of the Major League Baseball playoffs, even though the American League is playing in National League parks and vice versa.
				Wait &mdash; what?
				Immediately, you sense the insanity here.
				My beloved New York Yankees are off to play Tampa Bay in San Diego this week &mdash; a five-game series with all five games played in five consecutive days.
				Yep, that&rsquo;s right.
				At least the Yanks don&rsquo;t have to travel to Florida and play in &ldquo;the Trop.&rdquo;
				So what do you think five games in five straight days will do to the pitching staffs of these teams?
				Well, let me tell you something &mdash; it&rsquo;s time to find more pitchers like the late, great Bob Gibson.
				During is remarkable 17-year career, Gibson won 251 games and lost 174 with an earned run average of 2.91. The big right-hander was dominant in big games. His mere presence on the mound was intimidating.
				Gibson died Friday at age 84.
				In 1968, Gibson won the National League Cy Young Award and he was named the league&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player &mdash; winning 22 games, striking out 268 batters, with 13 shutouts and an ERA of 1.12.
				Gibson won at least 20 games five times and struck out 3,117 batters in his career. He threw 56 career shutouts and captured a second Cy Young Award in 1970. He was an eight-time All-Star, won a Gold Glove award for fielding nine times and pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971.
				But maybe his most amazing career stat is that he pitched 255 complete games. And oh yeah, he also hit 24 career home runs and collected 9 Gold Glove awards.
				A few years ago, Tommy John was in Wilkes-Barre to speak at a dinner. I got to interview him one-on-one and I asked him why pitchers like Gibson and many others of that era were able to pitch so many complete games. Tommy John told me that pitchers kept their arms strong by throwing every day. And not lobbing the ball or short-tossing it &mdash; Tommy said they threw hard from a mound to keep their arms strong.
				What has happened to that training regiment?
				Today we hear about pitch limits and analytics and rest, rest, rest.
				If throwing a lot was good enough for Bob Gibson, Tommy John, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn and all those other Hall of Fame pitchers, maybe it&rsquo;s time to re-think how pitchers train.
				But in this pandemic-cursed year, all sports have been forced to drastically alter the way they operate. Thus, we await the Yankees-Rays series to be played in San Diego.
				If Gerrit Cole can win the first game for the Yanks, they have a chance. If they hit. If they don&rsquo;t strike out so often, If they play defense. If their pitching holds up. If the manager can make the right moves.
				All are very big &ldquo;ifs.&rdquo;
				Too bad they couldn&rsquo;t find a couple of Bob Gibsons to throw out there.
				Now back to the news.

Beyond the Byline: Give me a few like Bob Gibson