It's sleepy time in the sports world - perhaps the slowest week of the year.
Baseball is in recess for the All-Star Break. No, I don't count the Home Run Derby as real sports.
Basketball and football are on hiatus.
Hockey is, well, hockey.
So perhaps this would be a good time to note how baseball has changed.
And I will do it with this simple anecdote.
On this date in 1953, Phillies starting pitcher Robin Roberts was lifted after getting one out in the seventh inning.
These days that would not create a blip on the radar.
In his previous start, Roberts had shut out the Pirates in a 10-inning complete game.
Again, a nice accomplishment, but not earth-shattering, right?
Wrong.
That was Roberts' 28th consecutive complete game.
Think about that for awhile.
Roberts' streak started on Aug. 28, 1952. He never left a game again until July 9, 1953. On Sept. 17, 1952, Roberts got the win against the Brooklyn Dodgers - but he had to pitch all 17 innings to do it.
In his glorious career, Robin Roberts pitched 305 complete games in 609 starts.
He racked up six consecutive 20-win seasons.
Today we live in a baseball world increasingly ruled by analytics, pitch counts and specialists.
We heap praise on starting pitchers when they hurl 5 or 6 innings. There are setup men and closers.
When Robin Roberts went to the hill, the rest of the Phillies pitching staff had the day off.
We will never see his kind again.
There is a generation of kids increasingly disillusioned with baseball. They find it too slow, too boring. Besides, it doesn't happen on their phones - at least not without the app.
They never saw Robin Roberts.
As "complete" a pitcher as Major League Baseball has ever seen.
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