"Baseball is a team game but, at the same time, it's a very lonely game: unlike in soccer or basketball, where players roam around, in baseball everyone has their little plot of the field to tend. When the action comes to you, the spotlight is on you

but no one can help you."

"Thanks for the copy of the Ultimate Sports Guide.

Robert Moselle (right) with daughter Monica and the family's Belgian sheepdog Penny.

The winner's circle blues   --Robert Moselle

One of the most famous moments of auto racing took place at Laguna Seca in 1996. It would become known as "The Pass" and occurred when Alex Zanardi passed Bryan Herta on the inside of the Corkscrew on the last lap of the CART race to take the victory. I was in the winner's circle, prepared to present the Lee Moselle Trophy, which was awarded to the winner of the annual CART race. The trophy was named in honor of my father, who served as executive director of the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula, the nonprofit entity that operated the raceway, for 13 years.

The Corkscrew

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is an 11-turn, 2.2-mile road course in Monterey. One specific section, Turns 8 and 8A, commonly known as the Corkscrew, is unique in motorsports. The Corkscrew drops 59 feet between the entrance of Turn 8 to the exit of Turn 8A -- the equivalent of a 5�-story drop -- in only 450 feet of track length. From Turn 8 to Turn 9 the elevation falls 109 feet, or just over 10 stories.

Bryan Herta was in the lead in the Team Rahal-Letterman car, and I had my eye fixed on David Letterman as he paced around the winner's circle. It looked like a lock for Herta as he entered the Corkscrew, with Alex Zanardi apparently destined for second. But near the top of the Corkscrew, Herta took his normal line and left open an opportunity for the daredevil Zanardi, who outbraked him as they went into the turn. As Herta started in for Turn 8A, Zanardi blew by him. The crowd went wild as Alex took the checkered flag for Team Chip Ganassi and Joe Montana, and as Zanardi spun celebratory donuts all Letterman could do was stand silently in stunned disbelief. 

 (For a video of the last laps, with the final lap starting at 3:54 and The Pass at 4:40, click HERE.) 

Robert Moselle is a California attorney and executive director of the Center for Continuing Education, (CCE). Based in Monterey, CCE (cce-mcle.com) is a State Bar-approved Provider of Continuing Legal Education seminars and online programs. 

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Losing by the book: An epitaph?    --Pete Elman

It was a humid Wednesday evening in September and, predictably, the Coliseum was more than half-empty. The Athletics were not just fighting for the wild card but, more important, their soul. MLB guru Buster Olney said the other day that if the A's fail to reach the postseason they will have engineered arguably the biggest collapse in baseball history.

I fear that Olney's assessment may come true. I have been an A's fan since 1968, and I have never seen the club play this poorly. The 6-1 loss to the Rangers on Sept. 17 was the worst I have ever witnessed -- the nightmare to top all nightmares. Jeff Samardzija's performance was for the ages. His grit and steely determination was nothing short of heroic, given what was at stake. He should have gotten the win. (To add insult to injury on this awful night, the Angels clinched the division.)

Ten left on the bases, the last three in that gut-wrenching eighth inning -- the offense is nowhere to be found. An epic meltdown by Doolittle. We have gone from the best team to the worst, in six weeks. How can one criticize Beane when you look at Samardzija and Lester's performances?  Did the pressure of being prematurely anointed AL champs get to them ... or is it the injuries? Or, I fear, do the A's have no heart?

One person who has not been called to account is the skipper, and tonight it became apparent that Melvin's by-the-book managing is not working. Why did he pull Samardzija when he was destroying Ranger hitters? Is it a sin to pitch a complete game? Why were Moss and Reddick not in the lineup?

Any notions that this series would be a cakewalk were dispatched Tuesday when the A's booted the ball all over the yard. Tonight was a gut check, and the A's failed miserably. This loss had a finality to it that I fear may spill over into next year. Meanwhile, the Royals, the Tigers, King Felix -- or maybe Buster Olney -- await. And in the wings, the cruel ghosts of Octobers past are laughing.

It's midnight and, lo and behold, it's raining outside. Is it a cleansing rain, or the tears of a million A's fans?

Pete Elman worked as a sportswriter for the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune from 2000-2011. In 1991 he came up with the popular moniker "RUN TMC" for the Golden State Warriors of the early 1990s. He is currently publishing a children's picture book with music entitled "Seasons, Rhymes In Time." www.chillincrowbooks.com