"Cheating? Cheating? Is that how you did it?" I was screaming uncontrollably into the phone, at my best friend of the past 58 years, Bernie T. "You tortured me daily, weekly and yearly for 50 years. I have now discovered your dirty little secret. You cheated!"

"On that awful day, Oct. 3, 1951 in the old Polo Grounds you planted spies in the clubhouse with a telescope. Is that fair?" I had lowered my voice tone but not my intensity. "The guy with the telescope read the catcher's signal and pressed an electric buzzer that was wired to the bullpen in right field. Cheating, electronic cheating." I was screaming again. "One buzz meant fast ball and two buzzes meant off-speed." When Bobby Thomson stood at the plate he knew the speed of the next pitch by Ralph Branca.

The "shot heard 'round the world" was tainted. Actually the whole end of the 1951 season was rotten. Coming back from 13 1/2 games behind was done in an unscrupulous underhanded manner. It makes the Florida elections of 2000 an exercise in virtuousness and honesty. As a Brooklyn Dodger fan who suffered enormously from these low tactics I demand a recount.

The only fair thing would be to play the game over again. Let's play it over again! Of course there are some minor obstacles. The Polo Grounds was destroyed in the 1970s and a housing complex stands in its place. About 75 percent of the players are dead and the other 25 percent are gentlemen in their seventh or eighth decade of life.

Manager Leo Durocher, that paragon of deceit and misanthropy, is long gone and so is Charley Dressen, the Dodger boss. Both teams, the Giants and Bums have long ago departed for the West Coast and are only faded memories.

"I have a brainstorm," I shouted at my pal Bernie T. "Branca's alive and Thomson's alive. Let's go out to Shea Stadium and have Ralph pitch to Bobby again. This time no telescopes! So what if they both are over 70 years old. We will sell a million tickets to a bunch of old geezers like us and television will have great ratings."

"I knew Bernie, if I lived long enough, I would be vindicated. We are both 66 years old and I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.

"I am a new man. I will listen to Russ Hodges screaming, 'The Giants win the pennant ....' and know it is a falsehood. Life is good!"

PS: Any commentary from former New York Giant or Brooklyn Dodger fans will be graciously accepted at shgreenbug@AOL.com.