Favorite Athlete: James on Amos Otis

I’ve been lax about posting these Favorite Athlete posts. I’ve got a bunch of really good ones. I’ll post them here over the next few days.Amos Otis was relatively small, more quick than fast, more graceful than powerful. Amos was a percentage player … great stolen base percentage, outstanding fielding percentage, good control of the zone. But what appealed about him was the sense of something elusive, the sense that he had committed his body to the game but had held back his soul. He was on a team with guys like Hal McRae and George Brett, who were in this thing to the death. Amos was more like … I am in this up to the realistic limit of my ability, but I am holding something back for myself, and for each of you-- Bill James is, well, Bill James.