I think Milford's Elorza would have fit right into Bridgeport's
great roster from the 70's. A tall power backman paired with power
front guys like Egurbi, Orbea or Bereicua would be intimidating....and
he could provide power from the back for some of the not so hard
throwing (but still excellent fronts) like Castro, Ondarres,
Lecube, Del Rio, etc.
The player from BPT back then that was most like him was Chasio,
but I'd say Elorza was better. Calzacorta was tall and powerful
but not too adept at catching. If you want to drop 3 steps in
class...then Edward from Milford (LOL I think Elorza would
have been right up there with Churruca, Chimela, Goya, Echave,
Chasio, etc. He'd easily catch balls that a Chimela or Lasa would
have to climb the wall for. I think there was an unwritten code
that when Chimela climbed the wall and made a return you couldn't
kill the ball on that return....kind of like, give him a chance
to regain position....like in baseball you don't steal bases or
bunt when up like 9 runs late in a game. You also shouldn't throw
a dejada in singles to a fat backcourt guy like a Badiola (a fan favorite)
No such rules for the overmatched little front court guys (like
5' 0") when they have to play the guys like Juaristi, Bolivar,
Egurbi, Cachin, etc. If you are Tomas, Alex, Ereno, Urquidi, etc....better
pick off that serve and dejada or carom it....because if you dont
you are much more likely to lose a long point even with a great
backman behind you !
