by Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page

We are counting from 99 to 0 to determine who’s the best Buffalo athlete to wear each number.  It’s Buffalo Sports By The Numbers here on Buffalo Sports Page.

We’ll have a new number and athlete every day this summer.  Each story also includes reaction from the Buffalo Sports Page staff, and a way to catch up on numbers you’ve missed.

After every 10 numbers, a Sylvester & Peck On Sports podcast will feature Budd Bailey and the guys reacting to the selections.

#42

Tom Stith, St. Bonaventure. He was a two-time All-American for the Bonnies, and was the second overall pick in the NBA draft in 1961. Sadly, his pro career came to an abrupt end because of tuberculosis. Others: Butch Byrd, Bills; Richard Smehlik, Sabres; Walt Hazzard, Braves.

Bob Gaughan’s Numerology: Tom Smith has 29 points in a tough loss to Wake Forest in the 1961 tournament.  Billy Packer was on the Wake team. Bonnies gets screwed when the Wake coach Bones McKinney throws his shoe on the court and then plays defense to stop a Bona fast break.  McKinney believe it or not is not assessed a technical foul and Bona loses a close game. UNBELIEVABLE!

Missed any of the previous numbers from 99 to 43?  Visit the Buffalo Sports By The Numbers section on the home page.

Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey has been involved in almost every aspect of the local sports scene for the last 40 years. He worked for WEBR Radio, the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department and The Buffalo News during that time. In that time he covered virtually every aspect of the area's sports world, from high schools to the Bills and Sabres and everything in between. Along the way, Budd served as a play-by-play announcer for the Bisons, an analyst for the Stallions, and a talk-show host. He won the National Lacrosse League's Tom Borrelli Award as the media personality of the year in 2011, and was a finalist for that same award in 2017. Budd's seventh and eighth books, one on the Transcontinental Railroad and the other about Ichiro Suzuki, are scheduled to be released in the fall.

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