ONE-WALL for the wiry lefty was very aggressive and very smart. Score didn’t seem to concern Carl. He was as sharp at 20-20 as he was at the game’s beginning. He simply didn’t rattle. Carl also had a tremendous will to win, an important intangible for a champion. He was and needed to be exceptionally fast to cover for a barely adequate opposite hand, well below the level of the rest of his fabulous skills. He was a great performer, a bundle of excitement and energy, with incredible hooking serves. 6. Joe Durso
Oscar Obert, ranked fourth, with his brother Carl Obert, ranked seventh. good in the outfield as in the infield,” an expression Steve Sandler used about himself. It was difficult to score on him. The fact is that Levine did not have to hit hard. His innate understanding of the game and amazing reflexes enabled him to be in position to select shots that were good enough for point makers. While his kills may not have been spectacular, they were effective. Levine had fine endurance, and he did not ruffle in tight games. He is among the smartest of the players on this list, the single quality that makes up for what seems to be less natural talent than others. Mark compensated for what seemed like weakness by standing in the right spots and adjusting to how others played him. Make no mistake. Levine could wear down an opponent, frustrate him and obliterate him! 7. Carl Obert Though Levine might have defeated Carl Obert in a head-on clash because of his ability to read hooks, I believe Carl retains a slight edge on Mark in the total analysis of a player, mainly because of his amazing hook serves. Those huge hops often enabled Carl to establish 10-point leads without much work because opponents could barely return a ball to the wall. This could force an opponent to play the rest of a game less aggressively for fear of relinquishing more points on unforced errors and poor shot choices. Playing cautiously with Carl was a sure way to lose,
The self-proclaimed “greatest” had a virtually complete array of handball skills. Durso dominated the singles scene for about a decade. That is not an easy task for a player who does not make points with a single swing. But Joe brought an abundance of other skills to a match, which more than compensated for a shortage of aces. He was the hardest hitter of his day, with possibly the greatest variety of shots I’ve ever seen, ranging from an overhand spike that could rise 10 feet above an opponent’s outstretched hand to numerous underhanded tapped rolling kills with either hand. Durso chased his opponents not only from side to side but also from front to back. He could blast kills from way behind the long line. Joe was also the best volleyer of his era,
capable of keeping the ball high on the wall and driving it past opponents. His defense was fabulous. He had terrific loft with either hand on serves hit hard and shallow or hard and deep. He did, however, have difficulty with hooks. His several losses to Hall of Famer Al Torres are evidence of that. It may be true that at Durso’s best the competition was not particularly challenging, with few talented singles players on the scene. Like boxer Rocky Marciano, Joe had to battle many top players who had passed their primes. Durso acknowledges this but adds that if he had had more and better competition, he would have risen to the occasion and improved his game to an even higher level. This observer agrees. Joe Durso may very well have been the single most naturally talented player of all. Returning hook serves aside, Joe’s main weakness was lack of focus. On more than one occasion his emotional tirades might have proven his downfall. This negative characteristic would affect him if he had to face any of the other men on this list. How well Joe would actually have done under the intense pressure all the guys could apply, no one will ever know. I believe he’d have been unable to defeat several of the men on this list, including all of those to follow. Joe Durso was an incredible player to witness, unless he was making a fool of himself with gratuitous outbursts consisting of absurdities and expletives. When attending to the business of beating up on an opponent, however, he was totally awesome. 5. Moey Orenstein
I saw Moey Orenstein play singles only once. He was over 40 — and overweight. He spotted newly crowned AAU champion Steve Sandler three points and first serve in front of a huge crowd. Then he proceeded to trounce the younger man 21-10. But they played only the one game, and it was not under tournament conditions. Moey was famous for his expertise in blocking opponents both legally and illegally. Watching him play that afternoon, I became aware that he did not hit hard. Nor did he make any effort to ace the serve. But The flashy, one-of-a-kind Durso, rated sixth. he was nearly perfect in shooting, with few HANDBALL 37
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