Winner: Worst Sentence of 2008

Their regular season record of 90-72 was in decline from those of the previous three seasons, but their post-season run was the best of any of those teams—with Baltimore and the Dodgers falling like Poland during the Blitzkrieg.

This one emerged as an early favorite and withstood the challenge of many strong contenders throughout the year. It's not that it's badly written. Rather, it takes the gold because it manages in just a handful of lines to demean, denigrate, and offend two Major League Baseball teams, two cities, one country, as well as everyone victimized by Hitler and Nazism—plus people who empathize with any of the preceding.

The insensitivity and stupidity of the author, as reflected in this year's winner, goes beyond the pale. (This is the same author cited in "A non sequitur," Dec. 18, below.)

For good measure, he threw in the following sentence, another viable candidate that deserves recognition: They were rarities in sports; excellent Jewish athletes.

FYI: I edited the winner as follows: " . . . with Baltimore and the Dodgers falling easily." And I simply deleted the "Jewish athletes" sentence. I did not query the author about either of my edits.