Por el contrario, mi hermano.
Al contrario, fratello mio.
Integendeel, mijn broer.
Xiāngfǎn, wǒ de xiōngdì.
Ever since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, major league baseball has been changed.
Televised games are subject to strict time constraints, of course, but baseball games are not. A regular game consists of nine innings, of course, but the amount of time used for the play of those innings can fluctuate. For instance, when a game features strong pitchers on both teams - i.e., is a "pitchers' duel" - the game may well last just over three hours. On the flip side, if each team is hitting the ball frequently and scoring, that can tend to slow a game down and lengthen the play to more like four hours. Generally, a game can be depended to run about three and a half hours.
That's for a regular baseball game.
Now, let's forget about rain delays for the moment and assume perfect weather.
Let's further assume that both teams are pretty evenly matched.
Well, that can result in an irregular game - one requiring more than 9 innings to break a tie. There may be ties in other games, but most assuredly not in baseball. The teams are expected to play extra full innings (top and bottom half) until one team has successfully scored a run to break the tie.
Sometimes, that can amount to a lot of extra innings.
I recall a game with the Savannah Sand Gnats that lasted twenty-one innings.
It was a game in April of some long-ago year, more than a decade ago or even more. The weather went from crisp to outright cold, but about thirty of us stalwart fans stayed, waiting for the tie to break... and stay broken. Several times the opponents would score in the top half, only to have the Sand Gnats rock it back to a tie in the bottom half. Who won? I honestly do not recall. I just remember getting home around 2 AM.
That would have been a nightmare for the producer of a televised game.
So, the question arose: what to do about a tiebreaker?
What to do, indeed.
That's when the International Tiebreaker Rule was introduced in July of 2008. As it was originally written, the two teams would play ten innings, maximum, by traditional rules. Then, at the top of the 11th inning, new rules of play would commence, in an effort to speed the game along.
At that time, base runners of the visiting team would be placed on first and second base, prior to the first batter stepping up, with no outs. The team would be allowed the normal three outs as they attempt to score. In the bottom half of that 11th inning, the home team would place runners on first and second base, then commence with normal play.
This new format would continue for that full 11th inning unless the home team broke the tie. At that point the game would end.
If, after the entire full extra inning, the game remained tied, more extra innings of the new format would be played until the tie remained broken at the inning's end. The need for a full bottom half of the extra inning at would be the case should the visiting team score a tiebreaking run that was not matched by the home team.
I had no idea such a rule existed until tonight.
Apparently, college teams are allowed to commence with the new format in the 10th inning, rather than wait for the 11th. At least, that's how the game was played tonight between the Holly Springs Salamanders and the Savannah Bananas.
I should have known we were all in for a little something different.
Opting for a stroll around the park,
I found myself out near right field,
where the players were warming up.
"Perfect," I thought!
So I took a photo of the 5 o'clock shadow,
with a reverse orientation.
I watched the field preparations.
When my ex was the announcer and
we would have to be there so early,
I enjoyed this little baseball ritual:
watching the water spray over the clay,
smelling the odor of the moist dirt,
seeing the crispness of the chalked lines.
someone in the crowd had steered
the huge bouncing to Mister Willie!
What would he do this time?
He held it for a moment, as before.
Then someone shouted, "hit it backward!"
Bless Pete, that's what he did,
grinning and laughing the whole time!
I had expected a rout, as the Salamanders' record
was a sickly 8 wins and 20 losses.
Ouch, right?
Well, they must have a tough schedule.
The Bananas got one run in the 2nd inning -
that's Ruben Someillan crossing the plate -
and that was it for the next two innings.
another run in the fifth inning.
This time, it was a catcher's error
that allowed Cade Marlowe to score
(and Clay Dungan to reach third).
Good going, my boys of summer!
the home team's score!
Justin Dirden easily made it home after
the designated hitter's single to left.
Bravo, Jake Howard!
So that's Bananas 3, Salamanders 0, in the 6th.
stadium during the seventh inning...
and paused to point straight at me!!!
How did he know I was going to Las Vegas
to see him next week???
The man is magical, I tell you!
(smile)
Sadly, the Bananas next pitcher was not.
Neither was the pitcher after that.
The Salamanders scored three runs in the 8th.
The tie remained through the 9th inning.
When runners were placed on first and second for the Holly Springs team, I had thought Jesse Coles was making up rules.
Apparently not (although he was supposed to wait another inning).
Then the Bananas had their turn to start with two men already on bags before the first pitch.
Connor Baslor occupied first.
Mighty #6, Clay Dungan, powered a hit into centerfield!
Cade Marlowe raced past third and cruised into home -
score!
The Bananas won!!!
And the crowd went wild!!!
Time for fireworks, at last!
Wow! What beautiful greens tonight!! Happy Fourth of July, everyone!!!
1 comment:
Y'all realize that I was riffing on Tom Hanks' famous line in "A League Of Their Own", right?
If not, then maybe you're not the baseball fan I thought you were...
hahahaha hahaha!
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