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Show What to do during the baseball strike ! Go down to the baseball park in Vernal and watch the Mustang, Bronco and Pony Leaguers play the game of baseball the way it should be played and that is one word-fun. A lot of errors are committed in these games, but the players and the fans enjoy the games. One game might be a slaughter such as the Angels, 25-5, win over the Cardinals, Car-dinals, Thursday and one game might be a close thriller like the Dodgers' 13 to 12 victory over the Cubs. A youngster might strikeout one time, but will come with a base hit the next time. The players' main concern is to play baseball and to have fun. They get paid zero dollars and actually had to pay to get in as they dished out money for uniforms and various other items, but the price is worth it because they get to play baseball. The youth baseball program games are exciting, heart pounding, fist waving, voice melter contests. One such contest was a battle between the Cubs and the Dodgers in the Mustang League Thursday. The Cubs had won seven games and were in first place and the Dodgers had won only one game and were the underdogs going into the contest. The Dodgers gained their second victory of the season when Greg Roberts scored a run in the bottom bot-tom of the sixth inning to break a 12-12 tie and deliver a 13 to 12 win to the Dodgers. Many items took place in the encounter en-counter of the baseball kind. The Cubs' catcher, Shane Turner, reached for a pop fly and it appeared that it was going to be foul, but the ball darted just in front of home plate and was fair. The catcher nabbed the ball and fired it to first base. The umpire called the runner out and the other runner out at first base. The Cubs returned to their dugout as they figured the inning was over. However, the Cubs returned to the field when it was decided that the runner on first base didn't have to run to second base on the bunt like hit and thus there were only two outs. However, the next batter hit a grounder and a runner was forced out at second base for the third out. The Cubs were behind 12 to 10 going into the top of the sixth inning and they scored two runs to tie up the game at 12-12. 12-12. However, the next two batters committed outs for outs number one and two. The Cubs' Brian Van Tassell had two strikes on him and he decided to bunt the ball. His bunt, which looked ' somewhat like a pop fly, but was admitted ad-mitted as being a bunt by his father and coach, Boyd Van Tassell, went foul and Van Tassell was called for strike three. The Dodgers scored the winning run in their half of the inning. A fan of the Cubs was extremely upset about the call on the bunt and he kept shouting "where does it say in the rule book that a fouled off bunt attempt is a third strike?" Well, the rule is quite an old one and it says that the batter is out when he fouls off a bunt attempt with two strikes. Now if the batter had gained a foul fly or grounded he would have been given another chance, but that is not the case in a bunt. The definition of an out in baseball, according to Webster's Srjorts Dictionary Dic-tionary is as follows: Having one's turn as a batter or base runner ended especially through direct defensive action by the opposing team. A batter is out if he hits a fair or foul fly ball that is caught in the air, if he has 3 strikes called on him, if he is tagged with the ball before he reaches base on a fair hit ball or a defensive player touches the base while holding the ball before the batter reaches it, if he hits a fly ball that umpire calls an infield fly, if he fouls off an attempted bunt for a third strike or if he in any way interferes with the catcher who is attempting to play the ball. A base runner is out if he is tagged with the ball while off base or before he reaches a base or if a defensive player with the ball touches a base he is forced to advance to, if he runs outside the basepath to avoid being tagged, if he is hit by a batted ball before it passes an infielder or if he in any way interferes with a fielder who is attempting to play the ball. Lisa Smuin is the only girl in the Mustang League and she is a good baseball player. She had two doubles in the game and made some outstanding catches at her second base position, which is known as the knockdown position. Smuin discovered this was true as she was knocked over by a number of opponents who didn't care that she was a girl, but she didn't panic as she held on to the ball for the outs. Lee Richmond of Worchester pitched the first perfect game June 12, 1880 when he beat Cleveland, 1-0 and 101 years later a perfect game was pitched by the American league and National U-ague players as no hits, runs, walks, errors were committed and no one reached first base as the players went on strike, June 12 and all the scheduled games were cancelled. The owners and the players give this reporter the impression that they don't care how long the strike goes on. The owners and players have meetings but they don't solve anything. The owners and the players figure they own the sport of baseball, but the true owners of the sport arc the fans because if they didn't go to the games there wouldn't Ih' any major league sport known as ImHcball and maybe the owners and players ulioiild think about that. |
