The umpires, and others that simply relied on the book have a myopic view and need a refresher course in common sense and creative thinking.

I would’ve tagged her out

SouthernGent on May 1, 2008 at 8:30 PM

With what? She hit a home run. And that home run didn’t decide the game at the time, there was more innings to play. In the end that home run was the game winner.

I thought it was a classy move in the spirit of respectful competition. I’ve had enough of cell phone calls from the end zone and drug riddled atheletes. Great story and post. Those two ladies lost a game, but they seem to have what it takes to win at the game of life.

Ted Williams smiles.

…from his jar.

What the heck? I must be in the minority here, but I would’ve tagged her out.

I have IE7, and Firefox. Have to use one at some sites, the other at others. Lasso works fine for me, on IE, just takes some time to load at times. Now, if I can just get wordpress to use anything besides youtube and google videos, then I’d be happy.

It’s not a matter of soul vs. not. There are rules. Maybe they should change the rules.

Maybe you should drop the attitude and learn the rules. Once the ball went over the fence the only way her run wouldn’t count would be if she passed another runner on the basepaths. If she had a heart attack and died on the way to first base, the team could substitute a pinch-runner.

Really, that Donnie Wahlberg gruff demeanor you’re trying to force on us is sooooo 1988.

You want to know what true losedom would be? True loserdom would be trying to deprive someone of something they earned because they were injured and then later finding out that the umpires made a bad call.

By the way, you do know that the final score was 4-2 and even without that homerun Western Oregon would have still won the game.

It’s not if you win or lose but how you play the game.

Dollayo on May 1, 2008 at 4:46 PM

Heh. You had me going there for a second — I actually thought you were serious.

What the other team did merely amounted to helping her claim the run she earned rather than having a proxy make it for her. You can’t call it showing loserdom when either way they would have lost the game. This was, indeed, a display of exceptional sportsmanship on the losing team’s part.

Rip Ford on May 1, 2008 at 4:38 PM

Wrong. The important consideration here is motivation. Why did the other team help her around the bases? Answer: because they believed that if they did not, the girl would be denied the home run, because of the game rules. The fact that all were misinformed about the rules changes nothing — their motivation was to give the girl the home run in spite of the rules, not because of the rules.

Again, I think the event was an admirable display of compassion and friendship. Calling it “sportsmanship” or “playing fair”, however, is simply misguided. If this is sportsmanship, it wouldn’t be sportsmanslike for anyone to win a competition ever. After all, your opponents might feel bad after the loss. Heaven forbid!

According to page 105, rule 8.5.3.2 of the NCAA softball rule book, “If an injury to a batter-runner or runner prevents her from proceeding to an awarded base, the ball is dead and the substitution can be made. The substitute must legally touch all awarded or missed bases not previously touched.”

By the rules, her team would still have gotten the run. It would just have had to be done by a pinch runner. What the other team did merely amounted to helping her claim the run she earned rather than having a proxy make it for her. You can’t call it showing loserdom when either way they would have lost the game. This was, indeed, a display of exceptional sportsmanship on the losing team’s part.

Rules might be stupid, but they are rules and they do have consequences.

Exit question: How would this have gone over at Shea Stadium?

As for people complaining about redlasso, the problem is microsoft internet explorer. Try downloading firefox and see if you have the same problems. Don’t be angry at redlasso, be angry at microsoft.

ThackerAgency on May 1, 2008 at 12:57 PM

I use Firefox and it simply won’t play. It doesn’t crash my browser, though. Suckage.

As for people complaining about redlasso, the problem is microsoft internet explorer. Try downloading firefox and see if you have the same problems. Don’t be angry at redlasso, be angry at microsoft.

ThackerAgency on May 1, 2008 at 12:57 PM

Wrong. I am using Firefox, and it still doesn’t work.

Face it, RedLasso is a piece of garbage.

(Yes, I’m slacking at the moment; it keeps me close to sane).

michaelo on May 1, 2008 at 3:11 PM

I’m sure plenty here understand. I do.

I feel guilty about it since I’m hourly, but I regularly make up for it by taking work home.

It also apparently answers a question I’ve been wondering about for 20 years: What would have happened if Kirk Gibson hadn’t been able to complete his circuit of the bases when he hit his famous one-legged pinch hit home run? Some hardcore fans here apparently already knew the answer, but I’ve always liked to imagine the entire country watching Kirk, fading in and out of consciousness, struggling to drag himself hand over hand around the bases, over the course of hours if not days… (Given his personality, he might have preferred that to a pinch runner or help from his opponents.)