Today’s topic comes to us via text message from Tom and Dan at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia:

Q: Greetings from the home of the World Champions! Take a look at how the top of the 8th inning ended here tonight…

A: Thanks for pointing out one you don’t see every day:

With one out and runners at first and second, Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded to third base. Pedro Feliz threw to Chase Utley to get the force at second, and Utley threw the ball back to Feliz at third for the inning-ending double play. In addition to recording the 5-4-5 DP on their scoresheet, Tom and Dan must also give Kouzmanoff “credit” for a GIDP – ground into double play.

Rule 10.02(a)(17): “The official score report prepared by
the official scorer shall be in a form prescribed
by the league and shall include: Number of force double plays
and reverse-force double plays grounded into.”

Stat Crew Nation would correctly type in the above play as follows:
Batter – ”FC GDP”
Runner at first – ”X″
Runner at second – ”545″

And if it had been less than two outs, AND a runner from third scored…

…Kouzmanoff would NOT have gotten credit for an RBI
Rule 10.04(B)(1).

The fact that Kouzmanoff was not “put out” is immaterial, he hit a ground ball that resulted in a double play.

It’s a simple game. Really.

TRIVIA TIME…this play resulted in Kouzmanoff’s second GIDP of the game, but the good news for him is that he is nowhere close to the all-time record. Do you know WHO holds the all-time record for grounding into the MOST double plays in their career? Your only hint is that this Hall-Of-Famer is better known for holding another record.

Send your questions, comments, and answers to the mailbag…

**********

Sitting in the “big chair” prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium 

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

Now that ESPN’s “Salute To Koby Bryant” marathon is winding itself down (a/k/a Post NBA Finals Coverage), I thought I’d celebrate by printing an excerpt from an article that originally appeared in the Pauw Wow – Saint Peter’s College student newspaper:

Twenty years ago, college basketball fans in New Jersey were pinching themselves. It didn’t seem possible that the men’s basketball team from little Seton Hall University could be front-and-center on the national college basketball stage. It seemed as if the whole state banded together and watched as the Pirates came within one point of winning the 1988-89 NCAA National Championship. Although the 80-79 loss to Michigan was the end of that magical season, it was also the beginning of bigger things to come.

Back in 1989, John Morton was the go-to guy for Seton Hall. Arguably the greatest player in Seton Hall history, he scored 35 points in the National Championship game – on his way to a stellar professional basketball career.

AnnounceGuyDave and Coach Morton hanging out at the William J. Murray Golf Outing - supporting Saint Peter's College Athletics

It’s been twenty years, and nobody has topped his 35-point effort in the finals. It was his three-pointer that turned out to be the last points and the final lead for the Pirates that day, before two Michigan free throws ended the Pirates run.

At the twenty-year reunion at the Prudential Center in Newark this past winter, Morton would get the last shot – twice. In front of ten thousand fans, Morton was the last person introduced - as he delivered the 1989 Runner-Up Trophy to a halftime standing ovation. And right after the Pirates upset the Hoyas, Morton joined Head Coach John Dunne and the Peacocks basketball team as they played the final game of the day on the Prudential Center Court.

As proud as Morton is of his past, he’s also excited at the prospects of the Saint Peter’s men’s basketball team now. “Twenty years ago, we were the kids that stayed home to play ball,” Morton remembered. “At Saint Peter’s, we’ve all worked hard to recruit the best players from New Jersey to stay here in New Jersey.” And it’s not the only thing he hopes that his Seton Hall team of twenty years ago has in common with the Peacocks of today. “We struggled as a team learning how to win in our freshman and sophomore years. But we put in the work to get better, and stepped up and became leaders in our junior and senior years”. Good advice for this year’s Peacocks – the third youngest college team in the nation.

Just when you think you’ve seen everything – you see even more.

I worked the Friday night Mets/Yankees game in the Bronx. Luis Castillo dropping an easy pop up to cost the Mets a victory was about as bizarre an ending to a game I have ever seen. Until…

Here’s what I remember: I watched Castillo get under the ball and began typing the keystrokes to enter the pop out and finalize my game file. I watched Castillo drop the ball, watched Jeter cross the plate, and then watched Teixiera give everything he had to not fall over and cross the plate for the winning run. I quickly backed out of the “Pop Out” keystrokes, and quickly began the “Error-2b” keystrokes and plating of the runners – both unearned of course. Somewhere in between all that I tried to understand WHY Castillo threw the ball to second base after he picked up his boo boo. And that’s when it hit me.

I’m not speaking of his rationale, I’m speaking of the full beer bottle that was sitting in my lap – after it struck me in the jaw and caromed off of my arm. Apparently, an overexhuberant fan just let it go from the seats directly below the press box, based on the speed and trajectory. I never saw it coming.

The Magic Bottle: Mentioned in the New York Post!

If it had hit someone in the front row of the press box, it might have been a tragedy. I was stunned for a good few moments, and I asked the Official Scorer like five times in a row what the “time of game” was, because although I saw him talking I couldn’t hear what he said over the boom booms going off in my head.

I sent my game file and chatted with the Yankee Stadium officials who now were standing directly behind me. They had already checked with the security in the section below the press box and nobody saw anything. Luckily, there are cameras pointed in every direction of the stadium, so I’m waiting to hear the results of the video review.

It’s pretty amazing that in all of my musical travels over the years I never got hit with a bottle until Friday. How I survived a few years of serenading across Carbon County, PA without getting hit is fairly amazing, and the last place on earth I ever expected it to happen was sitting in the press box in the new Yankee Stadium.

Hopefully, it will never happen again. To anybody.

I’m going to take a step away from official scoring questions this post to discuss one of my favorite topics – baseball debate.

Should Joba Chamberlain be in the Yankees bullpen?

Should Daniel Murphy be moved out of the outfield?

These are two examples of such debate.  But I am aware of no topic for baseball debate that fires me up more than the following hypothesis:

Derek Jeter is one of the worst
defensive shortstops in baseball.

Obviously, I do not agree. I started covering games at the ballpark early in Jeter’s career, and this discussion seems to have surrounded him from day one. I’ve watched him with my own eyes, and it’s just not true.

First, he was the second-best shortstop in New York – behind Rey Ordonez of the Mets. The fable of the late 90’s was that Ordonez saved at least one run a game defensively. I tracked many of those games, and I always felt that Ordonez guarded the middle of the infield exceptionally well, which left many “routine” balls in the hole become hits. Perhaps the biggest indicator to me was a video the Mets released back then featuring Ordonez. It was an “instructional” video, where they would show Rey-O sliding to make a play, and coach Cookie Rojas would immediately say “Now kids, don’t do what Rey just did – let me show you the proper way to field the ball…” Of course, Ordonez is long gone. The myth of his saving a run a game was validated by his inability to hit. Now the Mets/Yankees competition switches to a guy named Reyes…

The next discussion was how Jeter was the worst of the “new” brand of shortstops. A few years after that debate Nomar is “no more” topic of any discussion, and A-Rod has moved over to become one of the best third baseman in the game, following a similar transition that a guy named Ripken made. Through it all, Jeter has continued to keep on keeping on.

My favorite chapter of the debate came to us via Pennsylvania – where some dudes claimed to have scientific evidence that Jeter is an awful defensive shortstop, declining by the minute. For those of you that don’t know, it is commonly accepted in Pennsylvania that if Penn State University says something is true – it’s true. For the rest of us, we have the ability to discern facts using our own mental capacity. This highly-questionable ”study” was conducted by a bunch of guys in a room watching video footage. These “scientists” never actually observed Jeter in person, and in fact admitted that their conclusion was further supported by John Sterling’s constant “…past a diving Jeter…” comments on those broadcasts. Since their observations were limited to what was recorded on video, it obviously wasn’t important for them to realize that maybe Jeter was diving towards the middle because he started the play in the hole.

I thought about all this while working last night’s game at Yankee Stadium, where I watched the 18-game errorless effort by the Yankees come to an end. What’s that? How does a team with the worst shortstop in baseball go 18 games without an error? Especially when the “experts” say his fielding abilities are in a free-fall decline? And before you ask, Derek Jeter did not commit the error to end the streak.

So let me add my theory to the decline of Jeter’s fielding ability. For the first six years of his career, Derek Jeter had one of the best defensive first baseman in the game catching his throws - Tino Martinez. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Then, another guy took over for virtually the past seven years. I won’t embarass him here, but let’s just say his defensive abilities are not why he played (large contract and the ability to hit balls over the short right field porch). The Penn State study neglected to mention this important fact, since it would have interfered with their ability to gain media attention to their efforts as well as diminish their chances of perpetuating their time in the video room getting paid to conduct additional studies. Unfortunately for their theory, the Yankees signed a new first baseman this year to replace the aformentioned guy. Surprisingly, the Yankees set the errorless game record. Surprisingly, Jeter’s defensive abilities have IMPROVED. Wow – who would have thought it?

Next topic, please.

Let’s pull another question out of the email bag…

Q: Can an error ever be called if a hitter hits a CATCHABLE foul ball that is dropped by either the catcher or one of the fielders? (Warren – Washington, DC)

A: Can and must.

Rule 10.12(a)(2): The official scorer shall charge an error against any fielder when such fielder muffs a foul fly to prolong the time at bat of a batter, whether the batter subsequently reaches first base or is put out.

It should be fairly clear to all that the intent of this rule is to give the pitcher the benefit of the doubt when a plate appearance is extended because of an error by a fielder.

Nowhere in the Official Baseball Rules does it mention that this rule be applied as a ”get out of earned run(s) FREE if there’s a foul ball” coupon for the pitcher. As ridiculous as this concept sounds, the frequency that it actually happens is the part I find to be completely ridiculous. To illustrate this point, I share with you the happenings of one of the first Major League Baseball games I ever covered:

Night game at Shea Stadium, in which it had rained all afternoon prior to the game. The ground crew did a great job readying the field for play, but the far reaches of the field were in less-than-perfect conditions. Mike Piazza hit a ball into foul territory, and the opposing team’s first baseman chased it as it headed towards the seats. The kitty litter and water puddles slowed this already slow first baseman down and the ball dropped harmlessly a few feet in front of him on the dirt track. The Official Scorer that night stated “No Play” – the correct call. On a night with perfect field conditions, his call might have been different.

Piazza drove the very next pitch out of the ballpark for a home run. As he was rounding the bases, a member of the media walked up to the Official Scorer and said something akin to now that we “know” what happened, he should change the dropped foul to an error to protect the pitcher by making Piazza’s run unearned. When the Official Scorer responded that this was not the intent of the rule, the media member responded that it would have been changed in other locales. The rest of the conversation was colorful, but not germaine to this discussion. You get the point.

Since that day, I’ve seen a couple of “E’s” mysteriously appear on college and minor league scoreboards shortly after such plays happen. It goes without saying, so I’ll say it again: As an Official Scorer you apply the rules on the “live” action AS IT HAPPENS. If you didn’t think the ball was playable at the time you saw it, what happens next should have no bearing on your decision. No matter what the manager, the player, or his mother say to you. I recommend that you leave “revising history” to historians, “managing” to managers, “parenting” to parents, and “official scoring” to Official Scorers.

It’s a simple game. Really.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

Instead of the mailbag, we turn to the comments section of this very blog…

Q: An outfielder misplays a high, relatively routine, fly ball because he loses it in the sun. Is this a hit or an error? Does it make any difference if the ball hits the outfielder’s glove? (Gary – via the world wide web)

A: Let’s define two key words in Gary’s inquiry:

Let’s assume that Gary’s definition of routine is a ball that should be caught with ordinary effort. My favorite pitching coach defines that ball as the one “…that should be caught 100 times out of 100 times.”

To me, misplay means you had a play, but you didn’t make it. A fielder can’t play what he can’t see. Although I consider these types of plays to be unfortunate, I don’t consider them to be a misplay.

Back in my April 20th blog I covered similar circumstances as we debunked the myth that “A batted ball that reaches the outfield grass on the fly untouched by a fielder is automatically a base hit.” Today, we’re simply going to address Gary’s specific inquiry.

As the Official Scorer, we watch the batter make contact, we hear the crack of the bat, and ascertain by the ball’s trajectory that a “Can of Corn” is heading towards the outfield. I won’t speak for anyone else, but I know that while I am following the ball I am also checking the baserunners, fielders, and any other pertinent circumstances in the field of play. Depending on the hangtime, I’ll glance back amongst these various things more than once. I also try to focus on the eyes of the primary fielder. Does he see the ball? How far does he have to go to get it? Is there more than one fielder who thinks he has a play? Is anyone calling for the ball? Does the fielder look away from the ball? Even for a moment?

I try to get a glimpse of all of these things, but I am really big on the fielder’s eyes. When a fielder doesn’t see the ball, it’s usually obvious by his body language and movement. Neighbors in the pressbox have heard me say out loud more than once “He doesn’t see it”, long before the dropsies kick in. If you’re really watching, you KNOW when a fielder is going to drop a ball.

When a fielder takes his eyes off an incoming ball – to look at things like baserunners tagging up - I consider that action to be a misplay. Remember, a fielder’s number one responsibility is to get an out for the pitcher. Gunning down the baserunner is impressive and gets you on the big scoreboard, but not catching a “catchable” ball gets you on the big scoreboard as well:

OFFICIAL SCORER’S DECISION: ERROR OUTFIELDER

Finally, whether or not the ball touches a fielders glove is an important but not conclusive factor in my opinion. For example, a fielder that can’t find a ball in the backdrop of a high sky might put his glove high above his head to shield his eyes. If the ball hits the outstretched glove before the fielder can locate the ball, I’m likely to score the play a hit since the fielder never had a “play”.

Judgment of ordinary effort – it’s the core of an Official Scorer’s responsibility. Know the ability level of the players you are watching, have a realistic sense of what is ordinary effort, and do your best to apply the rules in a fair accordingly.

It’s a simple game. Really.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

I apologize for the delay in posting – but I’ve been a little busy at the local ballyards.  Here’s one from the mailbag:

Q: Is the Official Scorer in Detroit making up his own rules? – (YankeeBob – Woodhaven, NY)

A: Let me check YB. According to my brand new edition of the Official Baseball Rules that I just got in the mail (sporting 2008 WS action on the front cover):

Rule 10.01(b)(1): In all cases, the official scorer shall not make a scoring decision that is in conflict with Rule 10 or any other Official Baseball Rule. The official scorer shall conform strictly to the rules of scoring set forth in this Rule 10….
**********

Q: OK smart guy, explain to me this play that happened in the Yankees game at the Tigers last week: One out, runners on second and third. Jorge Posada hits a fly ball to left field. The left fielder doesn’t make the catch and the ball bounces by him. Both runners score and Posada ends up on second on the play. The Official Scorer ruled: Sac fly, error 7, one RBI. Well, SmartGuyDave?

A: YB, everything is correct as you described. Simply put, a sacrifice – fly or hit – can be awarded to a batter on a play that does not record an out. The dropped sacrifice fly is specifically discussed on page 106 of the brand new edition of the rulebook.

Rule 10.08(d)(2): The official scorer shall score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair or foul territory that is dropped, and a runner scores, if in the scorer’s judgment the runner could have scored after the catch had the fly been caught.

In the scorer’s judgment, the fly ball should have been caught by the left fielder, AND he/she also judged that it was hit far enough that if the runner tagged up on a caught ball he would have scored. In the play described above, Posada is credited with an RBI, because he hit a ball far enough into the outfield to score a runner from third.

Stat Crew Nation would correctly type in the above play as follows:
Batter – ”E7F + SF RBI” (if batter scores, UE)
Runner at second – ”++″ (unknown yet if UE)
Runner at third – “+” (run is earned)

It’s a simple game. Really.

By the way, a small “shout-out” to my pal, YankeeBob:
Back in the days when it wasn’t COOL to be a Yankee Fan (1982-1995), YB lived far, far away from the city so nice they named it twice. Before there was the internet, satellite TV, and all the things we take for granted today, YB would call local “establishments” in New York City and ask the bartenders to put the phone receiver next to the TV speakers so he could listen to the game “long distance”. Seriously. He’s got the phone records and check stubs to prove it. In my humble opinion, YankeeBob is a TRUE baseball fan and I’m honored to know him.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

It’s “rubber chicken” time – better known by most as the spring sports banquet season. AnnouncerGuyDave is not immune to this seasonal change – for whatever reason there are some that find my banter entertaining and/or amusing. Perhaps my invitation to these events is the result of a priestly confessional directive. I don’t know, but I consider each and every one, “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner”. Thanks – and keep the invitations coming!

Speaking about the subject-at-hand is the easy part for me, whatever the scheduled banquet topic is. Public speaking and the ability to wax poetic are genetic attributes that have thankfully been passed down to me by my forefathers and fore-mothers. The part of the night that I “earn” is the scoring banter that occurs table-side before/during/after my work on the mic. You know, “…blah blah blah, let me ask you a scoring question smart guy…” It doesn’t matter what the question is or who asks – I consider the exercise to be an acceptable occupational hazard. After all, we’re talking baseball…WOO HOO! The problem is that I haven’t mastered how one looks good answering these unanswerable questions.

For example, here’s a recent discussion I had:
Q: “Yo buddy, I was at this game once and the batter hit a ball down the third base line. The batter appeared to hit the ball off of his foot, but none of the umpires signalled the ball foul. How would you score that play?

A: Hmmmmmmmm. At this very moment, there is no right answer – I simply do not have enough information.

By the way, if I were an umpire, the question would be phrased the exact same way - except that instead of “Yo Buddy”, the question would have started with “Yo Blue”.

As a point of reference, I have never, EVER met a real umpire that appreciates being called “Blue”. To put this in perspective, ask your spouse if she’s “really wearing that” when you take her out for your next anniversary. Her disdain is about one-third of an umpire’s when you call him/her “blue”. Really. Just ask them.

OK, so now I ask the question: “What happened next?”

Instead of getting an answer, I get “how” the inquistitor would have scored the play…

“5-fielder’s choice-unassisted”.

Now I have to ask: “Were there runners on base?”

Answer: “No.”

Next question (thank god I watched “Perry Mason” as a child):
“Did the third baseman run home with the ball and tag the batter?”

Answer: “Of course not, he threw to the catcher, silly! I thought you knew baseball…”

See – one can never win these discussions.

Final question:
“What did the umpire do when the catcher tagged the batter with the ball the third baseman threw to him?”

Answer?

The umpire signalled it was a foul ball.

It’s a simple game. Really.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

It’s time to debunk another baseball myth:

“A batted ball that reaches the outfield grass on the fly untouched by a fielder is automatically a base hit.”

Although this is generally true, it’s not always true. Let’s pull out our hard copy of the 2008 Edition of the Official Baseball Rules and take a look. Of course, we’ll take a moment to glance at the front cover since it features Washington Nationals catcher and Brooklyn Cyclones alum Jesus Flores (Cyclones Class of 2004). Turning to page 98, we find:

Rule 10.05(a)(4) The official scorer should credit a batter with a base hit when the batter reaches first base safely on a fair ball that has not been touched by a fielder and that is in fair territory when the ball reaches the outfield, unless in the scorer’s judgment the ball could have been handled with ordinary effort.

Simply put, an Official Scorer must use his/her judgment to decide ordinary effort. It’s a safe bet that if you’ve seen a similar successful catch attempt on a TV “Plays of the Day/Week/Month/Century” show – it’s likely extra-ordinary effort. An official scorer must also consider things like extreme weather conditions (high winds, etc.) and high skies (natural or man made). If a center fielder loses a ball in the sun/lights/roof, it’s generally a base hit. If a center fielder calls another outfielder off from making a routine catch and then loses the ball – it’s probably going to result in an error, even though the ball dropped untouched. If a fielder has to dive to make the attempt – the ball is likely a hit. ”Cans of corn” and other balls that should be caught “100 times out of 100 chances” - are likely going to be an error. Notice that who the batter or fielder are, and/or what team they play for is not a part of the decision making process. Never. Ever. Nor do you weigh in potential earned/unearned runs. You can’t please everybody all the time, so concern yourself with scoring the play correctly.

Here’s another situation:
Let’s not forget about the circumstance when a base runner is forced out on a ball that would normally be a hit. This is a byproduct of the defensive “overshifts” managers now implement for certain batters. When infielders overload one side of the field, one fielder usually moves to a position on the outfield grass in order to turn a sure hit into an unusual out.

For example:
Jason Giambi comes to bat with a runner on first. The entire infield shifts to the right side of second base, and Giambi hits a line drive into right field - directly in front of where the second baseman is positioned. The second baseman fields the ball on the bounce and flips to the third baseman, who is covering second.

Stat Crew Nation would correctly type in the above play as follows:
Batter – ”FC”
Runner at first – ”45″

It’s a simple game. Really.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

First off, I want to thank everyone for the kind words regarding my first Official Scoring installment. Keep the questions coming, I’ll try to have the answers.

In fact, it’s time to reach back into the “mailbag”…

Q: OK smart guy, what would you do with that play in the second inning of last Sunday’s Dbacks/Dodgers game?
(Brian – New Rochelle, NY)

A: Simply put, an Official Scorer’s primary job is to pay attention. This particular play required a little more attention than most plays, but it just proves that “it aint’ over until it’s over”.

Here’s the situation:
With one out, the Dodgers have runners on second and third when the batter hits a line drive that is caught on the fly by the pitcher. The pitcher wheels around and throws to the second baseman, who tags the runner a few steps away from the bag for the inning-ending double play.

The runner on third was running on contact, and crossed the plate before the runner on second was tagged out. The Diamondbacks left the field, apparently thinking the run doesn’t count and the inning is over.

The umpires huddle up, then meet with both managers and correctly inform them that the run did count.

Crew Chief Charlie Reliford later told the media, “They could have gotten the fourth out with an appeal at third base, but they didn’t do that before leaving the field.”

First off, let’s remember who we are:

Rule 10.01(b)(1) “…The official scorer shall not make any decision that conflicts with an umpire’s decision…”

So once the umpire’s huddle begins, we simply wait for them to do their thing. I’m fairly certain that at least one member of a Major League Baseball umpire crew knows Rule 7.10(a) – they don’t need and won’t ask for our input. So back to the play…

Stat Crew Nation would correctly type in the above play as follows:
Batter – ”L14 DP RBI”
Runner at second – ”X″
Runner at third – “+”

But what if the appeal been made correctly?

Rule 10.09(a)(2) Comment: The official scorer shall credit a fielder with a putout if such fielder catches a thrown ball and tags a base to record an out on an appeal play.

So let’s alter the play as follows:

The runner on third was running on contact, and crossed the plate before the runner on second was tagged out. The catcher throws to the third baseman, and the umpire rules the base runner out on appeal.

Stat Crew Nation - we have a problem. If one tries to enter…
Batter – “L14 DP”
Runner at second – “X”
Runner at third – “5″

…a ”too many outs” error occurs. Consulting the help screen (F1) informs us that the only occasion to have more than three outs in our stat crew inning must involve a strikeout. If appears to me that the only option would be to ignore the appeal putout to 5. Life is not perfect.

Meanwhile, as the Official Scorer we simply record the fourth out – a putout for the third baseman. A reminder that the rules do not provide for assists on appeal plays.

It’s plays like these that make “proving” a boxscore an important task:

• When the OS in Arizona proved his box after the game, I’m sure it added up.
• Had the appeal been made, the box would have had one more out for the Diamondbacks and one less run for the Dodgers, and the box would have added up.
• If the second baseman would have simply touched second base instead of chasing the runner down – which gave the runner on third the chance to score – the box would have one more left on base and one less run for the Dodgers, and the box would have added up.

It’s a simple game. Really.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

Today is April 15th, a day infamously known as “Tax Day”. In 1912, the R.M.S Titanic sunk and Fenway Park opened its doors to baseball.

And on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson played in his first regular-season major league baseball game, opening doors of an entirely different type.

Robinson died in 1972. I was all of six years-old at the time, and never got to meet him. But I do have a story to share.

On April 15, 1997 I was living and working in Boston. Needless to say I missed New York a great deal. I had told the future love-of-my life days before that I wished I could be at Shea Stadium that night, the 50th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s life and legacy. I don’t know why, I just felt like I needed to be there. But there was really no way it could happen, as I was deep into a project at work, away from my desk and my email.

In these pre-cell phone/texting days, a secretary interrupted my work to tell me I had an “emergency” phone call – the only acceptable reason to disturb our progress. Turns out that tickets for the sold-out game at Shea between the Dodgers and the Mets had been offered to the above-mentioned love-of-my life. I was told there was now one ticket for me if I could find a way to get there.

I knew that the planes flew every hour between Logan and LaGuardia Airports, but I still had to get my work done and get to Logan – not an easy task during a “Big Dig” rush hour. After I realized I had maxxed out my credit cards with payday a few days away, I called my credit card company, asking for an emergency credit limit increase. Moments later I purchased my ticket for the flight.

Of course my co-workers were incredulously trying to figure out WHY I needed to drop everything to go, especially because my “baseball fan” existence didn’t even seem to explain it. I worked hard to get done, but the clock kept moving closer and closer to my departure time. Finally, I could leave, less than 30 minutes before takeoff. I knew I couldn’t make it in time via the “T”, so I searched rather inpatiently for a cab. I ended up run-walking quite a few blocks until I found one.

I got in the cab and told the driver when my plane was taking off at Logan, and he laughed. Knowing right away this wasn’t my guy, I jumped out of the cab and into the path of an empty cab behind us. As I jumped in the back, I started telling the driver my impossible plight. He made no promises other than to do his best. He was an older gentleman, and made a comment about younger people always waiting until the last minute under his breath. I explained to him what I was doing and when he asked me WHY? – I stumbled to tell him that I didn’t know, except that I knew in my heart I had to.

Then the man said something I will never forget. He said that he had never imagined he would be risking his life to take a white man to the airport in order to honor Jackie Robinson. He said that my “reason” made all the sense in the world to him, because it was God’s way of telling “this stubborn black man” that this world was indeed changing. The very conversation he was having with God before I jumped in front of his cab.

My trip from Storrow Drive to the terminal took exactly nine minutes. I never felt I was in harm’s way – but I can’t be certain those in other vehicles felt the same way. As I went to pay him, he asked me to do him a favor. He asked me to send him back a commemorative program from the game. I mailed it to him the next day, since I made the plane and the ceremonies with seconds to spare. You can’t make this stuff up.
**********
When I moved back to New York, I found out quite by accident that Jackie Robinson was buried in a cemetery a short walk away from where I had moved. It took me a few tries to find the gravesite, but I finally did. During my search online for the exact location, I noticed that most references on the web mentioned the site was in terrible shape. Since that time, I’ve tried to “visit” at least once a month during the warm months, picking up the trash and trying to make the area look presentable.

Jackie was preceded into death by his son, Jack Robinson, Jr. The gravesite overlooks the former Interborough Parkway, since renamed the Jackie Robinson Parkway. If you ever want to visit, let me know – perhaps I’ll join you.

A big topic here in New York City today is the first official MLB game at Citi Field last night. For those of you that haven’t, I suggest you read The Dodgers Move West, written by Neil J. Sullivan in 1987. Sullivan is a professor at Baruch College, and his book serves as a textbook for baseball fans to learn what really happened to cause the Dodgers and Giants exodus out of New York City. A side benefit of the book it that it also chronicles the history of the efforts to bring professional baseball to Queens – specifically to the place I like to refer to as: Moses’ Magic Meadow.

Sorry Brooklyn Baseball fans, but the book was one of the first to debunk the convenient, but not accurate assumption that Walter O’Malley was solely to blame for the migration of the Dodgers to the west. As you read the book, you will see similar forces at work that are also very much a part of the current Brooklyn Nets/Atlantic Yards fiasco today. O’Malley, by the way, is long since departed.

The book also sheds light on the involvement of his majesty, Robert Moses. His borderline psychotic and irrational lifetime infatuation with developing The Flushing Meadows was heavily affecting his judgment by the mid-50’s, and O’Malley simply had no chance whatsoever to gain approval from Moses unless he agreed to move to the Magic Meadow. This may not be breaking news, but it’s important to realize that the Dodgers were going to move somewhere, because the Borough of Brooklyn and the City of New York were simply not capable of enacting any realistic plan to keep them.

The part that story that surprised me were the circumstances surrounding the Giants move to San Francisco. I never realized that Giants’ owner Horace Stoneham made his decision completely independently of O’Malley. For those of you that doubt it, here’s a Stoneham quote, found on page 442 of Peter Golenbock’s book, Bums:

“…I had intended to move the Giants out of New York even before I knew Mr. O’Malley was intending to move. I was unhappy playing in the Polo Grounds. The ballpark was old, and it was darn near impossible to finance one in that area. I had intended to go to Minneapolis…”

Given the circumstances, why didn’t Moses offer Stoneham the Magic Meadow? Even Manhattan Borough President Hulan Jack had a suggestion for Stoneham: build a 110,000 seat stadium at the west side railroad yard? Sound familiar?

But here’s where the story gets interesting – the “efforts” of George McLaughlin and William Shea.

In 1957, McLaughin worked for Moses. He contacted Stoneham and offered to purchase the Giants for $5 million on behalf of an unnamed, non-profit entity. One can assume Moses was standing by, at the ready to create yet another of his infamous governmental money funnels. The Giants would then rent a stadium that would be built for them at the Magic Meadow in lieu of paying taxes - a deal O’Malley never asked for in Brooklyn. When Stoneham made it clear the Giants weren’t for sale, McLaughlin continued to pester him. McLaughlin eventually went public, offering any National League team the opportunity to relocate to Queens.

That’s when William Shea got involved. The attorney informed National League President Warren Giles of the “Moses, McLaughlin Plan” to put a National League team in Queens – before the Dodgers and Giants had even made their decisions to leave. After McLaughlin was stone-cold-busted in propogating a lie that Stoneham had secretly negotiated for the Reds to move to Queens, McLaughlin demanded that Giles force a team to move to Queens or grant a new franchise – before the 1957 season ended or the Dodgers or Giants had made their decisions to move. Giles ignored the request.

Robert Moses must have been beside himself. Didn’t the National League know who he WAS? Shea focused his efforts to the Continental League concept, which of course led Major League Baseball to welcome the Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, and New York Mets expansion franchises in 1961-62. I’m not sure what McLaughlin got for his troubles outside of a taxpayer pension, but we all know one of the rewards for private citizen Shea – his name would be etched on the side of the  Montrosity at Moses’ Magic Meadow - from 1964 to 2008.

Flushing Meadows Park - 1959

After reading the book, it’s easy to see how the events of 50 years ago continue to affect us today: the failure of the proposed stadium at the West Side Yards, the ongoing Atlantic Yards fiasco, the new Yankee Stadium, and of course Citi Field. I can’t be certain, but I’d like to believe that the Yankees and Mets hierarchy read Sullivan’s book.

You should too.

Today I had planned to write about opening day at the new Citi Field. As I was walking out the door, I heard the news that longtime Phillies announcer Harry Kalas had just passed away. My writing about Citi Field will wait for another day.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, in a non-sports house, people always asked me how in the world did I ever become such a huge baseball fan? It’s easy to say that largest influence was – listening to Harry Kalas. I remember like it was yesterday, listening to broadcasts on KYW, the home of the Phillies back in the day. There was something about that voice that led me to tune in faithfully day and night, season after season. It was easy to get caught up in his enthusiasm, because he seemed to know those mid-70’s Phillies were getting better each year. I’m on shaky ground claiming to have ever been a true Phillies fan, but I have no problem admitting that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to Phillies baseball broadcasts throughout my life.

I rooted for rain delays so that I could listen to his stories. I’d stop everything when Phillies pitchers had two strikes on a batter just so I wouldn’t miss “Swing and a miss he STRUCK him owwwwwt.” And although I don’t remember hearing the “Michael Jack” Schmidt calls as much as everyone else seems to, I DO remember how much fun it was to hear Harry get juiced for “swing and a LONG FLY BALL TO DEEP LEFT FIELD…” you all KNOW how those signature calls ended.

I have three personal Harry Kalas stories to share:

When I was 11 years-old, Harry Kalas appeared at the Eugene Jacobs clothing store in the nearby Westgate Mall, and I made my Dad take me. After I got Harry’s autograph, I entered a drawing at the store. Much to my surprise I found out moments later that I had won a $100 gift certificate after Harry pulled my name out of the bowl. I got to take my picture with him, and boy I wish I knew where that picture was today. More importantly, I got fitted for my very first (and only) Leisure Suit. Bright green. And yes, I thought I looked great, and made sure to tell everyone how Harry “hooked me up”. And unfortunately, I’ve got LOTS of pictures of me in that bright green polyester nightmare.

When I started working MLB games at the ballpark, I had just left a pretty cool music career. I really had no interest in meeting players or other baseball royalty – but I wanted to meet Harry. And then one day pregame in the Shea Stadium pressbox, there he was – and he preceded to sit down right next to me and ask me some questions about the Mets. I gave him all the information he asked for and left, never giving me the chance to gush. I think he knew.

Harry Kalas at the Vet (photo by George Widman-AP Photo)

Finally, I got an assignment at Veteran’s Stadium in its final season. It was the first and last time I ever got to work there. After the game, I wandered into the dining area, empty except for one person – Harry Kalas. He was sitting by himself, having a cold one, gearing down from the game. He called me by name, and invited me to sit down and talk with him. He seemed content to listen to me babble awhile, and after I finished my thoughts on the imminent closing of Veteran’s Stadium, I broke out the leisure suit story. Harry was horrified. He humorously apologized for what he called “the negative impact he had on my childhood”, which of course couldn’t have been further from the truth. But from that day forward, whenever I saw him in Philly or in New York he always made sure to tell me how good I looked.

Harry Kalas – thank you for introducing baseball into my life.

God Bless You.

With apologies to my pal Ed Randall, today I launch what I hope to be my semi-regular ramblings on the nuances of Official Scoring in baseball. I’ll weigh in with my personal opinions and answer the questions I seem to get asked early and often.

In fact, it’s time to take our first question from the “mailbag”…

Q: Who the hell are you AnnouncerGuyDave to pretend to be an authority on official scoring? (HKarpin – Bronx, NY)

A: Authority is a “stretch”. I have scored a few hundred minor league and college baseball games over the past decade. In each of those games, I made every effort to personally hand the boxscores to both managers after games – and listened when they offered their thoughtful opinions on my decisions. It prepared me immensely for the opportunity to become a MLB Official Scorer for the first time on September 5, 2004 – a game in which the New York Yankees were one-hit by Sidney Ponson and the Baltimore Orioles. I believe I am the youngest appointed Official Scorer in major league baseball. Lord willing – I hope to be the oldest one day. Besides,
IT’S MY BLOG!

Here we go…

“You can’t assume a double play”

First of all, this “commandment” does not appear anywhere in the Official Baseball Rules. Perhaps it was written on one of the tablets that Moses dropped on his way down the mountain (for more information, please view History of the World – Part I).

It is correct that Rule 10.12(d)(3) specifically directs a scorer not to charge an error to “…any fielder who makes a wild throw in attempting to complete a double play or triple play…” unless of course the throw results in the runner(s) advancing additional base(s).

It is also correct that the rules require a scorer to charge an error based on a scenario involving a potential double or triple play. Please turn to page 111 in your hymnals, and follow along silently while I type aloud:

Rule 10.12(d) Comment: When a fielder mufffs a thrown ball
that, if held, would have completed a double play or
triple play, the official scorer shall charge an error
to the fielder who drops the ball and credit an assist
to the fielder who made the throw.

Here’s an example:
Runner at first,  batter hits a ground ball to the second baseman who flips to the shortstop for the force at second. The shortstop throws to first where the first baseman drops a perfect throw, allowing the batter to reach safely. As a scorer, you know this – because your friendly neighborhood umpire signals ”safe” and points to the first baseman, telling you that if he had held the ball the runner would have been out.

Please make a mental note to deduct style points if said umpire inadvertently pumped his fist for the “out” before he quickly altered his dance move to the “safe” call.

Stat Crew Nation would correctly type in the above play as follows:
Batter - ”E3M A6 GDP”
Runner at first - ”46″

And yes, if any preceding base runners score on the play, the batter does NOT get credit for Runs Batted In. Turn to pages 8-9 of the “Book of Shannon” for a funny story regarding this exact play. I’ve scored this play a few times, including at an OS assignment last year at Shea Stadium.

Send your questions and comments to the mailbag. Until next time – Peace.

**********

Sitting in the "big chair" prior to an OS assignment at Yankee Stadium

My personal scoring knowledge is the sum of three sources:

1) Official Baseball Rules, published by Major League Baseball.

2) Official Scoring in the Big Leagues, written by Bill Shannon (2006). I had the distinct and unique privilege of being one of the “crash test dummies” for its content, as Mr. Shannon painstakingly committed his oral pedagogy to paper, which turned out to be this book. I often respectfully refer to this publication as “The Book of Shannon“. Unlike the other attempts available in published form, the author of this publication is arguably the best Official Scorer in the major leagues.  I personally value the time over the years that I have observed him at work as well as the time spent listening as he held court on many occasion.

3) My life experience of watching “many” major league, minor league, and college baseball games live and in person – getting the opportunity to be the Official Scorer for a lot of them. In my opinion, functioning as a competent Official Scorer requires a thorough knowledge of the Official Baseball Rules, as well as the secondary ability to be able to find anything in the rulebook quickly that one has not committed to memory. Functioning as a successful Official Scorer requires a competent evaluation of  the level of “ordinary effort” of the players competing in that particular game, as well as the ability to make correct decisions without “committee” input. While the world we live in today is all about “consensus”, baseball official scoring is NOT. Red Foley, one of the best Official Scorers of the twentieth century said it best, “We don’t make popular calls, we make correct calls”.

Cassie Leuthold might be the most talented NCAA student-athlete that you never heard of.

The South Dakota native is one of the best women’s bowlers in the country. As the junior led her Nebraska Cornhuskers to the 2009 NCAA National Championship Match against the Central Missouri Jennies, her efforts would likely be the difference between becoming a champion or a runner-up.

Unlike clutch players in sports like basketball or baseball, this young lady takes the last-second, game winning shot several times each day, as compared to other sports where athletes simply hope for the opportunity. A anchor bowler’s skills are as mental as they are physical when you consider they know long before a baker match begins that the key moment of the game and/or match will likely to come down to them. And like Mariano Rivera, Cassie Leuthold is the best closer in her sport.

Earlier tonight in Game One of the Championship Match, Leuthold threw a baby split in the 10th frame – giving Central Missouri an excellent opportunity to steal the first game away. If she missed both pins or hit just one, victory would be determined by the opposing anchor. If she knocked down both, the opposition’s chances for victory would become microscopic. As she’s done countless times before, she calmly peered down the lane with a stare Andy Pettite would be proud of before converting the difficult spare. Her work was not done, as she turned microscopic into impossible by rolling a strike to give the Huskers an unreachable 200 score. The Jennies would finish 15 points behind.

Pins - like at bats and free throws - matter. Rolling in the fifth frame of Game Two, Cassie’s booming strike was a clanging wake-up call to her teammates, who failed to mark any of their first four frames. The Jennies weren’t budging however, leaving Leuthold nothing to shoot for in the 10th frame. She drained a useless strike before giving way to a sub. Better to save the arrows in a 1-1 match.

Game Three’s margin remained close heading into the 5th frame, but yet another strike by Leuthold put the Huskers ahead. Her teammates would mark every frame leading up to the 10th, handing Cassie the task of knocking down nine pins to clinch the game. Instead of nine, she rolled her fifth strike of the match to put the Huskers back on top 2-1.

Game Four was similar to the previous one, as the Huskers were finally executing as a team. In the 5th frame, Cassie left four pins after her first shot, but dumped the bucket for her fourth spare of the match, giving the Huskers a slight lead. Her teammates again marked their way to the 10th frame, as Cassie easily knocked down the five pins needed to clinch a commanding 3-1 lead in the match.

The Huskers marked the first four frames of Game Five, as Cassie found herself facing her second bucket. She dropped it again to add to what was now an almost thirty pin lead. The lead held, and after Cassie dropped nine pins in the 10th frame, the Huskers work was done.

Cassie’s work in the championship match was outstanding. She calmy closed out two important early wins in the first and third games, negating the shaky start of her teammates. As they all settled in, she calmly filled the role dealt to her – a role where her 5th frame efforts became more important than the 10th. For her efforts, she helped Nebraska win the National Championship, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 NCAA Bowling Championships.

Too bad she doesn’t throw overhand.