About 20 years ago, I played Little League Baseball in Aurora, Indiana for the Cubs [no, that isn't me above]. I was picked to be on the Aurora All Star Team which goes and plays in tournaments. I was a horrible hitter [I was scared to strikeout, so I never swung the bat] but I was smart and played solid defense. We were playing in that Little League Tournament when a play, similar to what happened in Chicago last night, bit us in the backside.
If I remember correctly, the score was tied in the bottom of the 6th inning [the final inning in Little League]. Our hitter received a walk....which walked in the championship winning run. We all lept, jumped and celebrated. The other team walked off the field dejected, as at that point we were playing for some real marbles.
All of the sudden, their catcher picks up the ball...runs in our dugout [where the celebration had moved to] and started tagging everybody. The ump threw up his first in an "out" sign....and the game went to the 7th.
WHAT!?!?!?
Well, the dude who was at the plate for the walk....never went to first. The guy from 3rd went home...but the hitter never went to first. Under rule, the hitter could have walked all over the field partying....then touched first...as long as he didn't leave the field of play. Since he went into the dugout to celebrate with the rest of us....he was "out".
Now we were the dejected ones...as our championship was just stolen away. The most memorable thing about it was that I was the only one not crying during the extra innings because [and I distinctly remember this] that I told them that we can still win this thing.
We went into extra innings and eventually lost.
It is funny that the game ended this way. When I grew up, I loved baseball. My family pretty much grew up on it. My uncle [my Dad's brother-in-law] was a Major League catcher in the 50s and 60s for the Red Sox, White Sox, Indians and Twins....and would later manage the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. My Dad knew the baseball rule book front to back....and was the manager of my Little League team. So I KNEW the rules. Well, not all of them.
No. I wasn't the hitter in this story. Nor the guy who scored the winning run. To be honest, I don't really remember where I was at that moment....but for some reason, I can see everything happening in my mind like I was on 2nd base. But I played center field, so everything in baseball comes to me like I am seeing it from that angle.
That was the last Little League game I played in. That was the last organized baseball game I played in for the rest of my life.
After that...I moved on the hoops and football...which has taken over for baseball as my sporting loves.
This was my first experience into those "rules that never get called". It still is a sore spot to me and my Dad [who was the manager of the older Little League team playing in the same site and a different tournament]. For years, I had the trophy marking us runners-up. Only last year, did I toss it away when my wife and I moved into our new house.
So, whenever I see something odd like this happen [which baseball is the king of all such lunacy], I remember back to this.
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