Published: May 12, 2008 12:00 am            

BASEPATHS: Keeping score not as easy as it looks

A softball umpire last week told Base Paths how he came to see the light.

One of the best in the business, he was sitting out a game at an all-day tournament and volunteered to keep score, officially.

“I had no idea how difficult that is,” he said. “It was…” He paused.

“… a nightmare,” Base Paths finished.

“The perfect word,” the blue concurred. “They had a big second inning and I just couldn’t keep up with it all. I was always behind. I don’t know how you guys do it.”

It takes a mighty big blue to tell that story on himself (or herself), inspiring a greater appreciation of those who practice this dying art, especially at high schools.

Base Paths advice: Set priorities. First, mark the outs. Second, seal the runs. Third, put the baserunners where they belong. Then, and only then, decide on hit vs. error, wild pitch vs. passed ball. Job One for the scorekeeper: keep the score. Everything else is window dressing.

We’ve seen some egregious offenses lately, especially a sharp single that rolled through the left fielder’s legs and was scored as a home run. Reporters were aghast but complied: “That’s how they’ll call it in.” Outrageous. It cheapens every other home run hit this spring.

This aside, the scorekeeper makes points just by picking up the pencil. Even the umpires say that’s the right call.

No mercy for Lancers

Lew-Port baseball’s epic comeback vs. Grand Island Wednesday will become a permanent part of Lancer lore. They came in at .500 and the Vikings, undefeated, threw their best pitcher. Lancer hurler Rob Daggett held the fort after five errors put him in a 9-0 hole and Josh Sorenson drove a three-run last-inning homer as the scoreboard clicked from 7-9 to 10-9. “Mercy rule,” anyone? Not in the Niagara Frontier League.

City slickers

City of Buffalo baseball has justifiable, but that was a beauty in Dunn Tire Park last week, Hutch-Tech over Riverside 2-0 in an hour and 12 minutes. Winning pitcher Chuck Koenig had one strikeout, the last batter of the game. On the other extreme: McKinley vs. Riverside. McKinley leadoff man Ardell Green hit the first pitch for a double. It was McKinley’s only hit of the game. McKinley won 7-2.

Blueless

Niagara Community College’s visit to the Junior College Regionals at Batavia Friday was like an episode of “Without a Trace.” No umpires showed up for the noon game involving two other teams. That necessitated a rescheduling so that N-Trip, after losing 7-5 to top-ranked Genesee, had to wait 19 hours for its next game.

Quote of the week

From the softball bleachers: “Out? How could you call her out? She was safe by a step and a half!! (then, to a neighbor in the seats) … Who’s umpiring at first, anyway, I can’t see that far without my glasses.”

Signal Base Paths at pollyndoug@hotmail.com

        

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