By Staff
July 13, 2002
Scanning the sports scene on a Saturday while saluting Lindsey Key for her amazing comeback …
Just in case this is the first time you've read the paper in a week, let me inform you that all-star baseball is upon us.
And I'm not just talking about the Major League All-Star Game.
Meridian's Cal Ripken 9-year-old team and 10-year-old team have each won their respective state championships and are now headed to various parts of Arkansas for the Southwest Regional.
Other Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth teams are headed to other parts of Mississippi this weekend to take a shot at winning a title themselves.
The Dixie Pre-Majors team, based out of John Moss Field, is in Laurel today seeking a state title.
The 14-year-old Meridian Babe Ruth team will be hosting a regional tournament at MCC's Scaggs Field the first week of August.
The Dixie Youth district tournaments are wrapping up in Philadelphia, while I'm sure the Dizzy Dean teams are playing somewhere.
It used to be simple. Everybody in the same area played in the same league.
But in the Meridian area, that is far from the truth. We have everything from Dixie Youth to Babe Ruth to Little League of America.
It's wild.
And don't forget the softball. Most of the girls teams in this area are taking part in some kind of state tournament this weekend, with Meridian hosting the ASA 14-Under A State Tournament at the Sammie Davidson Softball Complex.
A thought or two
on the All-Star
Game and ties
Tuesday night's Major League All-Star game ended in a much publicized 7-7 tie after 11 innings.
Much was made about it and some even wanted to string up commissioner Bud Selig from the left field foul pole for calling the game off.
People hollered. Some said he had made a farce out of the game, because it ended in a tie.
I say, so what.
It is an exhibition game, and was a well-played one at that. The decision Selig made, at the urging of National League manager Bob Brenly and American League manager Joe Torre I might add, was a good one.
The pitchers were used up.
Some suggested bringing on position players to pitch. Give me a break.
Try explaining to the San Francisco Giants that Barry Bonds would be out for the year because he threw his arm out pitching in an All-Star game, or that Derek Jeter was knocked out by a line drive up the middle off his forehead because he was trying to throw an inning.
Nobody wanted to see that.
Some have suggested making the roster larger. That won't happen. Don't forget that most of these player get bonuses for making the All-Star game, so most of the owners don't want to add extra players.
Also, If a player makes the All-Star game, you really want to see them play. So I think what Brenly and Torre did was good.
Since Tuesday night's game, I have heard a good suggestion or two on how to avoid another All-Star Game tie.
One came from Garrett Sheehan of WTOK-TV. He proved that despite the fact that he is a die-hard New York Mets fan and still believes they can win the National League East, that he does have some sense.
He suggested that after the pitchers had been used up, that it could go to a home run derby type format.
Each team puts a couple players out there to hit off batting practice pitchers and the squad that gets the most wins.
Sheehan said you might even see fans hoping for a tie in order to see the home run shootout.
Not a bad idea.
Another one I heard came from one of my co-workers, Johnny Bohl.
He suggested bringing up a couple of top-level Minor League pitchers. They would get a chance to hang around the stars of both leagues and get a feel of what it feels like to be in "The Show."
They would realize that they wouldn't play unless it got into an 11th or 12th inning tie.
At that point both leagues put in there Minor League pitchers and lets see what happens.
That actually makes a lot of sense to me.
But, then again, the tie really doesn't bother me either.
What does bother me, is that one of the most exciting All-Star games in recent years will go down as a dud, when it really wasn't.
There were great plays, some of the stars hit homers, there was some good pitching and the lead switched back-and-forth.
A true baseball fan will just sit back and enjoy the game for what it is a chance for baseball's best to be together on the same field for an inning or two.
Who really cares about the score?
Do you know who won the 1999 game? How about 1994? 1987? 1976?
I didn't think so.