Well one thing that struck me as weird was when they said the final score was 4-2... If she had been the winning run, the score differential would only be one run. I did a little more digging, and it turns out it was actually a 3-run homer, I assume to put the team up from 2-1 to 4-2. So if she had not scored, the score would be 3-2 and she would not have been credited with a HR and another runner inserted at 1B. So when they said the other team carried her across the plate and it lead to them losing the game, it's a bit exaggerated.
Now before you think I'm heartless, the real story is very inspirational and a great testament to sportsmanship. I just wish the media wouldn't try to exaggerate and sensationalize this story that would've been awesome just by itself. The real story was this girl hit her first ever home run, a 3-run homer which put her team on top by 2 runs. She got hurt rounding first base, and the other team came in and helped her around the bases to make her run count. They did this despite the fact that it would have given the team an extra run in a game with playoff implications. We should celebrate that team's wonderful sportsmanship.
There was one story a while back where they did something that I completely didn't agree with. One woman college basketball player was 1 point away from breaking the all time scoring record when she got injured. So them and their opponents set up this elaborate scheme to have her stand on the court, start the game, and have the other team not guard her. Then the other team would be allowed to score a basket. I completely didn't agree with this because it was done purely for statistical reasons. And statistics should measure what happens in a game, not doing something in a game to make certain statistics happen. It's not fair to the person who previously held the record. Who knows if she got injured in her career too and lost an opportunity to score 2 more points?
In this case, the ball was hit over the fence for a HR, so it was right for her to score anyway.
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5 comments:
Yeah the UConn scoring record was junk. Who could really be happy with that?
The media always tries to make a bigger deal out of things. Except for maybe Nancy Grace :)
Dave
Letting her crawl around the bases would have been quite the story as well. Glad there's some good sportsmen out there still.
That also depends. Where were the 2 runners? Apparently if she had substituted a runner, she would have been given the single (for the game. maybe the HR for her stats), but I heard on the news(and I'm not an expert here to say whether they have bad information) but it would have turned into a ground rule double for the other runners.
So, any runner 2nd base and beyond would have gotten home, but if one of those 2 runners was on first, they could only advance to third - leaving the score tied at 2 all. Now, I don't know where the runners actually were, but if that is the case, then they did sacrifice themselves to help the injured player. (if runners were on 2nd or more, yea, then the score would have been 3-2)
ESPN ran this story in detail this weekend - and I have had 1st hand experience as a Red Sox fan since it happened to Gabe Kapler on a HR where he tore his ACL rounding the bases.
The HR counts, you can put in a pinch runner, however fr the batter to get credit for a HR they have to run the bases.
The fact that the other softball team carried her around had no effect on the score of the game, only on the batter's ability to count it as her 1st HR in her career.
I didn't follow this story very closely.
According to an ESPN article the score was 0-0 at the time and the losing team later scored their 2 runs. Weird that so many versions of this are out there (something like what the score was at the time - I'd think that would have less room for errors than that).
Also, Professional baseball rules are definitely different than NCAA Softball rules. Though I am not famililar with either, just b/c something is the case in one doesn't mean it is the case in the other.
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