18-Grip Shield Glory Days

BOX SCORES OF BOTH ALL STAR GAMES CAN BE VIEWED ON THIS WEBSITE BY CLICKING ON SCHEDULE/NEWSLETTERS, AND FINDING PB NEWS #9-JUNE 10 (INCLUDES ALL STARS) 18AAA ALL STAR GAME –JUNE 14, 2007 You might expect that an All Star team featuring five members of seven time league champion Caribbean Tigres would have a good chance at winning the 18AAA All Star game, but you might not expect that all nine of their American All Stars’ runs in a 9-8 win over the Nationals would come from Mets, Scrappers and Rockhounds’ players. And, the biggest surprise of all was one of the smallest guys on the field. Alvaro Gomez of the Mets, who stands maybe 5’7” knocked in four runs with a solo homer off former major league pitcher Mike Draper (Home Run Sports Dodgers), a three run double and a single to earn Most Valuable Player honors. The double that cleared the bases in the fifth tied the score, and after Gomez stole third base, he came in to score on a single to center by his Mets’ teammate Greg Walling, who was 2-for-3 himself. The Mets’ heroics enabled the Americans to overcame an early 4-1 deficit. The Nationals scored when Joe Young doubled off the netting in left, scoring his Chamos manager Dave Machado, who had led off with a walk and a steal of second base. Young himself scored on a fly out to center field, when the outfielder dropped a fly ball hit by Brian Fitzsimmons (Dodgers) as he was setting up to make a throw. Max Johnson made it 3-0 with a tremendous homer to left center field that landed on Lantana Road. Draper pitched two shutout innings until the switch hitting Gomez, batting lefthanded, lit a fire under his team with a line drive homer to right field off Draper. After the Nationals made it 4-1 in the fifth on a double by Fitzsimmons and an RBI single by Luis Rosario (Los Leones), Gomez and his mates did it again in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Matt Maggiore (Orioles) gave up a single to right by the Tigres’ Marlon Hernandez, followed by walks to Blair Breen (Scrappers) and Jason Plocek, also from the Scrappers. With Gomez batting right handed against the right handed Maggiore, the Mets’ star ripped a soaring shot to left center that started out like it would be a grand slam, just missing by a few feet. Gomez settled for a game tying double, stole third and rode in on Walling’s hit. The Rockhounds’ Louie Napoleon singled in two runs with two outs in the sixth off Billy Brescia (Dodgers), followed by a two-run bomb off the bat of the Scrappers’ skipper, Chris Johnson, to make it a 9-4 ball game. Matt Weihs (Scrappers) gave up a run in three innings, and Gustavo Lopez followed with two shutout innings, including striking out the side—–the 3,4 and 5 hitters in the 8th. So, it looked like the ball game. The Nationals, though, rallied against the Tigres’ Melvin Bruno, who had caught the first eight innings. Chris Mitchell doubled to open the 9th. Draper beat out a hit to deep short and took second on a wild throw by the shortstop. Chris Zehetmaier (Orioles) drew a one out walk, and Bruno hit Johnson with a pitch, forcing in a run. The Dodgers’ Rich Romano then ripped a two-run single to right to make it 9-7 and the Nationals scored another run when Victor Prieto (Chamos) hit into a fielder’s choice, but Johnson scored to narrow the margin to one. Bruno then got Charlie Pratt (Dodgers) looking to finally end it. Weihs got the win in relief. Maggiore lost it, also in relief. 18AA ALL STAR GAME –JUNE 15, 2007 The 18AA All Star game saw three West Division pitchers combine for a no hitter in an 8-3 victory over the East on Friday at the Lantana Sports Complex. The game was called after 7 1/2 innings after a torrential downpour. Nestor Sanjurjo (Cuban Sugar Kings) pitched four innings with five strikeouts. Kevin Davis (Wolverines) went two innings, striking out one, and James Priester (Brewers) pitched the seventh and benefitted with an inning ending double play as Anthony Gutilla (Braves) was cut down at the plate by a strong throw from right field. Neither Davis nor Priester pitches for their respective teams during the regular season. The East scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first on an outfield error, passed ball and wild pitch, but the West came back with two in the second on two errors at shortstop and a run scoring triple by Dominick Liso (Cuban Sugar Kings). Liso scored a run in the fifth when the East catcher threw wildly (and unnecessarily since first base was occupied) on a strikeout. The West put it out of reach with a five run sixth inning. Sanjurjo had a run scoring single, and Ray Castelluccio (Wolverines) a two RBi single among five hits in the frame by the West. The East threw in some shoddy defense in the inning as well, committing three errors and two passed balls. The East got their final two runs in the sixth inning on a hit batsman, a walk, an outfield error and two wild pitches. The closest the East came to getting a hit was when the Marlins’ Jeff Schector drilled a shot to deep center field to lead off the sixth inning and was robbed by the Sugar Kings’ Darien Viera, who made a tremendous running, off the shoulder catch. Three other players reached base on errors, and two (John Denski-Marlins, Keith Buck-Sails) drew walks. It was ironic that the West was able to post the no hitter, since they were short of pitchers. Six players were unable to make the game, and by mutual agreement, Sanjurjo was allowed to pitch four innings, instead of the maximum of three because of a shortage of pitching. The West had only 11 players instead of the 17 man roster originally listed. Unable to make the contest were three additional members of Glory Days, both Texas Rangers' representatives and one Wolverine All Star selection. Sanjurjo, who had two hits and a run batted in, was selected as the game's Most Valuable Player and received an NABA All Star MVP plaque after the game. Starter Gutilla (3IP) was the losing pitcher, although both of the runs he allowed were unearned. He was followed to the mound for three innings by the Yankees' Scot DeMadaler and the Marlins' Mike Schroeder, who pitched the final two innings.

18AAA CHAMPIONSHIP CARIBBEAN TIGRES 5 HOME RUN SPORTS ARRIGO DODGERS 1 The Caribbean Tigres won an unprecedented seventh league championship on the strength of a three-run first inning and clutch pitching by Jose Acuna. The Tigres scored on a 2-run single by Andres Rodriguez and a sacrifice fly by Francis Dinzey and that was all Acuna would need. He turned in a complete game performance, striking out nine, and scattering eight hits to win MVP honors. The Dodgers’ only run came in the second when Ryan Ghianda’s two out liner to right field took off in the stiff wind and sailed over the head of Rafael Santana for an RBI double that scored Max Johnson who had singled to left. While the Dodgers had runners on in every inning, Acuna buckled down to strand eleven of them, including three at third base. The Tigres posted single runs off losing hurler Mike Draper in their last two at bats. Santana singled in a run in the 7th, and Christian Taboas had an RBI hit in the 8th. Rodriguez had two hits, two RBIs for the Tigres. Santana, Jose Espino, Acuna, Dinzey, Taboas, Marlon Hernandez, and Nick Adames had one hit apiece. Ghianda led the Dodgers with a double and single. Draper tripled, but was stranded. Billy Campbell doubled, and Geraldo Vasquez, Brian Fitzsimmons Raffy Rodriguez, and Johnson had singles. 18AA CHAMPIONSHIP-LOS LEONES 4 PIRATES 3 Fernando Miranda singled to center in the bottom of the 9th, scoring Louis Rosario with the game winner as Los Leones rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the 18AA league title. The hit was Miranda’s third of the game. He had a two run double and single. plus a steal and a walk to win MVP honors. The underdog Pirates were on their way to an upset, tallying three in the second oft starter Jesus Ferrer. Dave Flanzbaum, Lucas Scuteri and Mike Plotkowski had RBI hits. Pirates’ starter Blair Breen made it stand up until Miranda’s two bagger in the 5th and Hector Rivera’s RBI single in the 6th tied it at 3-3. Relievers pitched well for both sides. Andres Quiroz (3 2/3 IP) and eventual winner Dennis Rivera (2/3IP) shut down the Bucs on only two hits after the 5th. For the Pirates, Flanzbaum and Chris Johnson induced key double plays. Johnson got the loss, but might have had a better fate, as a sinking liner to short resulted in an error and put the winning run in scoring position. Miranda led all hitters with three hits. Hector Rivera and Quiroz each had two; Uriel Rivera, Anthony Santos, and Rosario one each. Plotkowski, Johnson, Breen and Steve Clappi each had two hits for the Bucs. Flanzbaum and Scuteri each had one. It was the first title game for both teams.

FALL 2005-TIGRES WIN 2005 NATIONAL TITLE IN PHOENIX Jose Espino's walk off home run in the bottom of the 13th inning Sunday gave the Palm Beach League's Los Tigres their first ever title in the NABA's prestigious National Championship Series in Arizona. Espino's game winner at Ho Ho Kam Stadium in Mesa, the spring home of the Chicago Cubs, gave Los Tigres a 3-2 victory over the Sacramento (CA) Firebirds in the title game of the tournament's 18AA division. Los Tigres, managed by Santos Adames and Arrigo Dodgers' manager Rick Brescia, finally brought a national title back on their fourth try. Earlier in the day, Los Tigres defeated the Northern Rage 9-1 at the Maryvale Complex in Phoenix, spring home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Sacramento, meanwhile, defeated the pool champion Denver Bulls in the other semifinal to earn their berth in the championship game. Carlos Dominguez of the Dodgers pitched nine brilliant relief innings to earn the victory. Los Tigres also pulled off a triple play in the 18AA finale. Los Tigres also won a national tournament earlier this year when they copped the Citrus Classic in Palm Beach county for the second time. The only other national title collected by a Palm Beach team out of the area was in 2000 when the Rockets took the crown at the Hall of Fame Wood Bat tournament in Cooperstown, New York. The championship also took the bitterness out of a Palm Beach spring season in which Los Tigres had to be expelled from the league for the rest of the season after an incident during a league game. Four players from that team have been permanently banned, and Manager Adames has indicated that Los Tigres will change their team name back to Caribbean Stars, the original name of the squad, when they enter the 2005 Fall League season. POOL PLAY-SATURDAY RESULTS A 10-7 victory over the Sacramento Firebirds yesterday at Maryvale, coupled with a 5-4 win by the Rage over the Colorado Reds at the Peoria Complex (San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners) assured Los Tigres of a bye past the Saturday night quarterfinals at Fitch Field (Chicago Cubs' minor league complex) in Mesa. The Denver Bulls outslugged the previously unbeaten Orange County (CA) Twins 15-11 at Maryvale to take pool honors with a record of 4-1. In Saturday night's semifinals at Fitch, the Rage downed the Orange County (CA) Warriors 8-3, while the Firebirds edged the Orange County Twins 6-5. POOL PLAY-FRIDAY RESULTS Los Tigres lost a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to the then undefeated Denver Bulls at the Maryvale Complex in Phoenix, spring home of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Palm Beachers were forced to play the game without six players from the Phoenix area who could not make the morning contest. However, the afternoon proved to be much better for the Tigres. They walloped the Colorado Giants 14-3. At the same time, the Bulls suffered their first defeat of the tournament, a surprising 5-2 loss to the Orange County Warriors (2-2), a team Los Tigres had demolished 17-4 on Friday. So, the two day results left Los Tigres in fourth place in the ten team pool--a good position since six teams make the playoffs in the 18AA division. Los Tigres has allowed only 19 runs in their four games, the fewest number allowed by any team in their pool. The Orange County Twins were the pool leaders through Friday, with three wins and a tie. The Sacramento Firebirds (3-1) were in second place, having allowed three fewer runs than the Bulls, who are also 3-1 through the first two days. POOL PLAY-THURSDAY RESULTS After being held to an 8-8 tie in the morning by the Northern Rage, Los Tigres crushed the Orange County Warriors 17-4 on the first day (Oct.6) of the NABA's National Championship Series. Both games were played at the Surprise (AZ) complex, the spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. The Denver Bulls and Sacramento Firebirds were the only two teams to come through opening day undefeated in the 18AA division. One of the Bulls' wins was a 15-14 victory over the Rage, leaving the Rage with an 0-1-1 record after the first day. FALL 2005-TWINS WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT TITLE, ANGELS BEAT CARDS FOR FIRST 18AA CROWN The Estilo Twins became quadruplets on Sunday, winning their fourth straight 18AAA championship, 8-1, over the Arrigo Dodgers at the Lantana Sports Complex. The Angels took the 18AA championship 10-7 in the morning title game against the Cardinals. The Twins, behind the strong pitching of Most Valuable Player Jose Acuno, made it look easy. Acuna went the distance, giving up only four hits and striking out fifteen. He also added three singles and scored a run. The Twins scored two runs in the second and another in the third, all with no hits. The Dodgers committed three errors in the second and another in third inning. The Twins added single runs in the sixth and seventh and run scoring doubles by Alberto Lambis and Miguel Cuello and three more in the ninth on an RBI hit by Francis Dinzey, a run scoring double by Ricky Dominguez and a wild pitch. The Dodgers bunched together three of their four hits, and their only run in the fourth inning. Their only other hit came in thed 7th inning, and was followed by a hit batsman, but Acuna struck out the side to take care of that threat. The Twins won the spring and fall league titles in both 2004 and 2005. The Angels scored three runs in the third and five more in the fifth and were never headed in their title bout against the Cardinals. Perry Menschel, who pitched five innings for the win, added a pair of run scoring doubles to cinch MVP honors. Jeff Schector drilled a solo homer for the Angels, leading off the bottom of the first inning after the Cardinals' Jackson Munoz led off the game with a solo shot in the top of the first. Munoz had three hits and two runs batted in for the Cardinals. The Angels also beat the Cardinals by a half game during the regular season. SPRING 2005-RANGERS ROAST POTROS FOR 18A LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP The second seeded Texas Rangers, behind the three hit pitching of Rick Mullan, knocked off the top seeded Los Potros 10-1 at the Santaluces Complex August 28 to win the first ever 18A League championship. The Rangers never trailed in the game, which was called by the umpires after a second Los Potros was ejected and refused to leave the field. The incident marred an otherwise fine season by Los Potros, who finished with the same 15-5 record as the Rangers, but were declared regular season winners on a "head to head runs allowed" tiebreaker. The Rangers posted two runs in the first inning when Drew Fariello doubled in both Gabriel Valenzia and Bobby Brink, who drew walks off starting pitcher Abner Elias. Los Potros countered with their only run of the second in the second inning. Alex Larrin reached on an error, went to third on an infield hit by Edwin (O'Neill) Ramos and scored on Javier Agosto's sacrifice fly to left. Brink doubled in Valenzia in the third inning for the first of three Rangers' runs. Brink scored when Bryan Ready reached on an error, and Ready scored on a single by Scott Heissenberg. The Rangers made it 8-1 with three more in the fourth. Andrew Orndorff doubled, went to third on an infield hit by Wilford Baez and scored on an RBI single by Tom Brodrick. Valenzia then tripled to score Brodrick and scored himself on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Brink. The Rangers closed out the scoring with two in the sixth on a RBI double by Brodrick and an infield out by Valenzia. The game ended in the home half of the seventh when Larrin was ejected after taking a called third strike and refused to leave the field. Earlier, Elias was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Los Potros had only three hits off Mullan, who was the game's Most Valuable Player. Raul Villanueva had a double, Edwin Ramos and Eddie Lopez had singles. Mullan did not walk a batter and posted four strikeouts. Brodrick led the Rangers' nine hit attack with a double, single and two runs batted in. Valenzia also drove in two runs and had a triple. Brink and Orndorff had two baggers, with Brink getting two RBIs. Fariello had a two run single, Heissenberg had an RBI single, with Mullan and Baez getting one hit apiece.

Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football? On January 18, 1987, baseball columnist Thomas Boswell wrote a superb article for the Washington Post giving ninety-nine reasons why baseball is so much better than football. The list might be classified as recent history, but it is still nothing short of legendary and we salute The Post and Thomas Boswell. "Quarterbacks have to ask the crowd to quiet down. Pitchers never do." - Thomas Boswell in 'Why is Baseball So Much Better Than Football' (1987, The Post) Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football? by Thomas Boswell (1987) # Reasons Why Baseball is so Much Better than Football by Thomas Boswell 1 Bands. 2 Half time with bands. 3 Cheerleaders at half time with bands. 4 Up With People singing "The Impossible Dream" during a Blue Angels flyover at half time with bands. 5 Baseball has fans in Wrigley Field singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the seventh-inning stretch. 6 Baseball has Blue Moon, Catfish, Spaceman and The Sugar Bear. Football has Lester the Molester, Too Mean and The Assassin. 7 All XX Super Bowls haven't produced as much drama as the last World Series. 8 All XX Super Bowls haven't produced as many classic games as either pennant playoff did this year. 9 Baseball has a bullpen coach blowing bubble gum with his cap turned around backward while leaning on a fungo bat; football has a defensive coordinator in a satin jacket with a headset and a clipboard. 10 The Redskins have 13 assistant coaches, five equipment managers, three trainers, two assistant GMs but, for 14 games, nobody who could kick an extra point. 11 Football players and coaches don't know how to bait a ref, much less jump up and down and scream in his face. Baseball players know how to argue with umps; baseball managers even kick dirt on them. Earl Weaver steals third base and won't give it back; Tom Landry folds his arms. 12 Vince Lombardi was never ashamed that he said, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." 13 Football coaches talk about character, gut checks, intensity and reckless abandon. Tommy Lasorda said, "Managing is like holding a dove in your hand. Squeeze too hard and you kill it; not hard enough and it flies away." 14 Big league baseball players chew tobacco. Pro football linemen chew on each other. 15 Before a baseball game, there are two hours of batting practice. Before a football game, there's a two-hour traffic jam. 16 A crowd of 30,000 in a stadium built for 55,501 has a lot more fun than a crowd of 55,501 in the same stadium. 17 No one has ever actually reached the end of the restroom line at an NFL game. 18 Nine innings means 18 chances at the hot dog line. Two halves means B.Y.O. or go hungry. 19 Pro football players have breasts. Many NFLers are so freakishly overdeveloped, due to steroids, that they look like circus geeks. Baseball players seem like normal fit folks. Fans should be thankful they don't have to look at NFL teams in bathing suits. 20 Eighty degrees, a cold beer and a short-sleeve shirt is better than 30 degrees, a hip flask and six layers of clothes under a lap blanket. Take your pick: suntan or frostbite. 21 Having 162 games a year is 10.125 times as good as having 16. 22 If you miss your favorite NFL team's game, you have to wait a week. In baseball, you wait a day. 23 Everything George Carlin said in his famous monologue is right on. In football you blitz, bomb, spear, shiver, march and score. In baseball, you wait for a walk, take your stretch, toe the rubber, tap your spikes, play ball and run home. 24 Marianne Moore loved Christy Mathewson. No woman of quality has ever preferred football to baseball. 25 More good baseball books appear in a single year than have been written about football in the past 50 years. The best football writers, like Dan Jenkins, have the good sense to write about something else most of the time. 26 The best football announcer ever was Howard Cosell. 27 The worst baseball announcer ever was Howard Cosell. 28 All gridirons are identical; football coaches never have to meet to go over the ground rules. But the best baseball parks are unique. 29 Every outdoor park ever built primarily for baseball has been pretty. Every stadium built with pro football in mind has been ugly (except Arrowhead). 30 The coin flip at the beginning of football games is idiotic. Home teams should always kick off and pick a goal to defend. In baseball, the visitor bats first (courtesy), while the host bats last (for drama). The football visitor should get the first chance to score, while the home team should have the dramatic advantage of receiving the second-half kickoff. 31 Baseball is harder. In the last 25 years, only one player, Vince Coleman, has been cut from the NFL and then become a success in the majors. From Tom Brown in 1963 (Senators to Packers) to Jay Schroeder (Jays to Redskins), baseball flops have become NFL standouts. 32 Face masks. Right away we've got a clue something might be wrong. A guy can go 80 mph on a Harley without a helmet, much less a face mask. 33 Faces are better than helmets. Think of all the players in the NFL (excluding Redskins) whom you'd recognize on the street. Now eliminate the quarterbacks. Not many left, are there? Now think of all the baseball players whose faces you know, just from the last Series. 34 The NFL has — how can we say this? — a few borderline godfathers. Baseball has almost no mobsters or suspicious types among its owners. Pete Rozelle isn't as picky as Bowie Kuhn, who for 15 years considered "integrity of the game" to be one of his key functions and who gave the cold shoulder to the shady money guys. 35 Football has Tank and Mean Joe. Baseball has The Human Rain Delay and Charlie Hustle. 36 In football, it's team first, individual second — if at all. A Rich Milot and a Curtis Jordan can play 10 years — but when would we ever have time to study them alone for just one game? Could we mimic their gestures, their tics, their habits? A baseball player is an individual first, then part of a team second. You can study him at length and at leisure in the batter's box or on the mound. On defense, when the batted ball seeks him, so do our eyes. 37 Baseball statistics open a world to us. Football statistics are virtually useless or, worse, misleading. For instance, the NFL quarterback-ranking system is a joke. Nobody understands it or can justify it. The old average-gain-per- attempt rankings were just as good. 38 What kind of dim-bulb sport would rank pass receivers by number of catches instead of by number of yards? Only in football would a runner with 1,100 yards on 300 carries be rated ahead of a back with 1,000 yards on 200 carries. Does baseball give its silver bat to the player with the most hits or with the highest average? 39 If you use NFL team statistics as a betting tool, you go broke. Only wins and losses, points and points against and turnovers are worth a damn. 40 Baseball has one designated hitter. In football, everybody is a designated something. No one plays the whole game anymore. Football worships the specialists. Baseball worships the generalists. 41 The tense closing seconds of crucial baseball games are decided by distinctive relief pitchers like Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers or Goose Gossage. Vital NFL games are decided by helmeted gentlemen who come on for 10 seconds, kick sideways, spend the rest of the game keeping their precious foot warm on the sidelines and aren't aware of the subtleties of the game. Half of them, in Alex Karras' words, run off the field chirping, "I kick a touchdown." 42 Football gave us The Fudge Hammer. Baseball gave us The Hammer. 43 How can you respect a game that uses only the point after touchdown and completely ignores the option of a two-point conversion, which would make the end of football games much more exciting. 44 Wild cards. If baseball can stick with four divisional champs out of 26 teams, why does the NFL need to invite 10 of its 28 to the prom? Could it be that football isn't terribly interesting unless your team can still "win it all"? 45 The entire NFL playoff system is a fraud. Go on, explain with a straight face why the Chiefs (10-6) were in the playoffs but the Seahawks (10-6) were not. There is no real reason. Seattle was simply left out for convenience. When baseball tried the comparably bogus split-season fiasco with half-season champions in 1981, fans almost rioted. 46 Parity scheduling. How can the NFL defend the fairness of deliberately giving easier schedules to weaker teams and harder schedules to better teams? Just to generate artificially improved competition? When a weak team with a patsy schedule goes 10-6, while a strong defending division champ misses the playoffs at 9-7, nobody says boo. Baseball would have open revolt at such a nauseatingly cynical system. 47 Baseball has no penalty for pass interference. (This in itself is almost enough to declare baseball the better game.) In football, offsides is five yards, holding is 10 yards, a personal foul is 15 yards. But interference: maybe 50 yards. 48 Nobody on earth really knows what pass interference is. Part judgment, part acting, mostly accident. 49 Baseball has no penalties at all. A home run is a home run. You cheer. In football, on a score, you look for flags. If there's one, who's it on? When can we cheer? Football acts can all be repealed. Baseball acts stand forever. 50 Instant replays. Just when we thought there couldn't be anything worse than penalties, we get instant replays of penalties. Talk about a bad joke. Now any play, even one with no flags, can be called back. Even a flag itself can, after five minutes of boring delay, be nullified. NFL time has entered the Twilight Zone. Nothing is real; everything is hypothetical. 51 Football has Hacksaw. Baseball has Steady Eddie and The Candy Man. 52 The NFL's style of play has been stagnant for decades, predictable. Turn on any NFL game and that's just what it could be — any NFL game. Teams seem interchangeable. Even the wishbone is too radical. Baseball teams' styles are often determined by their personnel and even their parks. 53 Football fans tailgate before the big game. No baseball fan would have a picnic in a parking lot. 54 At a football game, you almost never leave saying, "I never saw a play like that before." At a baseball game, there's almost always some new wrinkle. 55 Beneath the NFL's infinite sameness lies infinite variety. But we aren't privy to it. So what if football is totally explicable and fascinating to Dan Marino as he tries to decide whether to audible to a quick trap? From the stands, we don't know one-thousandth of what's required to grasp a pro football game. If an NFL coach has to say, "I won't know until I see the films," then how out-in-the-cold does that leave the fan? 56 While football is the most closed of games, baseball is the most open. A fan with a score card, a modest knowledge of the teams and a knack for paying attention has all he needs to watch a game with sophistication. 57 NFL refs are weekend warriors, pulled from other jobs to moonlight; as a group, they're barely competent. That's really why the NFL turned to instant replays. Now, old fogies upstairs can't even get the make-over calls right. Baseball umps work 10 years in the minors and know what they are doing. Replays show how good they are. If Don Denkinger screws up in a split second of Series tension, it's instant lore. 58 Too many of the best NFL teams represent unpalatable values. The Bears are head-thumping braggarts. The Raiders have long been scofflaw pirates. The Cowboys glorify the heartless corporate approach to football. 59 Football has the Refrigerator. Baseball has Puff the Magic Dragon, The Wizard of Oz, Tom Terrific, Big Doggy, Kitty Kaat and Oil Can. 60 Football is impossible to watch. Admit it: The human head is at least two eyes shy for watching the forward pass. Do you watch the five eligible receivers? Or the quarterback and the pass rush? If you keep your eye on the ball, you never know who got open or how. If you watch the receivers . . . well, nobody watches the receivers. On TV, you don't even know how many receivers have gone out for a pass. 61 The NFL keeps changing the most basic rules. Most blocking now would have been illegal use of the hands in Jim Parker's time. How do we compare eras when the sport never stays the same? Pretty soon, intentional grounding will be legalized to protect quarterbacks. 62 In the NFL, you can't tell the players without an Intensive Care Unit report. Players get broken apart so fast we have no time to build up allegiances to stars. Three-quarters of the NFL's starting quarterbacks are in their first four years in the league. Is it because the new breed is better? Or because the old breed is already lame? A top baseball player lasts 15 to 20 years. We know him like an old friend. 63 The baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, N.Y., beside James Fenimore Cooper's Lake Glimmerglass; the football Hall of Fame is in Canton, Ohio, beside the freeway. 64 Baseball means Spring's Here. Football means Winter's Coming. 65 Best book for a lifetime on a desert island: The Baseball Encyclopedia. 66 Baseball's record on race relations is poor. But football's is much worse. Is it possible that the NFL still has NEVER had a black head coach? And why is a black quarterback still as rare as a bilingual woodpecker? 67 Baseball has a drug problem comparable to society's. Pro football has a range of substance-abuse problems comparable only to itself. And, perhaps, The Hells Angels'. 68 Baseball enriches language and imagination at almost every point of contact. As John Lardner put it, "Babe Herman did not triple into a triple play, but he did double into a double play, which is the next best thing." 69 Who's on First? 70 Without baseball, there'd have been no Fenway Park. Without football, there'd have been no artificial turf. 71 A typical baseball game has nine runs, more than 250 pitches and about 80 completed plays — hits, walks, outs — in 2½ hours. A typical football game has about five touchdowns, a couple of field goals and fewer than 150 plays spread over three hours. Of those plays, perhaps 20 or 25 result in a gain or loss of more than 10 yards. Baseball has more scoring plays, more serious scoring threats and more meaningful action plays. 72 Baseball has no clock. Yes, you were waiting for that. The comeback, from three or more scores behind, is far more common in baseball than football. 73 The majority of players on a football field in any game are lost and unaccountable in the middle of pileups. Confusion hides a multitude of sins. Every baseball player's performance and contribution are measured and recorded in every game. 74 Some San Francisco linemen now wear dark plexiglass visors inside their face masks -- even at night. "And in the third round, out of Empire U., the 49ers would like to pick Darth Vader." 75 Someday, just once, could we have a punt without a penalty? 76 End-zone spikes. Sack dances. Or, in Dexter Manley's case, "holding flag" dances. 77 Unbelievably stupid rules. For example, if the two-minute warning passes, any play that begins even a split second thereafter is nullified. Even, as happened in this season's Washington-San Francisco game, when it's the decisive play of the entire game. And even when, as also happened in that game, not one of the 22 players on the field is aware that the two-minute mark has passed. The Skins stopped the 49ers on fourth down to save that game. They exulted; the 49ers started off the field. Then the refs said, "Play the down over." Absolutely unbelievable. 78 In baseball, fans catch foul balls. In football, they raise a net so you can't even catch an extra point. 79 Nothing in baseball is as boring as the four hours of ABC's "Monday Night Football." 80 Blowhard coach Buddy Ryan, who gave himself a grade of A+ for his handling of the Eagles. "I didn't make any mistakes," he explained. His 5-10-1 team was 7-9 the year before he came. 81 Football players, somewhere back in their phylogenic development, learned how to talk like football coaches. ("Our goals this week were to contain Dickerson and control the line of scrimmage.") Baseball players say things like, "This pitcher's so bad that when he comes in, the grounds crew drags the warning track." 82 Football coaches walk across the field after the game and pretend to congratulate the opposing coach. Baseball managers head right for the beer. 83 The best ever in each sport - Babe Ruth and Jim Brown — each represents egocentric excess. But Ruth never threw a woman out a window. 84 Quarterbacks have to ask the crowd to quiet down. Pitchers never do. 85 Baseball nicknames go on forever - because we feel we know so many players intimately. Football monikers run out fast. We just don't know that many of them as people. 86 Baseball measures a gift for dailiness. 87 Football has two weeks of hype before the Super Bowl. Baseball takes about two days off before the World Series. 88 Football, because of its self-importance, minimizes a sense of humor. Baseball cultivates one. Knowing you'll lose at least 60 games every season makes self-deprecation a survival tool. As Casey Stengel said to his barber, "Don't cut my throat. I may want to do that myself later." 89 Football is played best full of adrenaline and anger. Moderation seldom finds a place. Almost every act of baseball is a blending of effort and control; too much of either is fatal. 90 Football's real problem is not that it glorifies violence, though it does, but that it offers no successful alternative to violence. In baseball, there is a choice of methods: the change-up or the knuckleball, the bunt or the hit-and-run. 91 Baseball is vastly better in person than on TV. Only when you're in the ballpark can the eye grasp and interconnect the game's great distances. Will the wind blow that long fly just over the fence? Will the relay throw nail the runner trying to score from second on a double in the alley? Who's warming up in the bullpen? Where is the defense shading this hitter? Did the base stealer get a good jump? The eye flicks back and forth and captures everything that is necessary. As for replays, most parks have them. Football is better on TV. At least, you don't need binoculars. And you've got your replays. 92 Turning the car radio dial on a summer night. 93 George Steinbrenner learned his baseball methods as a football coach. 94 You'll never see a woman in a fur coat at a baseball game. 95 You'll never see a man in a fur coat at a baseball game. 96 A six-month pennant race. Football has nothing like it. 97 In football, nobody says, "Let's play two!" 98 When a baseball player gets knocked out, he goes to the showers. When a football player gets knocked out, he goes to get X-rayed. 99 Most of all, baseball is better than football because spring training is less than a month away

18AA ALL STAR GAME-TUE DEC. 19-7PM AT LANTANA SPORTS COMPLEX The Eastern Division, headed up by a half dozen players from the division leading Dobson Roofing Hurricanes, defeated the Western Division 9-5. The West squad was dominated by six players from the division leading and unbeaten Los Leones. The East led from start to finish, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning when Perry Menschel (Atlantic Sails) and Jim Bergman (Hurricanes) swatted back to back doubles, and after Mark Zappelli (Sails) singled Bergman to third, Lucas Scuteri (Palm Beach Pirates) hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Bergman. The East added two more in the third on RBI hits by Bergman and Scuteri. The West got on the board in the bottom of the third. Two infield errors allowed BJ Gilbert (Mets) to score. The West cut it to 4-2 with another unearned run in the sixth. Anthony Santos (Los Leones) reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on an infield out and scored on a double steal when teammate Hector Rivera stole second and Santos stole home. The East added two runs in the seventh. Chris Hanna (Hurricanes) doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch, and Carlos Sanchez (Hurricanes) drove in another run with a double to right center, scoring the Sails' Jason Patton. They extended their lead to 7-2 with a run in the 8th. Menschel doubled and scored from third base on a wild pitch. The West made it close with three more unearned runs in the 8th. Base hits by Esteban Cruz (Wolverines), Leotis Johnson (Mets) and Joe Baez (Nationals), an error and a passed ball made it a 7-5 game. Johnson picked up an RBI with his hit. Baez' single drove in two. The Eastern Division closed it out on a n RBI single by the Marlins' Jeff Schector. Menschel and Sanchez both had two doubles, with Sanchez getting an RBI. Bergman's double and single drove in a pair. Zappelli had two hits, and Schector, Hanna (double), Scuteri, and Jason Plocek (Palm Beach Pirates) had one each. Santos, Rivera, Fernando Miranda (Los Leones), Cruz, Johnson and Baez had the hits for the West. Hanna pitched three innings, allowing only one hit and an unearned run with five strikeouts was chosen as the game's Most Valuable Player. After his pitching stint, he made a couple of excellent defensive plays at shortstop. 18AAA ALL STAR GAME-WED DEC. 20-7PM AT LANTANA SPORTS COMPLEX The American Division, spearheaded by half a dozen star players from the first place Home Run Sports Arrigo Dodgersdowned the Nationals, headed by players from the Rockhounds 10-2, December 20 at the Lantana Sports Complex. The Amercans got off to a quick start in the top of the first inning when Brian Fitzsimmons (Dodgers) ripped a two run homer over the right field fence, scoring Dodgers’ teammate Billy Brescia in front of him. Brescia had reached on a fielder’s choice grounder in which Billy Campbell (Dodgers) was erased in a rundown between second and third base. Brescia stole second and rode home in front of Fitzsimmons’ two run shot. Campbell, the leadoff hitter, had reached on a throwing error by shortstop Dominick Liso (Duffy’s A’s), a play in which Campbell and first baseman John Marz (A’s) collided on the first base line. Marz was injured on the play and hobbled around the rest of the game with a leg injury. The Nationals got on the board in the bottom of the second inning on singles by Yoendry (Yo) Perez (Rockhounds) and Danny Garza (A’s) and an error by third baseman Bryan Ready (Texas Rangers), who dropped a pop up in the driving winds that were prevalent throughout the game. Ryan Ghianda (Dodgers) scored on a wild pitch by Nationals’ starter Edgar Tovar (Chamos) to make it 3-1, and Brescia made it 4-1 with a two out RBI single in the fourth, scoring Francis Dinzey (Caribbean Tigres), who had walked, moved to third on a wild pitch and went to third on a foul fly to right field on which Paul Florentino (Rockhounds) made a sensational, diving catch.. They added a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to increase their lead to 7-1. Fitzsimmons singled to right, stole second, moved to third on an infielder roller and scored on a passed ball in the fifth, and after Max Johnson (Dodgers) drew a walk off Perez, Jose Acuna (Tigres) blasted a moonshot over the left center field fence on to Lantana Road to make it a 7-1 game. The inning ended when Perez speared a rocket back through the middle hit by Luis Maldonado (Rangers) and turned it into a double play. The Nationals’ last run in the sixth was also unearned. John Joseph (Rockhounds) reached first on a wild pitch after swinging and missing a third strike. He moved to third on a hit by Tovar and scored when Mike Ruck (Rockhounds) hit into a double play. The Americans closed it out with three more in the 8th on singles by Fitzsimmons, Ready and Acuna, a double by Ariel Adames (Tigres), a wild paitch and a passed ball. Former New York Met Mike Draper (Dodgers) gave up one unearned run on four hits, striking out five in three innings to earn the win. He was followed by Maldonado (3IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 5K) and Acuna (3IP, 1H, 0R, 3K. SV). Tovar went the first three for the Nationals to take the loss. Garza pitched one inning, Perez two and Joseph the final three for the Nationals. Fitzsimmons with three hits and two runs batted in was chosen as the game’s Most Valuable Player, edging out Acuna who had two hits and two RBIs. Brescia had two hits and an RBI for the winners. Tovar had a double and single, and Joseph a pair of singles to lead the Nationals.