Wright State at ORU

[theeagleman5]

First meeting ever between the Golden Eagles and the Raiders.....GO BLUE!!! 

[Otis 83]

Thanks to the staff for some agile scheduling to get another opportunity for the Golden Eagles at home.  Let's support the team as they try to extend this home winning streak.

[Otis 83]

OT, is that your car alarm that keeps going off during baseball games?

[theeagleman5]

Wright St. pitcher struggling to throw strikes in the 1st.....ORU up 3-0 without a hit....

[theeagleman5]

Finally an infield single....ORU up 5-0 and still batting.....

[theeagleman5]

4 walks and 3 errors....and ORU still batting in the first inning.........oh, finally a new pitcher for the Raiders.....

[theeagleman5]

ORU 7  Wright State 1  in the home 3rd....Good Guys have the bats going now.....

[theeagleman5]

12-1  thru 5 innings....ORU 12 runs on 12 hits but 10 LOB....could be 20-1.....

[theeagleman5]

Good Guys finish off Wright State 13-2.....ORU now 5-2 on the season and come right back tomorrow afternoon at JLJ vs. Wichita State.....

[Old Titan]

3 hours ago, Otis 83 said:

OT, is that your car alarm that keeps going off during baseball games?

LOL - dang smart key; I can never figure it out.

Nope, that's just one of them fancy-schmancy sound effects they have up there in the press box.

Which reminds me of a story; forgive me if I've told this one before; but considering the times in which we are currently living, it seems particularly apropos:

Back in the day working in the press box, we used a computer program called ClickFX which featured a handful of pitiful sound effects that could be played in certain game situations.  One of them was a trumpet version of "Taps" that we would play during opposing team pitching changes, as the pitcher leaving the game trudged toward his dugout.

We thought this was pretty darn clever, until one warm spring evening when I was seated before an open window in the front row of the press box.   

Suddenly, two gnarled hands reached up and in from below, and grabbed the bottom of the window sill right in front of me.  The hands clutched and strained as they slowly pulled into view a small, weathered face, with silver hair and misty eyes.

The man's voice trembled when he spoke:  "That song you just played...do you know what it is?  Do you even know what it means??" 

And with that, he just shook his head, knowing that he was probably wasting his breath, and slowly lowered himself back into the seats below.

I distinctly remember feeling incredibly embarrassed, and frankly ashamed.  No, I had NOT thought about what that song represented, especially to members of "The Greatest Generation", who had heard it played far too many times for friends and loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice.

But, I did now.  And suddenly, it didn't seem funny at all.

Needless to say, we never played "Taps" again as a sound effect at baseball games; at least not while I was there; and I don't think I've ever heard it since at an ORU baseball game.

And, I hope I never do; because every time I hear that song I think of two things that make me well up:  the trumpeter in the color guard who played it so beautifully at my father's graveside service, and that little man in the press box window so many years ago. 

[Old Titan]

"And now for something completely different"

More shop talk for ORUBlue82:  earlier in tonight's game, Demeter for ORU laced a line drive to right-center with two outs and nobody on.  

With the game well in hand, he tried to stretch it into a double, but was thrown out at second to end the inning.

ORU play-by-play man Adam Hildebrand immediately said, "So, score that a single for Demeter, who is thrown out trying to advance to second."

Is that right?  I don't remember that from our scorekeeping days back at ol' beautiful JL Johnson Stadium.

I mean, maybe if he had driven in a run, but was thrown out trying to advance on the throw home, but in this situation is Adam correct?

[Otis 83]

59 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

"And now for something completely different"

More shop talk for ORUBlue82:  earlier in tonight's game, Demeter for ORU laced a line drive to right-center with two outs and nobody on.  

With the game well in hand, he tried to stretch it into a double, but was thrown out at second to end the inning.

ORU play-by-play man Adam Hildebrand immediately said, "So, score that a single for Demeter, who is thrown out trying to advance to second."

Is that right?  I don't remember that from our scorekeeping days back at ol' beautiful JL Johnson Stadium.

I mean, maybe if he had driven in a run, but was thrown out trying to advance on the throw home, but in this situation is Adam correct?

I was a mediocre select baseball score keeper but I would score that as Adam described it. 
 

“ If a player is thrown out attempting to take an extra base (e.g., turning a single into a double), that still counts as a hit.”

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/standard-stats/hit

[TrueBlue82]

9 hours ago, Old Titan said:

"And now for something completely different"

I mean, maybe if he had driven in a run, but was thrown out trying to advance on the throw home, but in this situation is Adam correct?

Adam is on top of it.  Once a hitter reaches first safely, he has earned a hit - and everything from that point on is base running (stretching a single into a double, or getting thrown out on the base paths).  If a batter is thrown out at third, trying to stretch a hit into a triple, he would be rewarded with a double, and thrown out as a base runner.

Of course, OT and I never had to worry about any critiques as the official scorer for the game   If we ever made a “mistake”, the phone from the dugout would ring in the press box, and one of the coaches (usually, Cochell - but sometimes Harrison or Brewer) would “inform” us that our scoring decision was incorrect (primarily on questionable hit vs. error calls).  In hindsight, I can understand that the coaches had a different view from the dugout, and could see some bad bounces that were not as obvious as from the press box.  But, back in the day with youthful hubris fully intact, I can remember considering that phone similarly to the one in the White House from which the President could initiate a nuclear strike. There was always a pregnant pause after every debatable error/hit decision, and if the phone would ever ring, it was NOT a good day.   

And, btw, nice tip of the cap to Monty Python…

[Old Titan]

"So, that's scored a single?"

"...and we don't get French benefits??"

 

[Otis 83]

On 2/28/2022 at 9:04 PM, Old Titan said:

LOL - dang smart key; I can never figure it out.

Nope, that's just one of them fancy-schmancy sound effects they have up there in the press box.

Which reminds me of a story; forgive me if I've told this one before; but considering the times in which we are currently living, it seems particularly apropos:

Back in the day working in the press box, we used a computer program called ClickFX which featured a handful of pitiful sound effects that could be played in certain game situations.  One of them was a trumpet version of "Taps" that we would play during opposing team pitching changes, as the pitcher leaving the game trudged toward his dugout.

We thought this was pretty darn clever, until one warm spring evening when I was seated before an open window in the front row of the press box.   

Suddenly, two gnarled hands reached up and in from below, and grabbed the bottom of the window sill right in front of me.  The hands clutched and strained as they slowly pulled into view a small, weathered face, with silver hair and misty eyes.

The man's voice trembled when he spoke:  "That song you just played...do you know what it is?  Do you even know what it means??" 

And with that, he just shook his head, knowing that he was probably wasting his breath, and slowly lowered himself back into the seats below.

I distinctly remember feeling incredibly embarrassed, and frankly ashamed.  No, I had NOT thought about what that song represented, especially to members of "The Greatest Generation", who had heard it played far too many times for friends and loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice.

But, I did now.  And suddenly, it didn't seem funny at all.

Needless to say, we never played "Taps" again as a sound effect at baseball games; at least not while I was there; and I don't think I've ever heard it since at an ORU baseball game.

And, I hope I never do; because every time I hear that song I think of two things that make me well up:  the trumpeter in the color guard who played it so beautifully at my father's graveside service, and that little man in the press box window so many years ago. 

That's a great story OT and I don't remember you having told it before.  However, that's not the story I thought you were going to tell.  The story I thought you were going to tell came to me by way of Morty who is a mutual friend of ORU40 and me.

Remember back in the early 80's how Richard would park his BMW right by JLJ?  He was at a night game when one of the Titans, that's what were called back then youngsters, fouled a ball off that went out of the stadium.  We heard a plunk and a car alarm went off.  Richard immediately sprinted out to check the damage.  The students laughed as Richard's approval rating wasn't especially high in those days.  Apparently after the game Richard went into either the locker room or the dugout with the ball to talk to the player who hit the ball.  The player, who it was I don't remember, saw Richard approaching him, fuming and holding the ball and the player said "Want me to sign that for you?"  Maybe its not true or maybe I don't remember all the details correctly but its a good story nonetheless.

[Old Titan]

On 3/3/2022 at 2:05 PM, Otis 83 said:

That's a great story OT and I don't remember you having told it before.  However, that's not the story I thought you were going to tell.  The story I thought you were going to tell came to me by way of Morty who is a mutual friend of ORU40 and me.

Remember back in the early 80's how Richard would park his BMW right by JLJ?  He was at a night game when one of the Titans, that's what were called back then youngsters, fouled a ball off that went out of the stadium.  We heard a plunk and a car alarm went off.  Richard immediately sprinted out to check the damage.  The students laughed as Richard's approval rating wasn't especially high in those days.  Apparently after the game Richard went into either the locker room or the dugout with the ball to talk to the player who hit the ball.  The player, who it was I don't remember, saw Richard approaching him, fuming and holding the ball and the player said "Want me to sign that for you?"  Maybe its not true or maybe I don't remember all the details correctly but its a good story nonetheless.

LOL - hadn't heard that one!

But, here's my best/worst Richard story pertaining to baseball (and, trust me, for anyone who was around during his reign of terror:  it's not a matter of whether you HAVE a Richard or Lindsay story; it's just a question of how INSANE the stories are).

I'm doing the public address announcing and keeping the official scorebook during a game one afternoon at Beautiful JLS, with someone along side (I can't remember who; it may have been manager Chris Konner?) doing the scoreboard and ClickFX. 

Richard comes into the press box with some visiting "dignitaries" (i.e. pastors of huge churches and/or ministries that Richard is trying to impress), marches right into our booth in the middle of an inning (the booth with the sign on the closed door that says something to the effect of "Please Keep Out During Play"), and announces that he needs one of us to go down to the Mabee Center immediately, and get a half-dozen or so T-shirts out of the promo closet for his friends.

I can't remember how exactly I handled it, but I seem to remember mumbling something about not really being able TO GET UP AND LEAVE THE OFFICIAL SCOREBOOK DUTIES WHILE A GAME WAS BEING PLAYED.  And, I think my running mate in the booth also mentioned that if he left, no one in the press box knew how to run the scoreboard ( I know I sure didn't).  I mean, give me abreak:  maybe one of the UMPIRES could run down there or something?!?

Needless to say, King Richard was none too pleased.  Don't know for a fact whether he ever got his wish; he left in a huff, and I seem to recall hearing later that he went into the locker room and found a student manager or similar victim to do his bidding. 

And I have a vague recollection of getting summarily called onto the carpet the next day in the Athletic Department for being insolent to RR, but I can tell you truthly my behavior was NOTHING like the time I tried to kick Dean of Students Jack Wallace and Director of Student Housing JW Brewington out of the press box for basically being miserable human beings (another shaggy dog story for another time).

The important thing is, I sure hope those visitors got their t-shirts... #smh

[theeagleman5]

Thats a wonderful Richard story above.....got a huge chuckle out of that one.....TheEagleman has no RR stories as i never actually spoke to the man 1/1 but I do have a Jack Wallace story.....for those of you lucky enough to have never met Dean Wallace let me just say that the guy was apparently a retired Marine officer or some branch of the service....and he treated us like his personal whipping boys.....he could have easily been a stunt double for the nasty Sargeant Hadley  in Shawshank Redemption....can't say I ever saw him smile.....he was feared by everyone I hung around with including myself.....well.....at the end of my freshman year in the spring of 1973...in fact it was the last day of finals I had just finished my last final and had lunch at Saga with my wing mate Dean Page....Deano was a real Okie and a soph music major.....a quiet kid who was known for his dry wit and his very thick Fu Manchu moustache....on this day since we were both heading home for the summer in 24 hours his facial hair was particularly long extending far below the lip line almost to his chin and the hair on his upper lip was also seriously in need of a trim but this was the early 70s and the way Deano liked to have his moustache.....we walked into the old/original mens dorm and got into the elevator together to head upstairs and start packing for the summer.....but as the doors were closing a big mitt came in and stopped the elevator doors from closing...in walked Jack Wallace who was about 6'3" but to us he seems closer to 6'10".....he looked at Deano while i moved to the other corner....my hair was probably longer than it should have been and I hadn't shaved for a week.....but Big Jack set his sights on my friend and grabbed him by the whiskers on his upper lip and tossed him up against the wall of the elevator as we headed up to the 5th floor.....Jack put his face right in Deanos' face and i think my friend may have lost his bladder unfortunately......"so listen, my friend" bellowed Jack...."i want to see you in my office by 3pm with that moustache trimmed to regulation or you won't be eligible for admission next semester......is THAT CLEAR???"......my friend Deano mumbled "yes sir!"....as the doors opened on the 5th floor......we scrambled out and Jack just stayed in the elevator and went back to the lobby glaring at us until the doors closed.....poor Deano went quickly to his room for his shaving gear and I told him to basically just screw Jack and he should just pack his gear and go home for the summer.....but Deano says....no way....he knows who i am and i can't tell my parents that I got kicked out because of my moustache.....oh well....it was sad because Deano actually looked much more presentable than TheEagleman at that point with my scraggly hair and 8 days worth of beard......Jack Wallace.....a Class A Jerk.....lol  

[Old Titan]

Wallace was a certifiable sadist when it came to his job.  I'm told that to family and friends he was beloved, but then so were the main characters on "The Sopranos".

All I know is that when it came to dealing with 18-to-22-year old males on the ORU campus, he was ridiculously regimented, and appeared to love every minute of it.