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'It had to be a UFO' (Strange but true baseball story)
NWI.com ^ | RYAN O'LEARY

Posted on 02/18/2008 10:00:17 AM PST by no nau

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To: no nau
X-Files

Season 6

"The Unnatural"

21 posted on 02/18/2008 11:12:51 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Join in the spirit of "hope!" Change is good! Embrace climate change!)
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To: AnAmericanMother

Yes, the last 2 posters basically got the triple-play trivia question. The way I heard it...runners on 1st and 2nd (nobody out, obviously) and were running with the pitch. The ball is popped up on the 3rd base side of 2nd base. An umpire calls “Infield Fly Rule!” Batter is out and runners advance at their own risk. Well, the guy that was on first doesn’t know what to do so he just keeps on running. The guy that was on second had almost made it to 3rd, but knows he has to get back to 2nd base to not be doubled up (or in this case tripled up!). So, the 2 runners pass each other half-way between 2nd and 3rd. This means the runner that started on 1st base is automatically out, since you can’t pass a runner ahead of you on the basepaths. And, yes, the poor guy that was on 2nd base originally, gets plunked on the head by the ball before he steps back on the bag. Runner off base hit by batted ball is OUT - triple play.

Should have known our smart Freepers would know the answer!


22 posted on 02/18/2008 11:15:36 AM PST by GLDNGUN
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To: So Cal Rocket

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His mouth can hold more than his belly can,
He can hold in his beak,
Enough food for a week!
I’m damned if I know how the hell he can!


23 posted on 02/18/2008 11:15:43 AM PST by Hegemony Cricket (IX-XI -- numquam didici)
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To: no nau

I was playing right-center in a softball game once in gusty winds. A guy hit a ball to right. Really undercut it a lot. I took a step back, then started running in. The guy playing second went back on the ball. A huge wind came up and the second baseman stood still, then started running back to the infield. The ball landed on the base path between 1st and 2nd, rolled across the mound, then foul between 3rd and home.

One of the weirder things I’ve seen on a diamond.

The other was at back-to-back diamonds. On one, a guy fouled off a pitch and it went towards the other diamond. There, the pitcher delivered the ball to the plate where the batter hit BOTH balls. One went foul between 3rd and home, the other was popped up in the infield. The ump had to call a no pitch as nobody was sure which ball the batter hit in fair territory


24 posted on 02/18/2008 11:23:06 AM PST by Andyman (The truth shall make you freep.)
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To: The Spirit Of Allegiance

“Game called on account of albatross.”

The early bird gets the worm-hole.


25 posted on 02/18/2008 11:26:16 AM PST by Salamander (And don't forget my Dog; fixed and consequent......)
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To: no nau
I wonder if it could of been grabbed by a swallow in mid-flight?

Now what's the airspeed of an unladen swallow? (scratches head)

26 posted on 02/18/2008 11:28:15 AM PST by avg_freeper (Gunga galunga. Gunga, gunga galunga)
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To: mysterio
Since non-existent space monsters can manipulate baseball games, perhaps they can next manipulate our presidential election

Why not? They already ate GWB's brain.

27 posted on 02/18/2008 12:10:48 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (If Liberalism doesn't kill me, I'll live 'till I die!)
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To: wrench
So, no one saw the big seagull?

"Mine! Mine! Mine!"

28 posted on 02/18/2008 12:52:05 PM PST by Tanniker Smith (Any Monday you can walk away from is a good one.)
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To: GLDNGUN
You want a good baseball trivia question? How about this one...how can a team pull off a triple play WITHOUT EVER TOUCHING THE BALL?

The Dodgers once managed to have Three Men on Third at the same time. Of course, the other team did have the ball and tagged all three out in that case.

29 posted on 02/18/2008 12:55:26 PM PST by Tanniker Smith (Any Monday you can walk away from is a good one.)
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To: Tanniker Smith
The Dodgers once managed to have Three Men on Third at the same time. Of course, the other team did have the ball and tagged all three out in that case.

If all 3 were on the base, wouldn't ONE of them be there safely? How could all 3 be called out, unless one or more tagged while off the base?

30 posted on 02/18/2008 1:28:10 PM PST by GLDNGUN
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To: wrench
So, no one saw the big seagull?

Ha! This is the proper response to any bird that strays into a professional ballpark.

31 posted on 02/18/2008 3:22:40 PM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Bureaucracy is a parasite that preys on Free Thought and suffocates Free Spirit.)
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Comment #32 Removed by Moderator

To: no nau
After thinking about this since morning... All I can add is lots of speculation:

When a fast ball is popped up, it can deaden/reduce the spin applied by the pitcher. Not so when a curve or slider is popped up because the spin is opposite as it approaches the batter. When this happens, the spin can be greatly increased. It can spin so fast you can hear it as it passes overhead.

Now, suppose we enter a defective ball into the equation. Say, an improperly stitched cover that failed while up above the lights. We should consider the possibility the such a ball could slice out of the field toward the first base side. There are always kids waiting for a “free” practice ball around a ballpark. {I got a lot of them that way} They aren’t going to come forward and say, “Hey! Here’s your ball!”

But like I said, Lots of speculation.

33 posted on 02/18/2008 4:32:50 PM PST by labette
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To: no nau

maybe a passing Raven?


34 posted on 02/19/2008 3:28:25 AM PST by The Raven (You don’t need a high IQ to see what’s wrong with liberalism, but you need a high IQ to defend it)
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To: no nau

This reminds me of the homer in the gloaming. My guess is the ball was a homerun and nobody found it. Ever lose a golfball on the links? Same thing.


35 posted on 11/01/2008 9:10:11 PM PDT by phildallmayr
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