Book Excerpts


	Extra Innings Back to Table of Contents . . . When a full nine innings of play results in a tied score, the game goes into “extra innings,” starting with the top of the tenth. Whether the visitors score a run or not, the home team comes up in the bottom of the tenth to try to even the score or win the game. This is called “fair ups,” and it’s designed so that each team gets an equal chance of scoring. If the game is still tied at the end of the tenth inning the game will go into an eleventh inning, and so on, and so on. A May 1984 marathon game between the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers took two days to finish. With the game tied 3-3 after seventeen innings, the game was suspended at 1:05 A.M. on the first day. The game resumed the next day and continued for another excruciating eight innings. Finally, after a total eight hours and six minutes, the White Sox triumphed, 7-6, on a Harold Baines home run in the bottom of the twenty-fifth inning. This is the longest game, time-wise, that has ever been played in the majors. The two teams dusted off the excitement of the contest and immediately faced off in their scheduled third game of the series, which ended in two hours and nine minutes. Chicago won the rubber match, 5-4. Many fans regard these extra-inning games as representative of the true nature and excitement of the game. While it’s true that there are many epic extra-inning games, it’s equally true that there are many memorable games that end within nine innings. And not everyone welcomes the drama that comes with a game that ambles past midnight on a Tuesday, as it did in Chicago in 1984. We know a great many fans who have to go to work in the morning or are paying a babysitter $10 an hour and can’t afford, for one reason or another, to hang around to see the conclusion. And, remember, beer sales ended hours ago. If you cannot or do not want to stay, you will surely have to shake off the belligerent stares—and perhaps comments—from fans who cannot fathom leaving such a sensational game. However, we believe that somewhere, sometime, a self-proclaimed “real” fan has received a call from the babysitter in the bottom of the twelfth inning to say that Little Suzy is barfing on the living room couch. Sometimes even baseball snobs have to leave games early. . . *** * *** What do you want to do now? 1) Back to Interactive Table of Contents 2) Buy autographed books, Savvy Girls shirts, Scorebooks and Quarterly Magazine from this site 3) Buy book at: 4) Send a nice e-mail to Deidre and Jackie!
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