'One more reason why baseball is awesome'

May 26, 2016

The Maple City Glen Lake and Bellaire baseball teams found themselves confined to their dugouts Wednesday afternoon as rain clouded an otherwise typical late-spring doubleheader. 

Typically "awesome," that is. 

The following came from Glen Lake coach Kris Herman explaining another reason "why baseball is awesome." We'd contend fun stories like this say a lot about not only baseball, but high school sports as a whole. 

The teams were restricted to their dugouts by rain and thunder for 45 minutes when ...

" ... our guys decided to sing “International Harvester” at the top of their lungs while the Bellaire players just looked at us like deer in headlights, but they were smiling. We proceeded to play euchre (baseball players must always carry cards … it’s an unwritten rule in baseball culture), and then we heard a Bellaire player yell “heads up” as a ball bounced into our dugout. On the ball was a tic-tac-toe board and a written message that said, 'You First.'

"The whole team gathered around the ball to argue about strategy, and when we threw the ball back, their whole team did the same thing. It was absolutely hilarious. A ball being thrown back and forth through a rain delay, one team huddling around the ball when they had it and arguing about what they were going to do, the other team staring at them likes seals waiting for a fish." 

The two teams were starting up a different game when the delay ended.

"Good stuff …THAT’S the kind of thing that people don’t usually hear about that makes baseball awesome."

Be the Referee: Missing the Base

By Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials

June 13, 2023

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment – Missing the Base - Listen

We’re on the baseball diamond today for a “You Make the Call.”

Here’s the situation: Runners are on the corners with two outs. The batter hits a long home run. The runner on first base misses second base – and the infraction is properly appealed by the defense.

How many runs score on this play?

If you said none, you got it right. Even if the runner on third crossed home plate before the other runner missed second, no runs count. A run is not scored if the preceding runner is declared out upon appeal for failure to touch one of the bases or if they left too soon on a caught fly ball.

A potential three-run homer is now no runs and the end of the inning.

Previous Editions:

June 6: Softball Interference - Listen
May 30: Officials Registration - Listen
May 23: Soccer Offsides or Goal? -
Listen
May 16: Track & Field Exchange Zones - Listen
May 9: Girls Lacrosse Self-Start - Listen
May 2: Baseball/Softball Overthrow - Listen
April 25: Fifth-Quarter/Third-Half Rule - Listen
April 18: Soccer Referee in Play? - Listen
April 11: Softball Strikeout - Listen
March 14: Basketball Instant Replay - Listen
March 7: Hockey Overtime - Listen
Feb. 28: Baker Bowling - Listen
Feb. 21: Ski Finish - Listen
Feb. 14: Swimming Touchpads - Listen
Feb. 7: In or Out-of-Bounds in Wrestling - Listen
Jan. 31: Over the Back - Listen
Jan. 24: Competitive Cheer Judges - Listen
Jan. 17: More Lines - Listen
Jan. 10: On the Line - Listen
Jan. 3: Basketball Measurements - Listen
Dec. 13: Pregame Dunks - Listen
Dec. 6: Gymnastics Judges - Listen
Nov. 22: Football Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 15: Back Row Illegal Blocker - Listen
Nov. 8: Swim Turn Judges - Listen
Nov. 1: Soccer Referee Jersey Colors - Listen
Oct. 25: Cross Country Tie-Breaker - Listen
Oct. 18: Soccer Shootouts - Listen
Oct. 11: Safety in End ZoneListen
Oct. 4: Football Overtime Penalty - Listen
Sept. 27: Kickoff Goal - Listen
Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change
- Listen

PHOTO by Gary Shook.