Friday, May 3, 2013

There are ties in baseball

Anybody who covers minor league baseball long enough witnesses some odd occurrences.

A game ending on a wild pitch? Unfortunately, it happens.

A man setting himself on fire and rounding the bases following a Saturday night game? Self-promoters will do anything for attention and a few thousand dollars.

A former No. 1 overall draft with immense talent resuming his career at the short-season Class A level after missing more than two years because of drug problems? Only one Josh Hamilton exists.

But here's a new one that popped into the email Friday: the Lake County Captains and Peoria Chiefs played to a 2-2 tie.

A tie? Believe it.

The Captains and Chiefs started their game Thursday night in Peoria, Ill. The weather turned nasty after the Captains took a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. The game was suspended.

The teams were hoping to complete the game and play a regularly-scheduled contest Friday afternoon. But weather patterns roaming central Illinois didn't allow it to happen.

The teams play in separate Midwest League divisions and don't meet again this season. The Chiefs never received a chance to bat in Thursday's eighth inning, meaning the game reverts back to the seventh inning under the suspended game rule (Rule 4.2 in the Major League Baseball rulebook). The game was tied, 2-2, after seven innings.

All stats through seven innings count. The game, though, will not count on either team's record, allowing those who design pages containing Midwest League agate to rejoice. Here's the final box score for those who always wanted to examine numbers from a professional baseball game listed as a tie.

The Captains are now on their way to Burlington, Iowa, where they begin a three-game series with the Bees on Saturday.

Wonder if Manager Scooter Tucker has concocted a ploy to regain his team's focus following a tie? 

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy  

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