For those of you who were out doing productive things with your time on Sunday, like exercising and preparing for a big Memorial Day bash, let me tell you, there was nothing on TV.
My plans for Sunday involved eating and G? well, eating. I had just enjoyed a delicious brunch with my parents, and I planned to hit the Taste of Cincinnati with my girlfriend in the late afternoon for further sustenance.
With nothing on the tube and my girlfriend asleep, I flipped between the ESPN networks with reckless abandon looking for something to stimulate my sports fix.
After watching a few rounds of Pro Bowling Association action, I abandoned the lanes and 70s mustaches to become enthralled with the Women's College World Series matchup between Tennessee and Michigan.
Now I'm not one to become overly interested in a softball game, especially between two teams I couldn't give a hoot about, but something sucked me into game two between the Wolverines and Lady Vols.
When Michigan forced a third and decisive game in the Super Regional matchup, I sat back ' I will admit, a bit excited ' to see the two teams fight for the chance to play UCLA in the World Series.
My girlfriend awoke an hour or so later, and I had to hide the remote to keep the screen on softball. At this point, I had invested too much time and interest in the game to simply hear, Why are you watching softball? Ohh
look 'Trading Spaces!'
Tennessee held a slim 1-0 advantage heading into the sixth inning. The Lady Vols were dominating, but I had faith Michigan would produce some late-game excitement. The sixth inning rolled around and the Wolverines were up to bat; be still my beating heart.
Then the game went to commercial, or so I thought.
ESPN decided to break in on the softball coverage to take me out to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, so I could watch Barry Bonds take his second at-bat of the day against the Colorado Rockies.
At first I was pretty ticked off. I think my conversation with my girlfriend went a bit like this:
Seriously I'm going to have to be subjected to Bonds getting walked and whiffing at pitches until he decides to finally crank home run No. 715? His last home run was on May 2. Argh! Get back to the softball game!
(Notice I was the only person talking in this conversation. It's a good thing my girlfriend puts up with me some days. Also, revel in the fact I said, Get back to the softball game! because I will never publicly admit that ever again.)
A few pitches later and Bonds decides to crank No. 715 out of the park, pass Babe Ruth and make me eat my words. What are the odds?
Major League Baseball's regular season consists of 30 teams playing 162 contests a piece. That's 2,430 total games a year, which adds up to 21,870 innings of action.
Just to keep this at a number I can fathom, let's say every inning is a one-two-three-inning (I know that's far fetched, but let's just say). That means there are, at least, 65,610 at-bats in MLB's regular season.
I think up until Sunday, I had maybe caught 22, maybe 30 at-bats, total this season. I'm just not a MLB fan until the postseason. Sorry.
So, with a little help from ESPN butting in, I catch the at-bat that pushes Bonds past Ruth live. Sure, I could have caught it on SportsCenter later, but there's something to say for seeing an event unfold in front of your eyes, no matter how much you wish you were watching the WCWS.
You might call me lucky, but in 1998 I was channel-surfing when I caught Mark McGwire hitting home run No. 62 to take the single-season record. Still think it's just a coincidence? In 2001, I was at a restaurant when Bonds topped McGwire with his 71st yard ball of the season.
Frankly, I'm scared. Somehow I seem to be good at catching MLB's historical moments, despite rarely watching a game from start to finish, if at all. Who knows, maybe if I tune in next season I will catch Bonds surpassing Hank Aaron's mark of 755 career home runs.
If Bonds keeps playing, odds are pretty good I will.' Mark Shugar is a junior journalism major and sports editor for The Post. Send him an e-mail at ms31803@ohiou.edu.
17
Archives
Mark Shugar
Defying the odds by seeing Bonds pass Babe
