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Your view: In defense of the Dallas School Board

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Alicia Nicole Lewis and Stephen Aubrey Williamson united in marriage

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; There&#8217;s been a lot going on in recent days &#8212; a record-breaking snowfall, the NCAA Final Four and the last go-round of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum &amp; Bailey Circus in town.</p><p>Lost in the shuffle, sadly, was Opening Day of Major League Baseball. I never thought I would see the day when the National Pastime would run a distant second or third or worse to any other sporting event.</p><p>But that time seems to have arrived.</p><p>Growing up in the 60s was the best of times for baseball &#8212; Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax &#8212; to name just a few. But there were so many more. Guys like Harmon Killebrew, Ted Kluzewski, Juan Marichal, Carl Yaztremski, Richie Allen, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris, Maury Wills, Lou Brock and on and on.</p><p>These were real baseball players. They played the game the way it was supposed to be played. They defined a game that has always been defined by one very simple fact of perfection &#8212; 90 feet between the bases. It&#8217;s always been that distance, and it has never needed to be changed &#8212; unless you&#8217;re a kid and you want to enjoy the game in your back yard or on the street or in some field in your neighborhood.</p><p>That&#8217;s where adjustments were made to accommodate the players of the day.</p><p>At the Barnes Street Field where we learned the game, we used rocks for bases. We stepped off the distance every time we played. We tried to be fair to the game, but more fair to the size of all participants.</p><p>And we cared for our field. We would constantly toss stones and rocks and glass away from the playing surface to assure there would be no bad hops or injuries. But there were plenty of them anyway. Sometimes, if we only had enough players to cover some positions, new rules had to be made up. For instance, if we only had a first baseman, shortstop, left fielder and center fielder, we declared right field to be either foul or, in serious games, it would be an automatic out.</p><p>If we had a left-handed batter, we would shift the defense and apply the same rules to left field. These rules may sound odd, but they worked and never ignited any arguments.</p><p>Sometimes we would have to assign a catcher from the team that was batting. His main responsibility would be to catch the balls that went unhit and throw them back to the pitcher. It was a courtesy that we all lived by and it certainly kept the game going.</p><p>The only time there would be any controversy would be if there was a play at the plate. In these incidences, the catcher &#8212; remember, he is a member of the batting team &#8212; would have to take a throw from the field and tag the runner &#8212; who, remember, is on his team &#8212; out. And if the runner was out, then the catcher had to endure the wrath of his teammates.</p><p>But it all worked out. We all took our turns and we never did anything to compromise our integrity because this was baseball and we were taught to never cheat at baseball. That would be committing a sin. We stood loyal to the game and we all walked off the field together and went for a soda or an ice cream at Jack&#8217;s Market on Second Street.</p><p>Later in the day, we would gather on my front porch and flip cards. We would bring our Topps baseball cards &#8212; no player was exempt &#8212; and we would flip them against the wall and we would sometimes win and sometimes lose. Sure I hated to lose a Mickey Mantle card in a flipping contest, but the rules were the rules.</p><p>The reality is, if we had those cards today, we would be living in a mansion at Lake Como, Italy. Those cards would be so valuable today &#8212; aw, forget it. I&#8217;d probably still be flipping them.</p><p>In those days before cell phones, iPads, laptops and the Internet, we would anxiously await delivery of the daily newspaper to check the box scores. We would scour the standings and National League and American League leaders to see who was out front in the American League and the National League and who was leading in home runs, RBI and batting average. Today, with a couple of clicks, we can know just about anything instantly.</p><p>I can tell you, I prefer the way it used to be. Play ball!</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_OBoyle_Columnshot-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Flipping cards and rocks for bases