Wise Up!
Good Deeds
By David Bruce
Athens NEWS Contributor
May 5, 2008
• On April 26, 2008, Western Oregon faced Central Washington in a softball game. Up to bat for Western Oregon was Sara Tucholsky, who played in the outfield occasionally and who had only three hits in 34 at-bats that season. In the 0-0 game she hit a home run with two players on base. Excited — make that really excited — Sara missed first base and turned back to tag the base. That’s when her knee gave out, and she crumpled to the ground in pain. Of course, Western Oregon coach Pam Knox wanted Sara to get the home run: “It’s her only home run in four years. I didn’t want to take that from her, but at the same time, I was worried about her.” Obviously, the Western Oregon players couldn’t pick Sara up and carry her around the bases.
According to the umpires at the game, the Western Oregon players and their coaches weren’t allowed to even touch her while she was an active runner. Therefore, because Sara was obviously injured and unable to run the bases on her own power, it seemed that the only option was to put a substitute runner on first base and have what should been a three-run home run recorded as a two-run single. Just then, opposing player Mallory Holtman, who played first base, said, “Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?” Mallory, holder of many, many offensive records for Central Washington, also wanted Sara to get credit for her first-ever home run.
Therefore, Mallory and fellow Central Washington player Liz Wallace, a shortstop, carried Sara around the bases, letting Sara gently touch each base. After the game, which her team lost because of Sara’s home run, Mallory explained, “Honestly, it’s one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me. She hit the ball over her fence. She’s a senior; it’s her last year…It’s the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony.”
The game was played at Central Washington. What did the spectators think about this selfless act? They cheered in a standing ovation. Western Oregon coach Pam Knox said, “There wasn’t a dry eye anywhere in the stadium after that. That was one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen in softball, and it says so much about Central Washington and the kids that they have.”
(After the game, the umpires learned that they had misinterpreted the rules of the game. According to the 2008 NCAA softball rule book, “If an injury to a batter-runner or runner prevents her from proceeding to an awarded base, the ball is dead and the substitution can be made. The substitute must legally touch all awarded or missed bases not previously touched” (page 105, rule 8.5.3.2). Therefore, a substitution could have been made and Sara would have gotten her home run. This, of course, does not change the selfless nature of the act by the Central Washington players.)
• Frank Sinatra was often incredibly generous. When Bela Lugosi, star of “Dracula,” died impoverished, it was Mr. Sinatra who paid for his funeral. When actor Lee J. Cobb had been ill, spending time in a hospital, he was worried about paying his hospital bill, but he found out that it had already been paid — by a man he didn’t even know: Frank Sinatra. Mr. Cobb made a telephone call to ask, “Mr. Sinatra, we’ve never met, but I understand you have covered my hospital costs. Why?” Mr. Sinatra replied, “Because I like your films.”
One day, he stood up to movie star John Wayne because he felt that Mr. Wayne had insulted a friend of his: the singer Gordon McRae. The occasion was a charity event in the 1950s. Jack Warner, head of Warner Brothers, wanted Mr. McRae to sing and bid $1,000 for that privilege. Mr. Wayne did not want Mr. McRae to sing and bid $2,000 for that privilege. John Wayne was physically a lot bigger than Frank Sinatra, but Mr. Sinatra let him know exactly what he thought of Mr. Wayne’s joke.
(By the way, Mr. Sinatra enjoyed drinking, and he occasionally got a hangover. He once said, “I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.”)
• On Saturday, April 12, 2008, Jon Sorak of Park Forest and his significant other, Melinda, were looking forward to seeing Jerry Seinfeld at the Chicago Theater in, of course, Chicago. They ate dinner at Harry Caray’s, then took a few photographs on State Street, and then realized that their tickets were missing. Mr. Sorak realized that the tickets had probably fallen out of his pocket when he had taken his camera out, so they searched for the tickets in that area but did not find them. They then talked to a security officer at the Chicago Theater, who directed them to the Will Call office, and their tickets were handed to them. Mr. Sorak says, “In a city where scalping is the norm, someone was honest and kind-hearted enough to [turn in the tickets]. Our thanks and prayers to this Good Samaritan.” Movie critic Richard Roeper, who wrote about this good deed in his blog, adds, “Well-played, anonymous ticket-finder.”
• All too often, funding is not available for school libraries. One student, Mitchell Nesheim, took action. To get books for his Mount Shasta (Calif.) High School Library, he wrote an article for local media in which he posted the names of authors whose books the library wanted and whose books were required or recommended for courses. He then asked the readers of the article to look on their bookshelves for books by those authors and to consider donating them to the school library. This is a great idea because all too many of us have books that we will never reread, but that other people would be happy to read.
Comments
Please log in to post a comment.
Don't have an account? Get one here. It's free and easy!
charlie33194 commented, on May 16, 2008 at 8:28 p.m.:
Dave;
Been reading your columns online for years because I can't find a copy of the A-News down here in South Florida. This column was one of the better ones if not the best. Thank you.
Charlie
