1
The Kansas City Royals should get umpire Joe West something nice for his birthday this year.
When a heavy downpour forced the ninth inning to be suspended during the Royals’ game in St. Louis on Thursday, Kansas City held a 4-2 lead after scoring three times in the top of the ninth.
With the game the last meeting between the two teams this season, a new rule added this year allowed West to call the game in a decision that would wipe out the top of the ninth and give the Cardinals a 2-1 win, based on the score from the previous completed inning. West chose to wait out the rain. And wait some more.
After 41/2 miserable hours, the game resumed shortly after 3 a.m. CDT and the final out came at 3:14 a.m., with the Royals winning 4-2.
The reward for the umpiring crew? They had a matinee in Chicago, with the first pitch scheduled just 10 hours after the final out in St. Louis.
“We worry about that game when we get to that one,” West told a pool reporter after the game. “We had to worry about this game.”
2
Whether they do 540s, 900s or, in one case, a 1080, an all-star group of pro skateboarders will participate in the seventh Clash at Clairemont in San Diego on Saturday to raise money for Grind for Life, a nonprofit that helps cancer patients, and a local YMCA.
The list includes Tony Hawk, teen sensation Mitchie Brusco and Andy Macdonald, who will form one of the teams in SEGA’s Sonic Generations of Skate contest on the half pipe. Others scheduled to compete at the Mission Valley YMCA Krause Family Skate & Bike Park include Bucky Lasek, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Mike McGill, Lincoln Ueda and Adam Taylor, as well as several BMX racers.
All are appearing for free.
Macdonald said organizers hope to raise more than $20,000 to split between Grind for Life, which was founded by the YMCA’s skate park and Mike Rogers, a pro skateboarder who is a two-time cancer survivor. Talking Points’ reaction to the fundraiser? Gnarly.
