TOUCHING GESTURE: Central Washington's Liz Wallace (left) and Mallory Holtman carrying Sara Tucholsky after the Western Oregon player hurt her knee on a home run. -- PHOTO: AP
May 3, 2008
COMMENTARY
When grace takes over from rivalry
By George Vecsey
SOMETHING remarkable happened in a college softball game in Washington last Saturday.
At least, I am conditioned to think it was remarkable, since it involved an act of sportsmanship, with two players helping an injured opponent complete the home run she had just slugged. Why this generous act should seem so unusual probably stems from the normal range of diving soccer and ice hockey players, bulked-up baseball players, police-blotter American football players, and other high-profile professionals.
The moment of grace came after Sara Tucholsky, a diminutive senior for Western Oregon, hit what looked like a three-run homer against Central Washington.
Never in her 21 years had Tucholsky propelled a ball over a fence, so she did not have her home-run trot in order, gazing in awe, missing first base. When she turned back to touch the bag, her right knee buckled, and she went down, crying and crawling back to first base.
Pam Knox, the Western Oregon coach, made sure no teammates touched Tucholsky, as this would have automatically made her unable to advance.
The umpires ruled that if Tucholsky could not make it around the bases, two runs would score but she would be credited with only a single. Then Mallory Holtman, the powerful first baseman for Central Washington, said words that brought a chill to everybody who heard them: 'Excuse me, would it be okay if we carried her around and she touched each bag?'
The umpires ruled that if Tucholsky could not make it around the bases, two runs would score but she would be credited with only a single. Then Mallory Holtman, the powerful first baseman for Central Washington, said words that brought a chill to everybody who heard them: 'Excuse me, would it be okay if we carried her around and she touched each bag?'
The umpires huddled and said it would be legal, so Holtman and the Central Washington shortstop, Liz Wallace, lifted Tucholsky, hands crossed under her, and carried her to second base, and gently lowered her so she could touch the base.
Then Holtman and Wallace started to giggle, and so did Tucholsky, through her tears, and the three of them continued this odd procession to third base and home to a standing ovation.
'Everybody was crying,' Knox recalled on Tuesday. 'It was an away game, and our four fans were crying. We couldn't hit after that.' The extra run made it easier for Western Oregon to win the second game, 4-2, and sweep the double-header. More important, all involved realised they had taken part in an event they would always remember.
The question is, where did it come from, this impulsive gesture by Holtman?
'She hit it over the fence,' Holtman said. 'She deserved it. Anybody would have done it. I just beat them to it.' She said she had been taught by her coach, Gary Frederick, that 'winning is not everything'.
'She hit it over the fence,' Holtman said. 'She deserved it. Anybody would have done it. I just beat them to it.' She said she had been taught by her coach, Gary Frederick, that 'winning is not everything'.
Is there something intrinsic to women's sports that caused this generosity?
Holtman, 22, did not think so. 'Not many people are ever in that position,' she said. 'I would hope that our baseball players would do it.' Knox said the act 'came from character'. 'They're playing for a coach who instils it,' she said.
Holtman, 22, did not think so. 'Not many people are ever in that position,' she said. 'I would hope that our baseball players would do it.' Knox said the act 'came from character'. 'They're playing for a coach who instils it,' she said.
Knox said she absolutely would not say this demonstrated some major difference between women's and men's sports. 'As coaches, we are so competitive, we forget this stuff. I would hope I would have done the same thing.'
We've all seen sportsmanship at a high level. Golf depends upon personal adherence to the rules. In tennis, a player occasionally yields a point - not usually at a crucial moment - producing a sweet little patter of applause. In 1999, Arsene Wenger, the French coach of English Premier League club Arsenal, insisted upon a replay of a cup match after a young Arsenal player had unwittingly set up a goal in violation of the unwritten code when an opponent is injured.
So, maybe sportsmanship is universal, out there, needing to be cultivated.
'It's amazing what they did,' Tucholsky said of the Central Washington players, while facing what she assumes will be the first surgery of her 21 years for what is suspected to be a torn ligament. 'Mallory didn't know it was my first home run.'
'It's amazing what they did,' Tucholsky said of the Central Washington players, while facing what she assumes will be the first surgery of her 21 years for what is suspected to be a torn ligament. 'Mallory didn't know it was my first home run.'
Tucholsky was too immobile to join the handshake line at the end of the game, but her family has been in touch with Holtman, photographs have been exchanged, the two teams are wrapped in a bond of good feeling we can only wish did not seem so singular, so remarkable.
NEW YORK TIMES
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