Here’s another baseball Micro Softy. To solve this one, you have to know some rules of major league baseball. (The solution to last week’s Baseball Microsofty is below this one.)

These days, major league pitchers who win 20 games or more in a season are rare. To pamper their throwing arms, pitchers are often removed after a certain pitch count.

Image Credit: Jennifer - Adobe Stock

But back then, minor league pitcher Lefty Wright was promised a bonus of ten thousand dollars if he won twenty games. Lefty had a great year. He had won 19 games and was scheduled to pitch in the last game of the season. It was a home game.

But Lefty’s team, the Screaming Possums, was owned by Herb Weaselton, a famous local tightwad. Weaselton called Lefty’s manager with orders to not let him throw one pitch during the last game. He said he couldn’t afford to pay Lefty the promised bonus. If the manager let Lefty throw even one pitch, he was fired.

The pitching was terrible that night. Pitcher after picture walked batters, gave up hits and was replaced.

At the end of eight innings, the score was tied at 19 to 19 and there were two out.  At the top of the ninth, with men on first and second, the Possums’ pitcher was hit on the arm by a line drive. No one scored but this mishap loaded the bases. The pitcher left the game holding his bruised arm. The only available pitcher left on the Screaming Possum roster was Lefty Wright. Lefty’s manager had no choice. He took a deep breath and called Lefty to come in from the bullpen.

Lefty took the mound.

Here’s this week’s Micro Softy puzzle in three parts:

1. In accordance with the wishes of Herb Weaselton, Lefty did not throw a single pitch. Lefty’s manager therefore did not go against owner Weaselton’s orders and was not fired.  
2. Lefty was declared the winning pitcher for his 20^th win and collected his ten-thousand-dollar bonus.

Explain how this can all be true so far. How can Lefty be the winning pitcher without throwing a single pitch?

Here’s the final question:

• The game went to the bottom of the ninth where it was won by the Screaming Possums. The final score of the game was 23 to 19 in their favor. What was the final play of the game?

We’ll give the answers next Monday here at Mind Matters News.

Solution to Micro Softy 37:   A Unique Baseball Game

Image Credit: Thomas Hassler - Adobe Stock

Last week’s Micro Softy was also about major league baseball. The story it is based on is true: In June 1997, the Toronto Blue Jays played the Montreal Expos. What was missing from this 1997 game that occurred in every Major League Baseball game for decades before?  

Here’s the answer:

The Blue Jays are the only American League team from Canada. The Expos were then the only team in the National League from Canada. But until 1997, they had never played against each other in regular season or in post-season play. This changed in 1997 with the introduction of inter-league play where teams from the American League could play teams from the National League.  So for the first time, two Canadian teams played against each other.

What was missing in the inter-league play that happened in every Major League Baseball game for decades before? The playing of the US National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

The Star-Spangled Banner is played before every major league baseball game where a US team participates but, since this game was played in Canada with no US teams participating, only the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, was played.

Here are the links to the last two Monday’s puzzles (with the answer to the previous Monday’s puzzle in each case):

Monday Micro Softy 37: A unique baseball game Something was missing from the game played on June 30, 1997, that was missing from every previous MLB game for decades. The answer to Micro Softy 36 lies in considering the problem from a number of angles…

Monday Micro Softy 36: A glass half empty? Half full? Too big? The professors on a research expedition must make sure that each glass of rationed water is exactly half full. The answer to Micro Softy 35 can be deduced by asking where a house could be placed so that all directions are south.

And here are links to all the earlier Micro Softies

Monday Micro Softy 35: A house with a view. A billionaire, used to getting what he wants, demands a house where all the walls’ windows offer a view in the same direction. The solution to Monday Micro Softy 34 is quite simple if we pay attention to the exact measurements of the poles and the wires. sincere

Monday Micro Softy 29: A funeral lament in four lines. The funeral director was puzzled by Dan’s description of his relationship to the deceased but there was no question that his grief was sincere Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 22 through 29.

Monday Micro Softy 21: Finding More of the Deadly Fentanyl Pills. There, you will also find links to Microsofties 11 through 20 as well.

At Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar?, you will find links to the first ten Micro Softies. Have fun!