An Editor has Control of a Game and my Reputation

One of the most vivid scenes this baseball/softball season was during a softball game between Adna and Toutle Lake. Jessica-Jo Sandrini was as good as any high school softball player I have seen. Adna has a way of producing such products. On the other side of the coin, was Rachel Dahlman of Toutle Lake. I had read so much about her exploits and I was anxious to see her. I expected to see a big strong, burly gal, but what I found was an almost petite red-head with the mental toughness of a wildcat.

Anyhow, I digress. In a close ball game a couple of weeks ago, the Ducks of Toutle Lake were playing almost even with the Pirates. At 1-0, Adna had a couple of runners on base. They were poised to do more damage, but Dahlman had managed to wiggle off the hook over and over again.

My story on the game read like this “A passed ball allowed them to advance to second and third. Another passed ball brought Hoke into easily score, and a desperate throw in the general direction of Dahlman and was picked up by 3rd baseman Geri Wuollet who accurately returned it to Dahlman in plenty of time to tag out Sandrini at home plate. The tag was straightforwardly made in time, but when the two bodies separated from a violent collision, the ball was on the ground and Sandrini had scored the third and final run of the game“.

When it appeared in the paper this week the final sentence was left off. My editor was calling Sandrini out.

“A passed ball allowed them to advance to second and third. Another passed ball brought Hoke into easily score, and a desperate throw in the general direction of Dahlman and was picked up by 3rd baseman Geri Wuollet who accurately returned it to Dahlman in plenty of time to tag out Sandrini at home plate.

More likely, he didn’t like my use of “straightforwardly”. For the life of me when I was writing the article, I couldn’t come up with the word "routine". I am sure his job is tough. Two days of frantic computer work, deciding what to use, what to cut and how to present it. It is not the first time I have been impacted by his choices, and it probably won’t be the last.

Regardless, I am the one that will face Rachel Dahlman and the rest of her teammates next spring with a little less credibility.