[His High Holiness]

All;

With all of the confusion about numbers, I am reminded of a situation that occurred in a Legion program about 10 years ago.

A nearby Legion team had only two black players on it and they were both the same height and build. (They were not related.) To a white person not paying attention, they could have been twins. To a black person paying attention, they were not at all alike. Both played outfield so the other team never had any reason to notice them up close except when they were batting.

One of them was the best hitter on the team and the other, although a starter, was close to the bottom in terms of batting average. The poor hitter was also a relief pitcher when not riding the bench or playing outfield.

The coach batted the best hitter fourth in the lineup and the other guy was 8th or 9th. In critical situations where the the weaker hitter was due up, he would have them switch jerseys. If the weaker black player was on the bench that day, he would "enter" the stronger black player with the weaker's jersey number. That way, he could bat the slugger twice in the lineup. No one caught on, not the umpires, not the coaches, and not the players. 90+ percent of the players and coaches were white or Asian in the Legion program where they played.

Near the end of the season, the coach tried this trick with a team that had a black assistant coach. Dumb move. That coach caught on right away but could not convince the umpires. Both players lied about their names. The team backed them up so the umpires played on. Players don't carry drivers licenses on the field.

Later on, an investigation showed that the whole team had been involved with this chirade from the beginning of the season. They would gather in a group in the dugout to shield the two players changing uniform jersies.

I don't remember exactly how this was handled but the coach did not return the next year. I wonder what part of the Legion pledge that he was upholding when he thought up this scheme.

Peter