[greymule]

Watched a bit of the first weekend of what is billed as the second-largest SP softball tournament in the country. (They had 260+ teams, but that's about 100 fewer than in recent years.)

Anyway, whenever the teams would change sides, many of the players took lit cigarettes out on the field with them. They were supposed to play by speed-up rules (no throws down to 2B, one pitch between innings, no infield balls). However, the catcher at one point told the first batter of the inning, "Take your time, man. At $5.85 a pack, I gotta get some more out of this one."

So the batter took his time approaching the plate, and the catcher was able to take 4 more deep drags before flicking his cigarette to the backstop.

Incidentally, that catcher made only one out in three games, and that was a sacrifice fly. He seemed to be able to hit soft liners over the infield at will. And he did it cross-handed.

So I guess I won't begrudge him his smoke.