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“Who’s on
First?”
By Jim Fowler
Karen and I went over to
Barnesville a few days ago to
check out some of Brenda
Harp’s yard sale items. I had
noticed some items on her
Facebook post pictures that in
terested me, like an old poster
advertising the Atlanta
Crackers coming to East
Thomaston Ball Park to play
the Charlotte Hornets.
When I got there, I saw a
couple of figurines of Bud Ab
bott & Lou Costello. Abbott
was dressed in his baseball
garb and Costello, holding his
bat, was dressed in his coat
and tie with his famous bowler
hat just as they did in their fa
mous “Who’s on First” routine.
Of course, I had to have it.
Em guessing that everybody
has heard that famous dia
logue between Abbott, who
was a baseball coach, and the
inquisitive Costello, who
wanted to know the names of
the players on the team. The
resulting conversation is hilar
ious.
This routine is based on an
old burlesque sketch and was
first performed publicly by Ab
bott & Costello on The Kate
Smith Hour radio program on
March 24, 1938. Since that
time, it has been performed
thousands of times, many by
Abbott & Costello, and has
been translated into many lan
guages.
In 1999 Time Magazine
named the routine the Best
Comedy Sketch of the 20th
Century. In 2005 the line
“Who’s on First” was included
on the American Film Insti
tute’s list of too memorable
movie quotations.
It took comedy genius to
complete this routine in the
manner that Abbott & Costello
did. Costello was especially ac
complished as he fired ques
tions at Abbott trying the
secure the names of the team’s
players. His frustration, shown
by his inability to find out
these names, is priceless.
Of course, Abbott was using
nicknames for the players but
Costello didn’t understand
that. Throughout their conver
sation Costello heard all these
nicknames but just couldn’t
figure out what was going on.
Let’s look at the names that
Abbott gave to Costello. You
can understand how Costello
became frustrated. It seems
that Who was on first, mean
ing that the first baseman’s
name was Who. The second
baseman was named What
and the third baseman was
named I Don’t Know.
As the routine continued the
left fielder appeared and his
name was Why, and the center
fielder’s name was Because.
The pitcher’s name was To
morrow and the catcher was
called Today. All of these
names frustrated Costello to
the point that he finally uttered
that I Don’t Care! “Oh” said
Abbott, he’s our shortstop.
That ends the routine.
I love the “Who’s on First”
routine and at times I will go to
YouTube to just watch it again.
I think it’s the greatest comedy
sketch of all time. If you have
never watched it, I encourage
you to take a look and enjoy.
Of course, the Abbott & Cos
tello figures stand proudly in
my office where I can easily see
them and recall their brilliant
work.
Diamond Knights Sweep Central-Macon
Logan Spivey launches into his delivery.
Photo by Jacob Stewart
By Jacob Stewart
Sports Editor
The Diamond Knights
bounced back and picked up
three wins last week including a
sweep over their first region op
ponent Central-Macon. Upson
Lee is now 6-4 and is now fully
into the region schedule.
The Knights cruised past
Central-Macon with a two-game
sweep in which they outscored
the Chargers 27-2. In game one,
Jake Willis dominated on the
mound through five innings. The
senior sat down 11 via the strike
out and only gave up one hit in
the 15-0 win. Through 16 in
nings, Willis has not surrendered
a run and has a 29/two strike
out/walk ratio.
From the batter’s box, he
went four-for-four with five runs
batted in, three doubles, and
three runs batted in. It is fair to
say that Central-Macon hopes to
have seen their last of the Kenne-
saw State commit.
Logan Spivey also had a big
day in game one. He went two-
for-three with two runs batted
in. Austin Hendricks also had
RBI on a hit.
The story was very similar to
the final game of the series.
Upson Lee jumped all over the
Chargers and went up 7-0 after
the first inning with the help of a
Hendricks triple. Hendricks was
on the mound and gave up two
runs in the third inning, but that
would be all the Chargers could
muster as Upson Lee rolled to a
13-2 win.
The Knights played another
non-region game versus Lee
County and they were able to
close the game out and win 6-4.
Spivey climbed the hill for
another start and he often found
himself in trouble. A couple of
hits, a walk, and an error led to a
first-inning lead for Lee County,
but Spivey induced a swinging
strikeout on a curveball to escape
the jam.
In the second, he recorded a
walk and hit a batter to put traf
fic on the bags. The senior then
got a flyout and a groundout to
put away the threat. Through
four innings, he threw 82
pitches, walked four, hit a batter,
and threw three wild pitches, but
only one of Lee County’s two
runs were earned and Spivey left
the game with the lead.
Although his stat line was
cluttered, he continues to find
ways to get out of threats. The
senior has 11 strikeouts in 10 in
nings of work, so he has plus
stuff to push him past occasional
control issues. Coach Eddie Pey
ton mentioned that he was proud
of Spivey for navigating traffic,
but said they are still working on
control. Once Spivey does get in
a rhythm, he can go on a tear.
The non-region games have al
lowed him to work out the kinks.
“Less bodily movement and
better consistency with mechan
ics (will) reduce inconsistency.
The goal is to locate fastballs
better and lower pitch count to
stay in the game longer,” Spivey
told The Upson Beacon.
Control issues from Lee
County’s starter helped the
Knights take a 3-1 lead in the sec
ond inning. The Knights were
given six free passes and they
cashed in. Two more walks, a hit
by a pitch, and an error helped
Davis Mitcham score. Then
Jackson Blakely drove in Hen
dricks on the Knights’ only hit of
the game to make it 5-2.
The Trojans pulled within
one run off a few timely hits off
of Miller Patterson who was in
relief of Spivey. Phillip Greene
came in and shut things down
with a two-inning save. Peyton
has named Greene as his first op
tion to close games. Greene has a
3.00 earned run average through
9.1 innings. For Coach Peyton to
have a good gauge of his calling
order just as region play is pick
ing up is a relief for the team.
The Knights went on to win 6-4.
Upson Lee will play a two-
game series with Pike County
this week. The rivalry is always
entertaining, and it means even
more now that the teams meet in
region play.
Hawkins, Dunaway Progressing Rapidly
By Jacob Stewart
Sports Editor
Upson Lee golf continued to
play with three matches last week.
The boys’ team went 1-3 to advance
to 2-4 overall. The girls followed
suit and are now 1-5 on the year.
Both teams beat Lamar County at
Raintree Golf Club. The boys fell
just short to LaGrange but played
a great collective round. LaGrange
edged UL by one stroke.
Each team had a standout on
the bottom end of lineups this
week. Ava Dunaway placed third
on the team in each of the Lady
Knights’ matches, which slots her
into the heavy competition around
the final contributor spot on the
team. Dunaway, along with Elbe
Watson and Kate Andrews, are
neck and neck for the position. Du
naway is currently averaging 60.6
strokes per nine, Watson at 59.3
strokes per nine, and Andrews at
59 strokes per nine.
The difference in two weeks of
action is just a stroke or less, but
Dunaway had the hot hand last
week. “There have been some ad
justments with how I play that is
different from when I first started,
like my stances, my backswing, and
my putting skills,” Dunaway told
The Upson Beacon. She also men
tioned her mentor, Jim Hickman,
who is a retired golf professional.
In talks with another hot Upson
Lee golfer, Hickman’s name was
mentioned again. Whit Hawkins
has been rapidly improving his
game. The freshman shot a 49 ver
sus LaGrange last Monday, a 56 in
the win over Lamar County, and 56
in Peachtree City against McIn
tosh. Hawkins recorded his first
birdie on the first hole at Raintree
against Lamar County. A dazzling
approach shot set him up to nail a
four-foot putt and birdie the
straightaway par-four. Hawkins
mentioned that he had taken les
sons with Hickman this winter.
Coach Brian Oglesbee spoke
about Hawkins and Trent Coker: “I
think (Hawkins) has made a lot of
progress in a short amount of time.
Above, Whit Hawkins gazes out of the tee box on hole two at Raintree Golf Club.
Below, Ava Dunaway straightens for her putt on hole eight at Raintree Golf Club.
He and Trent have been working
hard putting in extra time after
practice and that’s what it takes in
this sport. I like their enthusiasm.”
Coker shot 60 and 52 in his two
matches last week.
Trey Kelly had a great week. He
shot 38, 37, and 35 and had indi
vidual victories over Lamar and
McIntosh. Gage Park shot 53, 49,
and 60 last week and brought his
season average to 52.5 strokes per
nine, which is good for the second
man behind Kelly. Cecil Ingle shot
50, 55, and 60 and Kolby Butler
shot 53, 57, and 57.
Skye Perdue shot 51,48, and 51
and brought her season average to
50.5 strokes per nine. Emma
Fulcher stayed consistent in the
second spot with a 53, 54, and 57.
This team is going to continue
to see a lot of improvement from
top to bottom this season. The boys
will play host at the Knights Invita
tional this week, the girls will travel
to face Troup County, and both
teams will be back in LaGrange to
wrap up the week.
Photos by Jacob Stewart