It's game time here at Take Two. We will present you with four numbers associated with major-league baseball. Do you know their significance?
THE ANSWER: RBIs by Vinny Castilla in 2004. He also had 35 homers in his return to Colorado's Coors Field. This is the same Vinny Castilla who hit .219 with eight homers and 51 RBIs in 109 games for the Rays. In the five seasons before he came to the Rays, he hit .302 and averaged 38 homers and 112 RBIs. In the almost four post-Rays seasons, he has hit only .255 but averaged 23 homers and 88 RBIs.
THE LESSON: The Rays saw talent (even if his stats were inflated). Too bad they didn't see any heart.
89,018,286
THE ANSWER: The average opening-day payroll of the seven playoff teams other than the Yankees' $184,193,950.
THE LESSON: We're talking to you, Vince Naimoli and Stu Sternberg. No, $89-million is not expected. But neither is $23-million.
2,320,651
THE ANSWER: Expos attendance in 1983, the fourth consecutive nonstrike season of more than 2-million. That was before the stars were traded. Before ownership pulled out of a stadium deal. Before games were taken off Montreal radio and television.
THE LESSON: Montreal did not fail baseball. Baseball failed Montreal.7.6-MILLION
THE ANSWER: The approximate combined metropolitan population of Baltimore and Washington, according to the 2000 census. Only three cities with teams are larger: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. All have two teams. It is about 600,000 larger than San Francisco and Oakland, which has the Giants and A's.
THE LESSON: Washington and its suburbs have grown tremendously since the Senators left for Texas in 1972. Some members of the media say because baseball has failed in Washington twice, it doesn't deserve the Expos. That's a fallacy.
Rave: At Hudson, rules apply to all
"You've got a bunch of thugs, Coach."
"That's the most classless team I've ever played against in my entire life."
Hudson High football coach Mark Nash made those comments Oct 1. He directed the first to Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare during the postgame handshake, the second to reporters after the 42-19 loss.
The game featured 14 penalties for almost 200 yards, Nash allowing his kicker to try a 58-yard field goal on the game's last play and Wesley Chapel returning the short attempt to midfield.
By Tuesday, everyone, including Nash, had showed the utmost in class.
Nash apologized, saying, "There were calls that could have gone either way, and I let those get the best of me. I have no one to blame but myself."
Hudson principal Angie Stone suspended Nash for one game.
"He has to be held accountable for what we viewed as unsportsmanlike conduct and suffer the same consequences his players would be subjected to if they violated the rules," Stone said.
Castelamare did not let the situation escalate. After all, he can sympathize. As coach of Ridgewood High from 1985-96, he went 40-80, 0-10 in '96.
"It's his first year. This kind of thing is going to happen," he said after the game. "It happened to me a long time ago, too."
Nash will be back on the sideline Thursday. And because of the actions of his bosses, fellow coach and, especially, Nash, he can look into his players' eyes without a hint of hypocrisy.
"It's a lesson learned," Nash said Tuesday. "I have to play by the rules just like my players."
