“THE DUGOUT DILEMMA”

Much hullaballoo has been cast about in the recent dust-up at Burkie Field concerning alleged rogue roustabouts with nothing but pure evil in their hearts!...Seems as tho one perpetrator stepped on some sensitive toes with his remarks about the conditions (as he saw it) of the Wolf Point dugouts...

Now..the solution to the “problem” has taken on a life of it’s own...as the powers-that-be think that filling said dugouts in with dirt...and dare I say concrete will solve a pretty much simple problem...(Remind me of the infamous debacle of Triangle Park)...where a handful of nerde- wells lurking about could be dissipated by the mere removal of the picnic tables...and perhaps the slaughter of a myriad of cottonwood trees...some said to have shaded the likes of Lewis and Clark! REALLY?

Common sense seems to be a rare commodity these days...when closer inspection of one dugout revealed but a SINGLE PLANK missing from it’s moorings with only 2 lag bolts needed to secure it’s rightful place amongst it’s comrades!...Filling both dugouts to their brim seems like over-kill...to say the least...You lose the height and depth ALREADY provided for players to stretch and vent their frustrations too!...Secondly...how about a protective screen in front of both dugouts to stop errant Spaldings from making direct contact to someone’s unprotected cranium? The work involved to fill both dugouts (let alone the cost of hauling the dirt...concrete too...if used) makes no sense...and reminds me of what my Dad...(Burkie himself!) used to say...”Measure twice Son...and saw once!”) And you are still left with no protective barrier in front... WHY?

I called the lumber yard and asked the price of 6 ft. high chain-link fence and was quoted $120 for 50 ft... Posts were a little over $5.00 a post...Need less than 10... Both dugouts are less than 30 ft. long in front...WELLA! A couple of hundred smackeroos would solve the “Crime of the Century” in short order!

And who...pray tell...thought that gravel and baseball go together?...I swear! Has the WHOLE WORLD gone mad? ~Scott Taylor