SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — At face value, Bucky Dent draws few looks from the young ballplayers. He’s 57, and it’s been 25 years since he was in the majors.
That shiny World Series ring on his finger sure might make Little Leaguers take notice, though.
Dent stopped by another world series on Tuesday, meeting with teams from Warner Robins, Ga., and Staten Island, N.Y., that are getting ready for the Little League U.S. semifinals later this week.
The New Yorkers will play San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday after Texas beat Chula Vista, Calif., 6-3 on Tuesday night. California gets Warner Robins, Ga., in the other U.S. semifinal Thursday.
Dent runs a baseball school in Delray Beach, Fla., and said he stresses that kids play hard and respectfully on the field. Many of the youngsters he meets may know his name, and that Dent played for the New York Yankees, but certainly never saw him play.
That ring always is a topic of discussion.
“Absolutely,” the MVP of the 1978 Series said. “That’s one thing, I always wear my ring because it’s a good conversation piece to lead into a (talk) about what you’re supposed to do, and if you want to get there, this is what you have to do.”
Famous for his home run that beat Boston in a playoff for the 1978 AL East title, Dent later threw out the first pitch before Tuesday’s first game, with Dhahran, Saudi Arabia beating Maracaibo, Venezuela 5-3.
Otherwise, Tuesday served as an anticlimactic end to the pool-play round. All the teams playing had either already been eliminated, or had already advanced and were elbowing for seeding.
Besides the Texas-California game, the only other game of consequence was Reynosa, Mexico’s 3-2 win over Taoyuan, Taiwan. Mexico won its bracket and will play Japan in an international semifinal game today, with Taiwan and Curacao meeting in the other semifinal on Thursday.
Dent was asked during a news conference about comments made by baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice earlier in the series critical of today’s major leaguers. Rice had said today’s players, specifically naming Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, didn’t compare to players of his generation.
Dent and Rice both played in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Rice was in that playoff game where Dent hit a three-run homer off Mike Torrez to lead the Yankees over the Red Sox 5-4 at Fenway Park.
“What he was referring to is how we played the game. You went on the field, and you just played the game. You played hard, you slid hard, and you did the things the right way as far as when were you on the field,” Dent said.
As for Jeter, Dent singled out the Yankees’ current shortstop as someone who “plays the game right. He’s the guy I tell kids to watch.”
Saudi Arabia 5, Venezuela 3
Saudi Arabia was so excited about winning its last game at the series that every player came into the postgame interview room. Most of them sat in the back while making faces at slugger Cameron Durley and two other teammates up front.
Durley hit a two-run single and reliever John Sheppard held Venezuela hitless the last three innings.
Canada 14, Germany 13
The team from Vancouver, British Columbia, gave up an eight-run lead, then rallied with four runs in the sixth for a wild win over Ramstein Air Force Base.
Chris Holba and Matt Zembraski went deep during an 11-run fifth that put the team made up of children of U.S. soldiers or employees ahead 13-10.
Canada then rallied when Anthony Cusati hit a two-run shot. After loading the bases, Katie Reyes’ two-run single put Canada back on top.
“I was excited. I was shaking,” the 13-year-old Reyes said about going to the plate before her big hit.
Massachusetts 12, Kentucky 3
Austin Batchelor homered and scored three runs, and Peabody, Mass., used a nine-run third inning Tuesday to pull away from Russellville, Ky. Batchelor also struck out seven on the mound for the win.
Kentucky had its only lead of the game after Ian Woodall’s RBI single drove in Matt Harper in the first.
Mexico 3, Taiwan 2
Marcelo Martinez struck out 12, and Reynosa, Mexico hit three solo homers and held off a late rally to stay undefeated. Martinez didn’t allow a hit but was lifted with two outs in the fifth after reaching his 85-pitch limit.
“I knew about the no-hitter, but I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want to jinx him,” Mexico catcher Luis Trevino said through interpreter Sergio Guzman. “I just concentrated on making the right (pitch) calls, keeping him relaxed.”
Taiwan broke up the no-hitter when Wen Hua Sung homered off reliever Jorge Maldonado to open the bottom of the sixth. Reliever Rojas struck out the final Taiwan hitter for the save.
Texas 6, California 3
Travis Daves and Wyatt Willis each hit two-run homers as Texas stayed undefeated.
Daves’ homer followed a two-run triple by Drew Brooks to put Texas up 4-2 in the third.
California got a run back in the fourth before Willis’ bomb to straightaway center to give Texas a three-run cushion. The 13-year-old outfielder stomped on third base in delight before getting bombarded by teammates’ high-fives at the plate.
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