It is the best feel-good sports story of this young century.
And Central Washington University first baseman Mallory Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace have begun to appear on national talk shows. Interviews with them will run tonight on SportsCenter after the Sunday night Cubs-Cardinals game.
Saturday, the story appeared on the MSN home page and it has generated a HUGE amount of comments from readers. More than 2,000 of them by this morning.
For those who haven't heard the story, on April 25, Holtman -- from White Salmon -- and Wallace carried Western Oregon University's Sara Tucholsky around the bases after Tucholsky tore her knee going back to touch first base following the first home run of her career. A pinch runner for Tucholsky would have turned her round-tripper into a single and taken a run off the scoreboard.
No doubt, KATU-TV in Portland and its video sponsor -- a lighting fixture company -- are getting plenty of exposure with this video.
The three-run shot by the senior cleared the fence and allowed visiting Western Oregon to win 4-2. It proved to be a career-ending injury for Tucholsky and a playoff-spoiling loss for Central.
It's ironic that no player in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference has hit more homers (35) during her career than Holtman, arguably the greatest player in Central history. And it was Holtman's idea to ask an umpire about carrying her opponent.
I can't imagine competing men exhibiting the same level of sportsmanship. I'm not sure what that says about dudes, but I don't think I want to hear the answer.
George Vescey of the New York Times offered the same question in a column.