THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, July 8, 1994                   TAG: 9407080760
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON                            LENGTH: Medium:   62 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** A story about the Virginia Adult Baseball League all-star game in Friday's editions contained several errors. Game time was 7 p.m., the umpires' contract said they only had to stay 30 minutes before leaving if the game was not ready to begin and umpire Dave Waronker sat in the stands after deciding not to continue at 11:25 p.m. Correction published Saturday, July 9, 1994, page C8. ***************************************************************** UMP CALLS IT QUITS WITH SCORE TIED BUT ADULT BASEBALL LEAGUE ALL-STARS FINISH GAME AFTER LATE START AND EXTRA INNINGS.

It wasn't Paul Jordan's long fly ball that scored Kyle Helmsderfer in the bottom of the 10th inning and lifted the National League to a come-from-behind victory over the American League in the Virginia Adult Baseball League All-Star game Wednesday night at War Memorial Stadium.

It wasn't John Clarke's scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and force extra innings.

No, the memorable moment came when umpire Dave Waronker called the game over after nine innings with the score tied 6-6.

Granted, it was 11:25 p.m. The 7:15 scheduled start turned into an 8 p.m. start because the teams were locked out of the stadium and the field wasn't prepped for a game.

According to their contracts, the umpires only have to wait 15 minutes before leaving if the game isn't ready to begin.

They chose to give the teams a break since they had no control over the grounds crew at War Memorial.

But after nearly 3 1/2 hours of play on one of the hottest nights of the summer, Waronker was going home.

Many of the players from both teams had begun trickling out after they had played their three innings. The few who remained stood dumbfounded, not particularly thrilled about continuing play, but even less thrilled about ending with a no-decision game.

AL assistant coach Mike Dooley and NL assistant John Clarke spent several minutes shouting at Waronker and the three remaining umpires about playing by major league rules, which means you don't quit until the game is over.

While the point was well taken, someone in the stands with a very tired child seated next to her, pointed out that major-leaguers don't have jobs they have to get to at 6 a.m.

They finally agreed to play two more innings or one hour, whichever came first, and if the game was still tied they would end it.

Short one umpire and barely able to field two teams, they re-took the field at 11:40.

At 11:55, with men on first and second and none out, Jordan stepped to the plate.

He lofted a long fly ball that dropped at the wall in left-centerfield. Helmsderfer came around to score, and everyone headed for the exits. by CNB