Box Score

FOR A WHILE, it looked to be rather fitting that Jake Kurtz would be playing the violin Wednesday night during Girard Academic Music Program's spring concert. Then good things began happening and . . . Who knows? Maybe he mixed in some trumpet. At loud volume. Accompanied by happy dancers. Kurtz is 5-9, 160-pound sophomore righthander and he was the last pitcher standing in a wild Public League baseball semifinal at Richie Ashburn Field in South Philly's FDR Park. Did he dazzle?

By Stan Isaacs Now that baseball is back in the swing of things, right-thinking people are saying, "It's good to be reading box scores again. " Ah, the box scores. Names and numbers, numbers and names (though no first names). The numbers for batters are under: "AB" (at-bats), "R" (runs), "H" (hits), "RBI" (runs batted in), and "Avg. " (batting average). For pitchers: "IP" (innings pitched), "H" (hits), "R" (runs), "ER" (earned runs), "BB" (walks), "SO" (strikeouts), "NP" (number of pitches)

Now that baseball is back in the swing of things, right-thinking people are saying, "It's good to be reading box scores again. " Ah, the box scores. Names and numbers, numbers and names (though no first names). The numbers for batters are under: "AB" (at-bats), "R" (runs), "H" (hits), "RBI" (runs batted in), and "Avg. " (batting average). For pitchers: "IP" (innings pitched), "H" (hits), "R" (runs), "ER" (earned runs), "BB" (walks), "SO" (strikeouts), "NP" (number of pitches), and "ERA" (earned run average)

IF YOU THOUGHT that the Philadelphia 76ers lost Monday night, and if you thought that its gifted prodigal son had a bad night on his return - then you don't know how to read the only box score that really matters. You see, Monday night, a city previously made of brick, glass and stone became a living, breathing, human entity - an excited parent opening its arms to welcome home the problem child it had to let go to find his own way. On Monday night, the brash brat-boy, finally realizing that the real gift of a gift is the gift - and not the taking advantage of it - walked into those outstretched welcoming arms and came home.

I haven't been interested in the 76ers since the run at the Lakers in 2001. However, despite lacking a superstar, this year's young, passionate team is off to a tremendous start in an abbreviated season. Two weeks ago tonight, I had dinner at a restaurant on Ninth Street in South Philadelphia with one of our sons, who shares my interest. As we ate, he used his phone to keep tabs on the Sixers' score. They were host to the Washington Wizards and were up 54-40 when the game reached halftime, just as I paid our dinner bill.

Archbishop Ryan fired a 21-5 fourth-quarter burst against Bishop Egan Tuesday to sink the Eagles, 52-36, in a rescheduled Catholic North game at Ryan. "It wasn't a coach's dream," Raiders coach Dave Mulholland said. "It was an ugly game on both parts. But we'll take a win any way we can get one. " Pat Kilgarriff led Ryan with 12 points. Bill Whalen added 11 - 7 of which were scored from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. And the Raiders' John Smedley grabbed 13 rebounds while holding Scott Sheplock, Egan's high- scoring guard, to 9 points.

In Northeast's 11-7 loss to Mastbaum on Friday, the box score didn't tell the entire story. On first glance at the results of the quarterfinal playoff game, the reason for the Vikings' defeat seems apparent: The Panthers (8-4 league, 12-4 overall), winless in two early matchups against Northeast (8-4, 11-5), scored 9 runs in the top of the fifth inning. They also had a pair of 3-run home runs, 6 walks and sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning. What the box score doesn't show is that Panther Joe Malak was given three chances before he finally made a key hit in the rally - a 3-run home run. Malak had already ensured himself a good day with a 2-run home run, his first of the season, in the first inning.

Radnor's tough zone defense neutralized Lower Merion's inside game and the Raiders came away with a 51-46 Central League victory Friday that was not nearly as close as the score might indicate. The Raiders (1-0 in the Central League's second half, 6-7 overall) had an 11-point lead at halftime and stretched that advantage to 14 after three quarters. Lower Merion (1-0, 2-9) was able to make the score respectable with a 23-14 scoring edge that occurred against the backdrop of the substitutions and ragged play of the fourth period.

On Tuesday, the Lower Merion Aces went on the road and beat the Marple Newtown Tigers, 34-28. In basketball. The final tally might look more like something you'd see in football season, but the box score tells no lies. Eleven players scored; only one of them scored in double digits. Want a sense of how dry this game was in the scoring department? In the fourth quarter, the Aces scored all of five points. There are hockey periods more offensively potent than that. "At one point, I was wondering if the game was ever going to come to an end," said Aces' coach Mike Manning.

It has been 16 years since someone other than his mother actually referred to Raymond Sims by his given first name. And Cynthia English only calls her youngest of three sons Raymond when she needs to stress a point. Most people refer to the undersized, yet extremely talented point guard on Roman Catholic boys' basketball team as "Doodles. " "Everyone, even my teachers call me Doodles," Sims said. People really close to him in his North Philly neighborhood just refer to the 18-year-old as "Doo.

WASHINGTON - Villanova coach Jay Wright had to be feeling good when he arrived at the Verizon Center knowing he'd have Maalik Wayns, the Wildcats' leading scorer, available for Saturday's game against No. 9 Georgetown. But while completing preparations in the locker room, Wright received bad news. JayVaughn Pinkston, who had averaged 15 points while Wayns sat for three games nursing a sprained left knee, went up for a dunk in early warm-ups, came down on a basketball sitting on the court, and rolled his left ankle.

La Salle coach John Giannini didn't need a box score to tell him how poorly his Explorers executed their offense Saturday against St. Louis. The Explorers committed 20 turnovers and "a lot of them were really ugly," Giannini said. The miscues gave the Billikens the upper hand in their 59-51 Atlantic 10 Conference victory that broke La Salle's 14-game winning streak at Tom Gola Arena. The Explorers (17-9, 6-5 A-10), who lost their third consecutive game and are 12-1 at home this season, showed little patience on offense against a St. Louis defense that ranks No. 1 in the conference in forcing turnovers (16.4 entering the game)

Bishop Eustace is a team with too many seniors and too much ambition to settle for moral victories. So the Crusaders weren't patting themselves on the back after Saturday's closer-than-the-score 62-52 loss to state power Trenton Catholic at the Jeff Coney Memorial Tournament at Rancocas Valley. "I felt like we let it get away," said Bishop Eustace senior guard Carson Puriefoy, who scored 20 points. "We were right there the whole game. " Bishop Eustace (13-4), the No. 4 team in The Inquirer Top 10, hurt itself by shooting just 9 for 20 from the foul line.

I haven't been interested in the 76ers since the run at the Lakers in 2001. However, despite lacking a superstar, this year's young, passionate team is off to a tremendous start in an abbreviated season. Two weeks ago tonight, I had dinner at a restaurant on Ninth Street in South Philadelphia with one of our sons, who shares my interest. As we ate, he used his phone to keep tabs on the Sixers' score. They were host to the Washington Wizards and were up 54-40 when the game reached halftime, just as I paid our dinner bill.

When a kid is a junior in high school and says his last touchdown was scored at age 11, you are thinking 5 years ago. Maybe even 6. And then there's Joseph Shepherd Jr., of Central's rejuvenated, still-rejoicing football squad. "I'm only 15," he said. "I'll be 16 in December. " He then paused and added, sheepishly, "I skipped a grade. " Hey, it happens. You should be proud of it, young man. You also might want to take a few bows for the heroic feat you pulled off yesterday in the first round of the Public League AAAA playoffs.

His career high in points is seven. He has scored two points, total, in four tournament games this season. So don't look in the box score for evidence of Steve Rodio's contribution to the St. Augustine Prep basketball team. Well, except maybe in the final scores. "He's the glue that holds us together," senior forward Charlie Monaghan said of Rodio, a 5-foot-8 senior guard and the son of Hermits coach Paul Rodio. Monaghan, who has signed with Division II St. Michael's in Vermont, and senior guard Isaiah Morton, who has signed with Division I Marist, score most of the points and get most of the attention for the Non-Public A state champions.

Forget the numbers. Never mind the school records, the scoring averages, the gaudy statistics. If you want to know about a player, check out his work in the fourth quarter of a close game. If you want to see even deeper, focus on his performance in the final two minutes, with the crowd on its feet and everybody's throat in their mouth, and an underdog opponent on the brink of a surprising victory. "The last four years, I've seen seniors step up in big moments," Cherry Hill East's Chris Santo said.

Forget the numbers. Never mind the school records, the scoring averages, the gaudy statistics. If you want to know about a player, check out his work in the fourth quarter of a close game. If you want to see even deeper, focus on his performance in the final two minutes, with the crowd on its feet and everybody's throat in their mouth, and an underdog opponent on the brink of a surprising victory. "The last four years, I've seen seniors step up in big moments," Cherry Hill East's Chris Santo said.

CHICAGO - This was one of those games that needed to be dissected beyond the box score to reveal the entire truth. Joe Blanton, for example, got credit for a quality start during the Phillies' 4-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday at Wrigley Field. His pitching line said he worked seven innings, allowed five hits and three earned runs, and struck out eight. That looks good and represents marked improvement over his previous two outings this month, when he surrendered 18 hits and 10 earned runs in 112/3 innings.

Now that baseball is back in the swing of things, right-thinking people are saying, "It's good to be reading box scores again. " Ah, the box scores. Names and numbers, numbers and names (though no first names). The numbers for batters are under: "AB" (at-bats), "R" (runs), "H" (hits), "RBI" (runs batted in), and "Avg. " (batting average). For pitchers: "IP" (innings pitched), "H" (hits), "R" (runs), "ER" (earned runs), "BB" (walks), "SO" (strikeouts), "NP" (number of pitches), and "ERA" (earned run average)