Indonesian baseball

I am writing in response to the article RI bows out to Pakistan in rain-halted match published on Feb. 19, 2001.

As baseball is a relatively new sport in Indonesia, so too is baseball reporting and I would like to make a few comments and suggestions regarding this article for the Post baseball reporters.

First of all, the article says "Indonesia bowed out 2-5 to Pakistan". It is standard procedure in baseball, as in most sports as far as I know, to put the higher score first regardless of the order in which the teams are mentioned.

Second, in the nomenclature of baseball you don't score points, you score runs.

Third, when a particular inning is mentioned, it is used singularly not plurally. You don't say "in the first innings" or "entering the second innings", but rather "in the first inning" and "entering the second inning".

Finally, and most importantly, baseball, as simple as it may appear, is actually a very complex game and therefore, baseball reporting requires precision, detail and clarity. The third paragraph states that "Pakistan's first batter, KM ... hit the ball over the fence giving him an easy home run and scoring Pakistan's second point of the first innings". Say what?

The very first batter hits a one-run homer and scores the second run. All I can figure is that it's just another case of applying my arrogant western logic in trying to understand the intricately mysterious game of Indonesian baseball, which defies not only logic, but mathematics as well.

MARSHALL LESESNE

Jakarta