We're ready for a Rally Squirrel appearance during the World Series

The St. Louis Cardinals have caught four squirrels at Busch Stadium and released them outside the ballpark.

But what if that's not all of them?

In case you're wondering, here are some ground rules:

• A ball that hits a squirrel, or any animal on the field, remains in play. In 2001, Randy Johnson threw a pitch during an exhibition game that killed a dove, but it was ruled no pitch because the ball never got near the plate.

• If the Rally Squirrel happens to run up the leg of a hitter, it would be the umpire's discretion to make a call, said Major League Baseball umpire executive Rich Rieker.

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Speaking of getting caught, a couple of members of the 1986 World Champion N.Y. Mets are in the news for the wrong reasons:

• Pitcher Dwight Gooden says in an interview scheduled to air on ESPN's "E:60" on Wednesday night that he was too high and paranoid  to attend the Broadway ticker-tape parade celebrating the Mets' World Series win. He says he watched it on television at the Long Island apartment of a drug dealer he did not even know. Gooden said at the time that he had overslept.

• Outfielder Lenny Dykstra has changed his plea from not guilty to no contest on charges of auto theft and providing a false financial statement. He still faces up to four years in prison. Police said he tried to lease and then sell high-end cars from several car dealerships in January by claiming credit through a phony business. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 20."

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The Rally Squirrel might not show up, but she definitely will. If there's a World Series being played in St. Louis, you can bet Clementine Wilkerson will be there.

After all, she's been to every World Series game in St. Louis.

Wilkerson is 98. She was just a teenager when the Cardinals went for the first time in 1926, beating Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees.

This year, they're back for the 18th time, seeking their National League-best 11th World Series title. KTVI-TV reports that Wilkerson was there, bundled up in the blustery cold for the Cardinals' 3-2 win over Texas in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

The TV station asked her if fans were nervous when Ruth came to the plate.

“Yes, just like they do when Pujols comes to the plate,” she said, referring to current Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols.

 

 

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