Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for April 05, 2023

Where did Max come from? It seems like he just stumbled into this story randomly.

Boo’s on first.

Flies punish those who don’t follow the rules. Hit the bench, Marigold.

oh, hi, Max

Sounds like some rules the commissioner would add.

Hi, Max! :D

Swat’s the matter with you, Mari?! :D

Some baseball terms are odd Marigold!

Max!!

Was there also a ghost runner on second, Max?

Who knows the technical rules of sports? The Shadow knows.

An educational moment for those curious, a “ghost runner” is a newish rule (2020 in the majors) where in extra innings the last batter out from the last inning starts as a runner in second. It shortens “overtime” games by starting with a runner in scoring position.

Infield fly, is a very old rule (1895 in the majors) where if you pop it up in the infield an umpire can invoke the rule pointing straight up, which means even if the ball is dropped, the batter is out. This removes all possibility of a “force out” where a runner has to advance because another runner is coming behind them, so the defense can’t purposely drop the ball to try and make a double or triple play.

Max is actually very good at baseball?