Better Late Than NeverVeteran Dot Richardson powered the U.S. to a long-awaited softball goldby Peter King
Two hours after the host country won the first softball gold medal in Olympic history, a partisan crowd lined the fence outside the U.S. locker room and called for their hero. "DOT-tee," they chanted, "DOT-tee."
Quipped one security guard, "It like she's some kind of rock star."
Maybe bigger.
Richardson delivered the biggest blow.
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"DOT-tee" is shortstop Dot Richardson, the 34-year-old grande dame of U.S. softball. She had always dreamed of hitting a home run in the Olympics, and she did it in the Americans' opening-game victory over Puerto Rico. As it turned out, that was nothing. Last night at Golden Park in Columbus, Ga., Richardson hit a disputed two-run home run that gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead en route to a 3-1 championship victory over China.
"I've seen the changes in women's athletics up close in this country," Richardson said after the game. "I got the opportunities that my older sisters never had. It has all happened right before my eyes." To train for the Olympics, Richardson took a one-year leave of absence from USC Medical Center, where she is a third-year resident in orthopedic surgery. When she returns to work tomorrow, she will have some stories to tell her associates.
Batting in the third inning of a scoreless game with centerfielder Laura Berg on first, Richardson hit a deep fly ball down the rightfield line. There was no doubt it would clear the fence; the only question was whether it would stay fair. Rightfield umpire Geralyn Lindberg, a Swede, immediately signaled home run, her right index finger circling in the air. Television replays supported Lindberg's call. "I crouched down near first, almost all the way down the line to the base, and got a perfect look," Richardson said. "It definitely was fair."
Richardson received a hearty hug from Smith upon returning home.
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Not so, said Chinese rightfielder Qiang Wei, who pointed to foul ground after the ball left the park. Then China coach Li Minkuan gathered his team as he jawed through an interpreter with home plate ump Lucie Carmichael. For nine minutes he argued. Carmichael had already upset the Chinese in the top of the inning, when she called centerfielder Zhang Chunfang out on a close play at home—a call that TV replays did not support. With that play fresh in his mind, Li appeared close to pulling his team off the field. He didn't, and the game continued without further incident. But some of the Chinese wept openly afterward, and their representatives weren't consoled by reporters' assurances to them that replays showed the ball was fair.
The U.S. added an unearned run in the third, which, given the dominance of the American pitching staff throughout the tournament, put the game out of reach. "You have to understand how much a three-run deficit means to teams when they play us," Richardson said. "No one's getting three runs against our staff."
That had been true for the first eight games in the Olympic tournament. Then last night Michele Granger limited the Chinese to four hits over 5-2/3 innings before turning the game over to Lisa Fernandez, who allowed a run on a wild pitch before getting the final four outs.
While Richardson's long road to the gold medal has been widely reported, Granger's odyssey was hardly a trip around the block. A Southern California native, she played softball at the University of California, then followed her husband, John Poulos, to Anchorage, where he had landed a legal internship with the Alaska Supreme Court. "So many mornings I'd wake up, and it would be 30 below outside with no sun, and I'd say to myself, Do I want to throw the covers off and get out of bed?" Granger said, beads of sweat falling from her forehead half an hour after the game. "I'd get up and go to a church in Anchorage and pitch in a classroom. I'd just think, I have to keep going." She paused. "Thinking of this night," she continued, "is the only thing that got me to practice."
Carmichael's busy third inning started when she called Zhang out in a close play at the plate.
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Getting motivated to practice might have been a little easier if she had known how much excitement the Olympic softball tournament would generate. Babe Ruth once played in this classic minor league park, and the atmosphere last night would have led you to believe that the Bambino was starting in rightfield. Two hours before game time, in stifling 91° heat, a walk around the stadium found 144 people trying to buy tickets and only two attempting to sell them. "I've been out here an hour and a half already, and my legs are too sunburned for me to stay much longer," said Kim Taylor of Dallas, who was looking for two tickets. "I saw one guy sell a single ticket for $100." The retail price was $33.
Crowds of 8,500-plus flocked to almost all of the 17 softball sessions, which featured loud rock music between innings and raucous screaming during play. Last night New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner frolicked to Celebration by Kool and the Gang. The U.S. players, who were used to crowds in the hundreds, reveled in the atmosphere, and the fans reveled back.
The players joke with one another about how poor they are, about how it's a good thing they love this sport considering all the sacrifices they have made. After the game second baseman Julie Smith was asked if she would rather have $50,000 or a gold medal.
Despite weathering three years
in Alaska, winning pitcher Granger never lost sight of her goal.
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Smith didn't even blink. "Put the gold around my neck any day of the week," she said.
Done. In softball, for the first time.
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