COLUMN: Classic is aptly named

Penn and LaSalle provided a great game. It's too bad no one was there to see it. Fourteen pitchers, 32 players, three umpires and seven coaches took part in the five-and-a-half hour, two-day, 16-inning contest at Veterans Stadium, which concluded this morning at 12:30 a.m. The few people who battled the cold and late hours were treated to what could arguably be the best baseball game seen in Philadelphia in recent years and for many years to come. On a fundamental level, the Penn-La Salle game was inexcusable. Through 16 innings, the two teams combined for a measly 16 hits, and almost every run was caused by poor defensive execution. But as entertainment, the contest was remarkable. La Salle scored no more than two runs every other inning for the first seven, and the Quakers scored two in the third and five more in the sixth to knot the game. Both teams were held scoreless thereafter -- until the 16th. But what made the game so fantastic was the number of jams the multiple relief pitchers had to work themselves out of. The entire affair was played under the umbrella of the Liberty Bell Collegiate Classic -- a six-year tradition played at the Vet, featuring local schools Delaware, Drexel, La Salle, Penn, Rider, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova. The Classic was created in 1992 after the Phillies opened the stadium for local tournament use, including the high school Carpenter Cup tournament in June. Although Penn's 1-6 record in the Classic (the only win coming in 1992) doesn't look great, the Classic provides the opportunity to crown, like the basketball Big 5, a regional champion. Unfortunately, the Classic is not hyped to any great measure. Tickets cost four bucks and parking another six. The result: very little attention and even less attendance. But the Classic has the potential to be Little League Valhalla. The few kids in attendance, escorted by their coaches, not only watched the best game Philadelphia will offer in 1997, but also got to participate. There was a plethora of foul balls the half-pint athletes got to fight over, with the winner getting the glory of throwing it to the umpire on the field. Before the game, there were autographs being signed, hot dogs and peanuts to be eaten and a seat so close to the field that you could hear the players' chatter. The 62,530-seat Vet will never be filled for a tournament of this kind -- it probably won't be filled for the Phillies either -- but free admission to NCAA Division I baseball games in a major league ballpark would get many more people involved in a spring collegiate sport that more often than not gets overlooked. Games like last night's are incredibly rare. Penn coach Bob Seddon said that it was the longest game in his 26-year collegiate career. But despite the outcome or the entertainment value of the individual games, the Classic should take advantage of what it is and the potential it has. The result would be the development of a spring sport in Philadelphia worthy of attention, and coaches, kids and average Joes could benefit from it. And when a game as special as last night's comes around, there will be people sitting in the stands to watch it.