THREE UP, THREE DOWN – Fungo circle mystery solved

“If God is all powerful, can he make a rock so big that even he can’t lift it?”

“What are those dirt circles near home plate at Cashman Field for?

Comedians and newspaper readers always pose the most intriguing questions.

You’d have to ask Bill Cosby and the late, great George Carlin about the first two. But R-J reader Candi Davis came to the right place.

Those circles are where 51s pitchers stand while watching their ERAs turn to vapor.

Just kidding. The dirt circle in the middle of the diamond is where ERAs are vaporized.

Those dirt circles in the grass on either side of home plate are called fungo circles, where coaches used to hit practice ground balls with a fungo bat during infield practice. They are dirt so the grass doesn’t get worn out where the coaches stand.

It’s not done so much anymore — because guys are such good fielders, I guess — but the circles remain, just in case Roberto Duran and his hands of stone become a second baseman reincarnate.

I suppose they also could serve as on-deck circles for guys who are extremely nearsighted, though glasses would probably be the better option.

THREE UP

■ TIM CHAMBERS: With Buddy Gouldsmith having been fired and his eye on taking his place, the College of Southern Nevada coach picked a good week to lead his team (with a small assist from Bryce Harper) to another Junior College World Series. It was like an umbrella salesman being transferred to the Amazon during the rainy season.

■ RANCHO VS. BISHOP GORMAN: A most improbable state high school baseball championship game, this, considering the last time Rancho even qualified for the tournament was 1977 and that Gorman trailed Galena 22-10 Friday and was two outs from being 10-run-ruled before rallying to win, 24-22. It was a remarkable comeback by the Gaels. But in 1977, it snowed in Miami. For the only time in history.

■ ALEX TAGLIANI: Driving for a startup, small-budget team, the Las Vegas resident qualified fifth fastest — right up there with the established, big-budget teams — for the Indianapolis 500. This was the baseball equivalent of the Royals taking two of three from the Yankees.

THREE DOWN

■ MIKE HAMRICK: The former UNLV athletic director didn’t hire Gouldsmith (though he insisted on giving him a bunch of one-year contract extensions), and Missy Ringler, who just resigned as women’s golf coach, also just preceded Hamrick. But of the 10 coaches he hired, only four (Lon Kruger, men’s basketball; Allison Keeley, volleyball; Kat Mertz, women’s soccer; Pete Manarino, softball) are consistent winners, and Hamrick had nothing to do with hiring Kruger. No matter what he says. Plus, Hamrick is responsible for the end zone scoreboards at the Thomas & Mack Center on which the numbers don’t line up.

■ BOWL SYSTEM: Yes, the college football regular season is important. Yes, I suppose every game is like a playoff. And, yes, the nonconference schedules of most of the major powers are now more watered down than the complimentary gin and tonics at Danny’s Slot Country because of it. I can hardly wait for that Ohio State-Eastern Michigan game, how about you?

■ LAS VEGAS 51s: The reason the school buses began leaving in the fourth inning of the annual School Day game at Cashman Field is because they were needed to take the school kids home. Honest. It had nothing to do with the home team falling behind the Omaha Royals 11-1 after three innings en route to a 17-5 defeat in front of a huge crowd — for four innings anyway — of 10,459. “They got out of here fast,” 51s manager Dan Rohn said. Cashman got eerily quiet after that, save for the resounding crack of cowhide on wood when the Royals were batting.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352.