

– Louis Pasteur

Here’s why I married my wife.

We were spending a quiet Super Bowl Sunday afternoon watching a baseball movie, The Natural, on TV.

Robert Redford is at bat at the end of the game and we know what happens, but always enjoy seeing it again.

As has become our custom, the "closed caption" function is on because sometimes you can’t hear the dialogue like you used to.

A pitch comes in and the umpire says something and signals a strike. "Strike" the little caption reads below it.

There are more pitches, a foul ball that breaks press box glass and a ball call. Then a swing and miss. But Redford doesn’t sit down with what should be the third strike, but continues to take his next two cuts.

I quickly turned to look at my wife in alarm because I just saw Redford strike out. And she turns to me at almost the same time and says, "He struck out. Why is he still up there … and why have we never noticed this before?"

So what happened?

Well, I think the closed caption guy messed up. The umpire seems to signal strike, and may have said something that sounded like "strike,"but the inside pitch is clearly a ball, and that’s why Redford gets to take that final epic swing and live happily ever after.

Just like me, married to a woman who not only can watch an at-bat, but who keeps track of the pitch count.

Redford should be so lucky. Bet his wife doesn’t watch baseball movies on Super Bowl Sunday.

YOUR MAIL: Barry and Lynn Martin, of Jackson, sent a postcard from Hilton Head where they enjoyed a week of mid-70s temperatures.

Rhea Markowitz sent us a postcard after a two-week trip to Israel with the Augusta Jewish Foundation and Adas Yeshurun Synagogue. She writes: "We have experienced the spirituality of Jerusalem and the Western Wall, archaeological sights, traveled to Galilee, bird watching in the Hula Valley, Masada, food tasting trips through local marketplaces and we visited a children’s home and Ethiopian projects that federation supports. A fantastic trip."

And Norman and Margaret Jewett Taylor sent a 2017 record six postcards from a Florida trip that showed the sands of Daytona, the lighthouse at Amelia Island and a unique set of three cards that placed together show a very long alligator.

TODAY’S JOKE: The doctor was at home when the phone rang. He heard the familiar voice of a colleague, who told him, "Hey, come on over. We need a fourth for poker."

He immediately went to the hall closet and put his coat on.

"Is it serious?" his wife asked as he rushed to the door.

"Must be," he said grimly. "There are three doctors there already."

Reach Bill Kirby at (706) 823-3344

or bill.kirby@augustachronicle.com.