The story of [Carl] Edwards signing will sound like an apocryphal tale if he one day makes the big leagues, Baseball America once wrote, three years before Edwards did in fact make the big leagues and four before he was standing on the mound in the 10th inning of Game 7 of a World Series. Heres the story, condensed, and you can believe it if you choose:Edwards was a rail-thin right-hander who threw in the mid-80s and never joined the showcase circuit for draftable and recruitable high schoolers. An area scout for the Texas Rangers, Chris Kemp, found him playing in an adult league and recruited him to pitch at a junior college where Kemp coached. The Rangers drafted him in the 48th round, and Edwards ditched his college commitment. Besides Edwards, only one other player drafted in the 48th round that year has made the majors, for all of four innings. The next year, there was no 48th round.Theyll say of the game we all just watched that you couldnt make it up if you tried, but in fact no fiction writer would tell it this way. Fiction likes to prophesy its heroes, to plant little hints and foreshadowing so that we know who we should be paying attention from the start. Its the Law of Conservation of Details: We cant possibly keep 7 billion characters straight, so the author limits our view to The One. This right here is the hero that fiction would give us:Kris Bryant, one of the best high school hitters in the country when he was 18, the best college hitter by a mile when he was 21, the greatest minor leaguer in the world when he was 22, the best rookie in the world at 23, the best player in -- well, in the National League, at least, at age 24, and the smiling face of this Cubs championship. A worthy hero.He was not, though, the MVP of this series. The MVP of the series is an absolute miracle: After high school, Ben Zobrist had no offers to play college baseball. A trip to Bob Schlemmers Central Illinois Exposure Day at Illinois Central College -- what are we even talking about here? -- after graduation brought one offer from Olivet Nazarene University, an NAIA school in Kankakee. Ill never forget that, Schlemmer said. He signed his letter-of-intent right on the picnic table. The guys career almost ended because his dad wouldnt pay $50 for him to go to a tryout.He was drafted in the sixth round, a round that would produce one other major leaguer you miiiiiight remember, the reliever Cla Meredith. The round produced 45 wins above replacement level in the majors, of which 42 are credited to Zobrist, a player who had three career home runs before his 27th birthday. Hes 35 now, and about 10 minutes before Edwards came into the game he slapped a double down the third-base line to drive in the go-ahead run in perhaps the greatest Game 7 in World Series history. He is a miracle.Rajai Davis: Miracle. Thirty-eighth-round pick. Didnt have a regular job in the majors until he was 28. Didnt hit his 13th career home run until he was already 30. At age 35 this year, he led the league in stolen bases and knocked 13 homers in a single season, if you include the tying dinger off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of the greatest Game 7 in the history of baseball.That home run matched the bomb hit by David Ross, a seventh-rounder whose career somehow outlasted all but one first-rounder (CC Sabathia) taken the same year. Its probably fair to say that Ross is in the majors this year entirely because hes a great guy and a good friend, and because Jon Lesters UCL didnt snap before the season began. Yet there were games in this series when he looked like the best player on the field, and in what was essentially a bonus game for his career -- Eddie Vedder sang him into retirement three days ago! -- he reminded us that he has homered more often (per at-bat) over the past five years than Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez. Miracle.Ross also drew a walk Wednesday off Cody Allen, who otherwise threw two hitless innings to complete one of the great postseasons weve ever seen from a reliever: 13? innings, scoreless, 24 strikeouts, against the best, second-best and maybe fifth-best offenses in the majors. There he was, when Corey Kluber finally caved in after starting yet another game on short rest, after Andrew Millers slider finally started to show its exhaustion, when there was nobody left -- there was Allen, as dominant as ever and pushing this tie game into extra innings. Twenty-third-round pick. The only player from that round to make the majors. Miracle.Most of the players we see in the majors were the best player on every team they ever played on, but thats not universally true. In the era of showcases and travel-ball teams, where the best teenagers from around the country get funneled into the same weekend tournaments, a player like Zobrist will reach a point where hes no longer special. If hes lucky enough to be drafted, hell look around his minor-league clubhouses and see just how special he isnt. Baseball is extremely good at finding the couple hundred best young players, calling them a cohort and turning them into Kris Bryants. After the sorting is over, though, there are 7 billion people left over, and from those 7 billion come the stories.In a baseball memoir called Odd Man Out, a former minor leaguer named Matt McCarthy writes about the year he spent playing short-season ball. McCarthy was drafted in the 21st round and signed for $1,000, and at one point he and his teammates complain about the special treatment that a first-round pick always gets.When Joe has a good game, the coaches or writers or fans or whoever will nod their heads and reaffirm what they already know to be true ... that Joes a star in the making. But when one of us does good, people will think its luck or something because were not one of the chosen few predicted to make the big leagues.And if Joe does bad, said Blake, picking up where Heath left off, theyll just chalk it up to him having a bad night. But if one of us goes out and gives up six runs, well ... thats what people expect because nobodys countin on us to make it anyway. Its all a self-fulfilling prophecy.In many ways, this is true. Every late-round pick can tell you about the playing time he lost, or the promotion he didnt get, because a lesser player was a better prospect. The game is not entirely fair to 48th-round picks when theyre 22.But there comes a point when it gets to be totally fair. Davis, that 38th-round pick, got to bat against Aroldis Chapman, the hardest throwing pitcher ever and a player who signed a contract coming out of Cuba that was 30,000 times more than the one Davis probably signed coming out of college. There are no separate leagues for the prospects and the non-prospects. Eventually, they face one another, and no matter how hard Chapman throws it, there is no scout, coach, writer or doubter who is allowed to tell Davis not to spin on it and send it into the happiest landing spot that Progressive Field has ever offered. Zobrist got to drive in Bryant, the obvious hero of our story, to give the Cubs back the lead, and Edwards got to come in to protect the lead in a game that will one day sound like an apocryphal tale.Its been 108 years of love, support and patience waiting for a team like this to make it happen, a soaked Theo Epstein told a soaked Bill Murray after the game, and if hed been surrounded by a million Cubs fans instead of in a closed-off clubhouse it would have been the line that brought the biggest cheer.We wonder, sometimes, why we do this ritual, the every-night-at-7:05 ritual with the occasional October if were lucky enough. We wonder why this weird sport with its weird rules and its odds stacked so solidly against our team makes us so happy. We wonder, especially, why we draw such pride and satisfaction from events we are not even actually participating in. We are not the players. We do not cause these events. Why? Why do we do this:Heres part of why: Even if we know we are not the players, we know that the players -- at least the Zobrists, the Davises, the Allens, the Edwards -- are us. Its been 108 years of love, support and patience waiting for a team like this to make it happen, Epstein said of himself, but its just as true for the fans, and its just as true for the players. None of what happened Wednesday was ever guaranteed, and none of it was ever impossible. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Deion-Sanders-Jersey/ . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Terrell-Owens-Jersey/ . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Datone-Jones-Jersey/ . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Deforest-Buckner-Jersey/ . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Ahkello-Witherspoon-Jersey/ . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. ATHENS, Ga. -- Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier combined for 55 points and Georgia beat Furman 84-78 on Thursday.Frazier scored 28 points -- 15 in the second half -- and Maten added 27 as Georgia improved to 2-1 and dropped Furman to 1-2.The Bulldogs used their height advantage to outrebound Furman 30-23 and led for some 38 minutes of the game.Trailing 36-31 at halftime, Furman rallied with a 14-3 run early in the second half and led 48-47, and then briefly led again at the 8:07 mark after a made free throw by Kris Acox.From that point, Georgia outscored the Paladins 29-22 to earn the victory.Juwan Parker and Mike Edwards scored eight points each and the Bulldogs shot 53 percent (28 of 53) from the field and 28 percent from beyond the arc, led by Frazier, who was 4 of 9 on 3-point attempts.Theres been some concern at Georgia about who other than Frazier and Maten will provide points, but Bulldogs coach Mark Fox was pleased with those who added to the score.We had a lot of guys chip in -- our two big guns (Maten and Frazier) showed up like they should -- but we had a lot of other guys chip in, which was good to see, Fox said.Parker, who was 3 of 8 from the field and grabbed five rebounds, said Foxs shuffling of the rotations means anyone could help Frazier and Maten with point production.You have to be ready for the moment of truth, especially early in the season, said Parker, who hit a bank shot and a baseline jumper around the four-minute mark to put Georgia up 66-59. Thats when a bunch of different guys are going to be stepping up in different moments and different games, so you just have to keep your confidence because any night could be your night.Acox scored 17 points for Furman and Daniel Fowler added 16 before leaving the game late with an injury. Devin Sibley, the Paladins leading point producer, added 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting.Furman, which had five players score in double-figures in its 84-74 victory over UAB on Monday, was not as potent on offense or defense against Georgia.Youve got to give Georgia credit, coach Niko Medved said. I didnt think we were as connected defensively as we needed to be early. Frazier is a great player, I know that, but I thought that when you let a player like that get a rhythm early in the game. Once he got going, those guys were difficult to defend.THE TAKEAWAYGeorgia: Georgia improves too 2-1 after a season-opening loss to Clemson and two victories on its home floor.ddddddddddddFurman: The Paladins shot 50 percent from the field, 48 percent from beyond the arc and had four players score in double figures, but they couldnt withstand Georgias run at the end.UP NEXTGeorgia: After two games at home, Georgia takes its first significant road trip of the season, traveling to Kansas Citys Sprint Center for the final rounds of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic. The Bulldogs will open against George Washington -- the 2016 NIT champions -- on Monday and will play either No. 7 Kansas or UAB on Tuesday.Furman: The Paladins will play their first home game when they host Trinity Baptist at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the first of a three-game homestand that will also see Furman face UNC-Asheville (7 p.m. Tuesday), and Hiawassee (7 p.m., Nov. 25).TURNING POINTWhen Furman took the lead at the 7:13 point in the second half, Georgias Derek Ogbeide got a big putback to enable the Bulldogs to retake the lead and a slam by Mike Edwards at 6:54 put his team up 59-58; Georgia outscored Furman 25-20 the rest of the way.LUCKY 13Yante Matens 27 points marked the 13th time in his career that hes scored at least 20 points in a game. Hes scored in double figures 38 times at Georgia.QUOTABLEI thought as a team we made a step forward and it was another step in the right direction. There were some plays we that needed to be made that we didnt make towards the end of the game and (coach Mark Fox) will correct that in film. Other than the end of the game, I thought we managed the game very well. Georgias Yante Maten.HALL-WORTHYOn Friday, Georgia legends Hugh Durham and Dominique Wilkins will be inducted as part of the Class of 2016 for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilkins has already been inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame.Also in the Class of 2016 are Mark Aguirre (DePaul), Bob Boozer (Kansas State), Lionel Simmons (LaSalle), Jamaal Wilkes (UCLA), Doug Collins (Illinois State) and Mike Montgomery, who coached at Montana, Stanford and California.TOUGH HOSTSGeorgia now has a 23-4 overall record against Furman (in a series that dates back to 1920) and the Bulldogs are 14-1 when playing the Paladins in Athens. 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