There was also speculation in the mid-'90s that baseball's powers-that-be livened up the ball to spark fan interest during a time of labor strife.

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It was a buried metal tube aimed along the irrigation ditch and loaded with explosives, bullets, ball-bearings and spark plugs.

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And although O'Brien was run out in the penultimate over, John Mooney was on hand to smash the first ball of the last over for four and spark delirious celebrations in the Ireland camp.

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Murphy did score with five minutes to go, after Tom Croft just got the ball back into play before going into touch, to spark hopes of an unlikely Leicester fightback, but there was insufficient time for either side to score.

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The visitors weren't level for long as Alves floated a ball over their defense for Messi, who controlled and lobbed Granada goalkeeper Julio Cesar to spark a prolonged round of celebrations with his teammates.

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