Yes indeed it does. The response we are getting from everyone who has RSVP’D and declared “I’m In” is really kind of overwhelming. I used to say back in 90-93 what great young men you guys were….and of course no one agreed with me!!…….Yet here we are almost 20 years later and nothing has changed except the fact that NOW you’re all great men. Just the fact that this thing is coming together like this is awesome. You guys were great kids……..you’re great men now….and you all had great parents as well.
I got an email from “HACK” about a month ago and I wanted you all to read this excerpt from it:
BTW – after reading the “Nance” blog, I was thinking about not only her, but all the great parents that supported us over the years. It made me also think about what a special group of kids we had, and as I thought back, you may not know this, but there is some history, pre-Verdugo that you should know, which speaks to why this group was so great. As I was thinking about parents that were influential, I thought of Nance, Fielder’s dad, Bir’s dad, my Uncle Harold (coached little league) and my dad among others. Then it hit me…. Rogers, Breckow, McBride, Canale (Bull), Hack, Fielder, Bir all played for Glendale City Employees (aka City) in little league. That was the team that my uncle and dad coached. They always smoked the rest of the managers in the draft, managing to pull off the unbelievable. My rookie year, when Rogers, McBride, Breckow and a guy named Ryan Rieber were the 12 year olds, we went 20-0! It all started in the pre-season when we used to play triple headers at three different parks every weekend! The parents were dedicated, carting us from place to place, and enjoying every minute of it. Nance on the scorebook, Mr. Bir taking us to the batting cages all the way out in Temple City on Thursday nights in his Volkswagen bus, Fielder’s dad leading the crowd in cheers as we played All-Stars back in the day. It was the team stop at jack in the box after the batting cages, where we were always scraping together nickels to get an extra cheeseburger, or in Canale’s case, eating half a burger, catching a fly (no joke), stuffing it in his burger and going up to ask for a new one as a result….
Thanks for sharing the memories HACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s right……….Verdugo not only had the Greatest Players…we also had the Greatest Parents!!! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!
verdugo288 
When I finally had to sell my grandmothers house…I only kept two things, one was the LIttel League Trophy when we were 20-0!!!
Although…there was a defect amongst the VH ranks….Calf played on Apgar….still dont like McReynolds!
Harold Workman was my first mentor. That guy was Verdugo before there WAS a Verdugo. When Reiber, McBride, Rogers and I were 10, Coach Workman basically benched the 12-year-olds because they were screw-offs. He got a ton of crap from the parents, but he did it anyway…. none of this rite of passage entitlement bullshit. He would have NONE of it! He played us and we grew up FAST! Won like 4 games that year, but as Hack points out, by the time we were 12, we went undefeated.
Coach was the one that started me pitching as a 10, which was unheard of back then. He asked me before my first outing – up at Scholl Field #2 against Yerton Plumbing – if I was ready to pitch, and I said “I guess so.” He looked me right in the eye and said “the answer I want to hear is “GIMME THE BALL, COACH.” He might as well have said “AH!” after it. Pure Old School. That became our mantra.
I would love to see Coach Workman again. I’ve been coaching my boys in CVLL for the past several years and I think I’ve used every drill and saying he ever taught us. I can still hear him saying “GIMME THE BALL, COACH.”
BTW, City was around until just last year, when they became Warren Printing. Apgar turned into Landry’s about a decade ago, but they kept the colors.
I still think about that perfect season Hack! Talk about something that stays with you forever…. And I remember those triple-header scrimmages too! And when Montrose Park was called “Sparr,” and City squaring off against Apgar in those cage matches. McReynolds, Willis, Jeff Phillips, Mike Parker, Alan Nunnelly… crazy. But now I’m just rambling!
Harold was the BEST little league coach. I still remember the signs! HE would schedule triple headers on a Saturday. My first practice as a 10 yr old, he beaned all the 10 yr olds, then taught them how to properly turn and take one for the team, the proper way.
He took the whole team to see The Natural. Everytime I see Roy knock the lights out, I remember Harold took us to see it.
Oh man I REMEMBER when he took us to see The Natural… I couldn’t believe how cool it was that a coach would do that. To this day it’s one of my favorites. My dad also reminded me that all the pitching lessons and training we got, he never asked for a dime. The only money we ever spent was a quarter to get one of those weird Purple Sodas out of the vending machine at the Temple City Batting Cages.
I wish I could remember the signs, refresh me!
Signs were left arm …..shoulder = bunt… elbow = take …wrist was a steal…if he double tapped wrist, then went to chin, it was a delay steal on the catcher, double tap to wrist, then nose, delay steal on pitcher. Nose was indicator.
Temple city…Larry Sherry and the other guy…we never paid! Grape soda, AND long licorice rope!
Although….I was the only hitter the batting coach did not coach. Through college, Nance was my hitting coach!