Do you know what a GD pain-in-the-ass it is to play 22 effin’ games on the Road? Well, the illustrious Members of our 1990 squad sure as hell do! And so do I…and so does General! During the summer of 1990 we probably logged over 1000 miles. I thought we were in Heaven when we got to play about three games at Stengel Field in 1991….but that changed as well. By the time we were done………Stengel Field was MINE (or “ours” I should say). Shit, for four years we had to fight for everything we got, including a GD Home Field!
Still, it never mattered. Even Hank said in a comment he made that winning on the road was even a “bigger” treat for him (and I couldn’t agree more). I wonder how it must have felt for those sorry-ass teams we played that summer that thought they were gonna have just a “day-in-the-country” when Verdugo rolled into town, only to have their hearts ripped out. And we didn’t mind stomping on those hearts we had ripped out either…….hamming-it-up while our opponents watched us dogpile……on THEIR field!
Plenty of what we accomplished that summer was directly attributable to our ability to make a sale. We used to talk about that with all of the Teams we had….but that 1990 squad had something “inbred” in them. I don’t know what it was, but if I had to give that Team a nickname….it would have to be “The Traveling Salesmen.”
It really didn’t matter what was happening during the game…we were always selling. Turner behind the plate framing pitches. Guys sliding hard into the bag would never look at the umpire as if to say “Am I safe?” Hell no! These guys would slide in and even if they were out by ten feet would pop-up and start celebrating (like they were safe) as well as the rest of the dugout. Even the umpires would chuckle a little bit at the shit we tried to sell. Turner trying to frame pitches that almost HIT THE BATTER or pitches he picked out of the dirt would always (at the very least) get a smile out of the blues. By the end of the game the umps had to admit that even though they hated us…THEY LIKED US too.
It was entertaining to watch. Any time we took a pitch in a three-ball count our hitter would start hustling down to first….just to kind of “help-out” The ump. Our guys made some of the greatest facial expressions I’ve ever seen when we got called out on strikes. The old “Are you sure Blue?” look. The “I can’t believe it” look. The “you gotta be kidding me” look. The “you annoy the shit out of me” look. The “not today” look. We had them all. And the umps would often tell me “These guys are a REAL BUNCH of characters.” And I would usually respond with “So you gonna start giving us those corners now?” Now he was getting it from me! It never stopped!
Maybe that first season we should have shown up in plaid sportcoats and briefcases. That would have probably been a more appropriate “uniform” for this group I like to call “The Traveling Salesmen.”
It goes without saying that we also used what I like to call DIRECT SELLING tactics where we wouldn’t be shy about getting up in somebody’s GRILL which usually led to one of us (including myself) getting launched from the game. Yeah, it didn’t take long for everyone to figure out we had come to play!
I used to like to try and position my body (in the third base coaching box) between the home plate umpires line-of-sight and any ball hit toward the foul-line in left field that I knew was going to land in foul territory. If I did it just right the blue wouldn’t be able to see where it landed and would have to rely on my “reaction” to make his call. Of course I always “reacted” like it was a fair ball!!! I’d just point towards right field when it landed and start windmilling the runners around!! I had plenty of umps tell me “Hey two-nine you gotta get out of my line-of-sight on that play”……..They’d say “I can’t see when you stand there”……….I’m thinking to myself “Yeah, no shit….that’s EXACTLY why I’m standing there!”
I would have put these guys up against anybody…at anything! A little black-top pick-up basketball game? You’re ON! A little six-on-six tackle football? LET’S GO! Cards? You’re ON! Monoply? You’re ON! Frisbee GOLF? RIGHT NOW BITCH! You see….with this Team…it just HAPPENED TO BE Baseball we were playing that day when our opponents ran into us for the first time. It wouldn’t have mattered what kind of doggone game we were playing that day against anybody….these guys would have found a way to win. That’s why the 1990 Team was so much fun.
Great salesmen! Professional cheaters! These guys just didn’t care. I’m surprised all of them didn’t go on to be actors. Constantly talking, battling, cheating, hustling, ragging, diving, lying, stealing, robbing, looting, pillaging, plundering……….WHATEVER IT TOOK! And when they were done….THEY’D RUB IT IN!
Yes-sir-ree…..these dudes knew how to “make-a-sale”………and more often than not, we closed the deal(s)!!!!!
As a coach, when you have a Team like that, you have a tendency to FORGET what a GD pain-in-the-ass it is to play all of those games on the road. About midway through the season I didn’t bitch about all of the traveling anymore. I knew we’d reach our destination. I knew we’d play hard. I knew we’d leave a lasting impression on whoever we ran into that day, win or lose. I knew somehow, someway, we were all gonna “Make the sale”……………
Nope……all the miles and all of the traveling no longer bothered me……….I just sat back, and ENJOYED THE RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!
verdugo288 
There is no way that team beats the 92- team, no way no how. Gee you want wins you got it, you want 20 strike outs you had that. not to many teams beat us not even the 1990 team. Much love to hank but not to many people putting the ball in play of the BULL that year.
I agree. The point that I’m looking to make with the 1990 squad was the attitude they had. The 1991 team would have probably made the playoffs if they had the attitude of that 1990 team. I was the problem in 1991, and I’ll be the first to admit that. Ironically…we got that attitude back in 1992 and carried it over into 1993. The difference in attitude was (really) ME. I coached at CV in 1991 and I ALMOST became “one of them.” I think if I had become “one of them” (and you know what I mean when I say that) then 1992 and 1993 never would have happened. I walked away from the CV deal. When I walked away from that deal I kind of became MYSELF again. We parted on good terms at the High school but as time went on they grew to hate me. I liked the way I ran a team and they hated the way I ran a team. But these are the defining moments we have in life that make us who we are. Like i have said before…i wouldn’t have changed a GD thing about the way I ran the ’92 and ’93 Legion teams. Thank God I never SOLD MY SOUL as a coach. I stuck to my guns and followed my heart (right OR wrong) and we had a lot of success as a result. But I agree with you Haggs….1990 Team would not have beaten the 1992 or the 1993 Team. But one thing cannot be denied….the ’92 and ’93 teams had the same type of ATTITUDE as the ’90 Team. That’s why all three Teams kicked ass! And I can’t WAIT to start writing about ’92 and ’93 on this Blog…but we got to give the props to the 1990 squad!
Don’t get me wrong…..the 1991Team was also a kick-ass Team. But when I was coaching for the high-school let’s face it, I ran the Team differently. We had some fun that season, but not near the fun we had in 90, 92, and 93.
But ’91 was still a great season in my book and we had a lot of bright spots. BullOxen blew down 20 in a game. Bull Oxen hit a tape measure shot that went over 500 feet……and then ROLLED another 50 feet. “Hack” emerged. Ivan Moreno had a great season. Big Breck pitched well for us. We were in the playoff hunt with that Team until the last game of the season. If we would have swept a double-header that final day…we would have won the Division. Instead…we got swept. And that was the ONLY time in four seasons we ever got swept in a twin-bill.
’91 was kind of Jekyl and Hyde. We beat the Team that won the District. We also got our asses KICKED four times. We got blown-out six times in our four- year run. Four of those blowout losses were in 1991. The ’92 or ’93 Teams were never blown out of a game. Never.
But I’m thankful for what happened in 1991. And at the end of the 1991 season I kind of stood at a crossroad. Did a little soul-searching. I had to make a decision which road to take. I had to decide what was best for myself and best for The Legion Team. It was obvious to me that I needed to leave the High School and focus on the Legion Team. So that’s what I did. And we went 38-5 after I made that decision.
And most importantly…………….we had a lot of FUN doing it!!!!
One more thing about the 1991 Team. There were other “forces” who were getting involved with who was and who wasn’t on our Roster. I wasn’t real happy about that. It was a short time before we put together our FINAL 1992 Roster that BULLOXEN pointed something out to me that was INSTRUMENTAL in us going 38-5 those last two seasons. I listened to what he told me…..and he was right. I’ll be writing a story about that as well……
..you know I luv ya Haggs….. but if there is no Genesis…there is no Bible… Ah 90′!!! AH Verdugo!! Ah! AH!