verdugo288

Division. Hatred. Contempt. Wrath. These are pretty strong words, I know. Going into ’92 we had the same coaching staff as in ’91. Weapon and Hank had joined us as coaches. There were two “coaching staff’s” with Verdugo. Gee and General, and Hank and Weapon. What caused this rivalry? How could two former players for us want to join forces with Gee and General as coaches yet still want to kill us?

The answer is simple…..

SNK!!!!

That’s right. We loved Hank and Weap, make no mistake about that. We were honored to have them coaching with us in the Verdugo dugout. It made us a better Team. But by the time ’92 rolled around, the Nintendo SNK rivalry between Gee/General and Hank/Weap was in full force!!!!
And while we all were focused on making Verdugo The KINGS of American Legion of All-Time as coaches, we spent most of our time during the season and most of the off-season on this bitter rivalry.

When the four of us would sit down to play SNK, it was literally a WAR!!!! Fights would break out. Personal remarks were made. One time Hank was complaining about some ruling General and I had made (against his Team of course) and I tackled Hank in my kitchen and we had each other in a headlock for about five minutes, neither guy giving in. Hank/Weap would get thrown out of “The Dome” for some reason. I would usually make up some BS reason as to why they were tossed, but the REAL reason was usually that they were about to win the fourth game of our traditional seven game series we would play!!!! And as Commissioner of the SNK League we had, I certainly couldn’t let that happen!!!!

It was beautiful. Four coaches who were united in making Verdugo the greatest Team ever, slugging it out (literally, sometimes) against one-another in Nintendo. It was without a doubt the most bitter rivalry EVER in the History of the world.

SNK Nintendo was what Verdugo was all about. Trash-talking, guys cheating. I would occasionally put my hand in front of the TV set so that their batter couldn’t see a pitch General had thrown. Imagine the pandemonium from Hank/Weap when they ripped that pitch out of the park!!!!

And the ragging was brutal!!!! Most of the rags we used in the Verdugo dugout on the field started between Gee/General – Hank/Weapon on the nintendo field. “Quick, Pantherlike” always used to get them all pissed off. Then Weapon started saying “Fetch” when their Team would hit a gapper. One game they hit a gapper and Weap was yelling “Fetch that Gee!” while he ran the bases and I REFUSED to go after the ball. The General was like “get it!!…get it!!!….what are you doing Gee!?!?!?!” And I fired right back at General “Fuck that I ain’t doing what he says!!” Hank and Weap would be going wild as I allowed their baserunners to circle the bases unchallenged.

Weap even started using the “bat flip” when he would hit a shot for a homer. As soon as he would hit it, he would toss the controller a few feet away as if to say “That’s outta here!”

This was a cool little trick of Weapon’s until he flipped it one day and the controller hit the “Reset” button on the machine!!!! Weapon had just erased ALL of the Rosters for BOTH Teams in one swing of the bat!!!! Weap subsequently was banned from the Dome for a couple of weeks as a result of that one, but he did handle his suspension with dignity. And Hank had Weapon’s back during his suspension, trying to lobby with The League Commissioner (Me) on Weap’s behalf. Needless to say, Hank’s lobbying fell upon deaf ears!!!!

SNK was instrumental for Verdugo. Four of the most competitive human beings ever in existence going at it full bore over a video game!!!! Brilliant!!!! It honed our competitive edge. It helped us create almost all of the rags we ultimately used on the field with Verdugo against our opponents. SNK was how we found out which rags would really ‘effin PISS OFF the opponent, and when that was determined, it was ultimately used at a game with Verdugo. I even used Weapon’s famous “fetch” line in an interview with the Glendale News Press after a victory we had in 1993.

When I used the “fetch” analogy in that interview about how HARD we had hit the ball that day against Alemany High School, I have to admit I was hoping they would read it. Cause I figured it would really piss them off.

Well, we played Alemany again the following week. When we arrived for that game, guess what was taped up into our dugout? A cut-out of my interview with The Glendale News Press! Guess what else what was in our dugout? Well, lets just say a couple of folks had defecated in the Verdugo dugout prior to the game. Others had taken a piss in our dugout.

So what did we do? We mercied them again!!!!

And what did I say from the third-base coaching box every time we hit a gapper that game? (As I stood right in front of their dugout) ???

You guessed it!!!!

“FETCH!!!!”

Damn we were brutal SOB’s…..and I mean that in the very BEST of ways!!!!

All thanks to SNK and the bitterly DIVIDED Verdugo Coaching Staff!!!!

It’s no secret that “Gee” has been dilly-dallying around with this blog for the last couple of years. Gee caught fire in the months leading up to The Verdugo Reunion Bash, posting over 130 stories. But then it all came to a screeching halt. I’ve been putting in a few posts here and there, but I’ve really been unable to get any momentum going since “The Bash.”

I asked myself “why” and really couldn’t come up with any reasons. I had plenty of excuses, but no real reasons. Until I got to thinking the other day.

I don’t know if I’ve ever explained this to everyone, but I’ll try to do it now.

I have told many people through the years that “I don’t miss coaching one iota.” That has pretty much been my stock answer when I’m asked why I no longer do it. That statement really isn’t the truth….

I have to admit I was pretty devastated when Verdugo disbanded. All that we had accomplished in such a short time was incredible. By our third season we broke through, and by our fourth (and final season) it was “More of the same.” We had pretty much established ourselves as “The Most Feared Team in 20th District Play.” I was very proud of what we had accomplished, and looked forward to what we might do in the future.

Things were changing though at Crescenta Valley High. The coaching staff there was starting to realize that the kids there looked forward to playing in the summer for Verdugo as much if not more than playing for The High School. I could see the writing on the wall. And I could hear it, too. Alot of things were said by members of the Coaching Staff at that High School and were making their way back to me. It wasn’t pretty.
And in a lot of cases, I didn’t think it was right. But it was what it was….

So I wasn’t sure how long we were really going to even be able to pull players from CV. I figured at some point, the Coaches up there would pull the plug on Verdugo, and communicate to their players that they were not going to be playing for us in the summer anymore.

Initially, when we started Verdugo, I had the blessings of the High School. I was even hired to coach there after out first season with Verdugo. And I was even asked to return and politely declined. I found it was interesting how the blessings we originally had turned into curses as we climbed the ladder in 20th District play and started to totally DOMINATE.

But I figured we might get another couple of seasons after the ’93 Season…..Maybe.

We had built quite a monster at this point. Players were getting a lot of ink and guys were being projected as very high draft picks. Hell, in’94….Haggs, Vo, And Garret Lee all got drafted. If we had played the ’94 season, I don’t know if Garrett or Haggs would have even been able to join us. I know those two wanted to be there for us if they could, and Vo had already quit. So I pulled the plug in ’94.

It was a gut-wrenching thing for me. I was devastated. I have to admit it. It really did hurt to let this thing go. I had been coaching for 10 consecutive summers at this point in my life. What is even more interesting is how THAT came about. I will share that with all of you in the final post on this blog.

Verdugo was so very important to me, and it went away.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? This is what I’ve been thinking about recently….

You see, it is going to be hard for me to finish this Blog. But I promise I will.

If I finish this Blog, I’m going to have to go through all the agony of losing Verdugo again. Losing the Team we built that we loved. I’m going to have to relive that pain as I write about it all. And Honestly, I’m not looking forward to going through that again.

That’s the “reason” gentlemen. That’s been the “Hold-Up” with this Blog. I figured this out just in the last couple of weeks….

I’ve also figured out something else recently. Everything in this world we lose is always REPLACED by something. Something will be provided to fill the void. We may not see it at first, but it IS there. You’ll see what I’m talking about on the final post in this Blog and you all will see the role that each and every one of you has played in my life.

So as I go through the final chapters of Verdugo here at this Blog….please just hang with me.

I’m glad I pieced all of this together. I feel better. We’ll get it done….

Let me just start by saying this:  Reaching the Playoffs in American Legion Baseball is a very difficult thing to do.  By the time ’92 came around, I think there were close to 30 Teams in the 20th District.  30 Teams, Four Divisions, with seven or eight Teams in each Division, and only eight Teams made the Playoffs.  Four Division winners and four “wild-cards” get in. Every year they were bringing in new Teams, and the odds were becoming increasingly difficult to get to Playoffs. 

In ’90, they had us in the Eastern Division.  In ’91 they moved us into the Northern Division (this is why we kept traveling up the 14 Freeway that year).  About a month before ’92 started, The 20th District Commissioner informed me that Verdugo Hills would be back in the Eastern Division.

I wasn’t real happy about this.  I felt the Eastern Division was the toughest Division in the 20th District.  Hell, in 1990 alone….THREE of the eight Teams that made the Playoffs came from that Division, and Notre Dame didn’t even make it that year.  Notre Dame had gone 14-9 in ’90, and missed out on the Playoffs by one game.  So had they won ONE MORE game that season, then HALF of all the Playoff Teams would have come from the Eastern Division alone.  I was beginning to feel like 1992 was going to be like pushing a 40-Ton boulder up a hill.

I looked at our record against the Teams that kept making the Playoffs every year that were now in our Division again and it didn’t look too good.  0-2 Against Glendale.  0-2 against Sun Valley.  0-2 against Panorama City.  1-1 against Notre Dame.  I had a copy of our schedule for ’92 already and also saw we were going to be playing against Lancaster (1-3 career against), Woodland Hills East (1-2 against), Crespi (0-1 against).  Do the Math!!!  3-13 career against those Teams! Yeah, we were coming into 1992 with a 25-19 record, but we were definitely sucking against these teams!!!!

We also drew Agoura, who we were going to be playing opening day.  They had a feisty Team.  We also had Burbank on the schedule.  Burbank wouldn’t have been a big deal, but when you combine Burbank and Burroughs (like they did), they were going to be tough.  We also had a game against Woodland Hills West, a Team that WON the Legion World Series in 1989.  They were always tough, and they had Randy Wolf and Dan Cey.

It wasn’t looking good.  And….we were going to challenge all of this with 14 guys on our Roster!  Our pitching was pretty good, but Parque was still a question mark at this stage.  We also had no clue Evans would get injured and miss the entire 2nd half of the Season.

Canale, Turner, and Evans were still making weekly appearances to “The Dome” and brimming with confidence for the upcoming Season.   They would stop by and talk about all the carnage they were going to inflict, and I would rebut them with all of my concerns.

“We’re Going to the Playoffs” they would say.

“Have you seen our career record against the Teams we’ll be facing this summer?

“Sun Valley…we’re 0-2 against them and that big fat-dude is back AND he played an entire season at Valley College this year….we couldn’t touch him two years ago…how are we gonna get by that guy now?”

“Fuck that guy” the three of them would say ….”we’re gonna light has fat-ass up”

I went through our entire history with the three of them.  Nothing I said could get them to waiver.

“We’re going to the Playoff’s this year” announced Turner.

“Dude, if we make the Playoff’s I’ll shave my fucking head” I said.

“Then you’re shaving you’re head!!!!” Turner said.

Like I said in an earlier post, these guys were ON FIRE.  It was hard to believe.  We certainly had never gone into any season with this kind of swagger. 

“We know what it takes now, Gee” said Canale.

I remained the “doubting Thomas.”

No matter what they said, I kept thowing out objections.  All they kept saying was “Don’t worry Gee….”

I even told them “Hell, we haven’t even won on fuckin’ opening day yet!!!! And you guys are talking Playoffs?”

“Don’t worry Gee….it’s handled.”

I had already agreed to the craziest thing I had ever heard of in my life (A 14-man Roster).

Maybe it was time for me to sit back, stop trying to pull every string and just let ’em play.  To really put my faith in them.  I had to admit to myself that this was something I had NOT done in the first couple of years.  Not fully anyways….

All these things they were talking about seemed like pipe dreams.  But they certainly had never spoken out like this before. 

Verdugo, at this point, had suffered some incredibly BITTER DEFEATS in ’90 and ’91 that I know that I wanted to avenge.  I could see they did, too.  I reminded them that they were certainly going to get their chance to avenge them. 

“Don’t worry, Gee….”

The dialogue we were having was actually very healthy.  And it was a great dynamic we had going on.  The players and manager going back and forth, in essence, arguing.  Using Four-letter words as we communicated, but not in a bad way.  Being brutally honest about what lay ahead for us, and what had happened in the past.  Yet still respecting one another.

They were letting me know that they were actually going to do everything they could to make my job easier this season.  It was almost as if they were saying, “we’ll get everybody on the same page, and then we’re gonna fucking dominate.”

I kept getting visits from the three of them.  Sometimes two-three times a week as the season closed in.  Their message didn’t waiver.  And we would air out our concerns.

I do remember thinking about all of this quite a bit.  It had quite an impact on me.  I remember falling asleep at night looking at the ceiling and thinking about it all.

And I remember one of those nights making a conscious decision that no matter what happened, I was going to do my best to not get on anyone’s case this season.  That I was just going to “let ’em play.”

And….everything else that went with it.  I was going to let ’em rag.  And just let ’em be themselves.  I had a guy who told me about a month earlier at a bar to simply be myself.   So why not let the players do the same thing? 

Going with the grain certainly wasn’t working for us.  The 14-Man Roster was going against the grain.  Being ourselves was going to be going against the grain.  Leading off Hack was going to be going against the grain.  Growing my hair down to my shoulders was, too.  Allowing the Rags was going to be going against the grain.  Putting Kasey on the Roster was a little crazy, too.

But it was empowering to decide to “let it ride” and to go into the season with a “come whatever may” attitude.  I’m happy that Canale, Turner, and Evans kept stopping by “The Dome” and “airing it out” with Gee.

And after the ’92 Season, I had to ask myself “Why the hell didn’t I do this sooner?”

 

 

 

Now that’s what I’m tawkin’ bout! Everybody knows Verdugo was the outright, undisputed KINGS of American Legion of ALL-TIME. But not everybody knows about the most important Geographical location on this planet as it relates to all-things-Verdugo. Not everyone had the privilege of even gaining entry to it. Many tales have been told about it. Most people who entered it were never the same again. What we’re talking about here is literally “Hallowed Grounds” in terms of Verdugo History. What are we tawkin bout here? Yes-sir-ree…..THE DOME!!!!

I will let the pictures I took today of “The Dome” speak for themselves. Those of you who truly know of it are free to contribute in the comments section.

Just admire the beauty of the birthground of Verdugo. This is where every plot for our World Dominance was conceived. Where every drunken bash took place. Where every victory was celebrated. Where our Four-Year Reign of Terror Began!!!!

As you can see, The Gods have somehow protected this sacred abode. Even it’s color hasn’t changed through the years.

And to keep consistent with Verdugo History, even the guy who Rented that place to me from 89-92 LIVES THERE TODAY. He is about 92 years old, and he probably has more money than God. He could live literally ANYWHERE he wants to. Yet for some reason, yes-sir-ree….he, too LOVES “The Dome.”

But there’s just something about that place. I don’t know what it is. Just something special about it. He knows. We know. Anyone who has ever walked in it knows exactly what we’re tawkin’ bout here.

Ladies and Gentlemen….THE DOME!!!!