verdugo288

Saturday Double-header in Rosamond, CA. Remember we just beat Woodland Hills West on Sunday night so we came into this one with six days rest. We had a game against “somebody” scheduled during the week (I can’t remember who it was against) and I pushed it back which is why we had so much time off.

We only had eleven guys with us on this trip so I’m sure I requested to everybody to please not get launched.

Coming into this game Lancaster North had won maybe one game? They may have even been winless. Expansion team. I remember downloading a huge scouting report off the Verdugo mainframe we had housed over in The General’s garage….we sat in his driveway for about three hours while that mainframe cooked-up the scouting report on these guys.

Finally the printer spit it out.

All the scouting report said was “yeah they suck”

Well that was good to know. Made the drive up a lot easier.

We pounded out 12 hits in the opener with a 13-7 win. It was nice to have Yves Brancheau back with us. Before the season began he had some kind of trip planned with his family and we knew he was going to miss quite a few games in the first half of the season. Yves picked up two hits on the day for us.

Lance Evans homered, doubled, singled and drove in five runs.

Hack Workman scored four runs on the day….his only hit was a three-run shot deep into the weeds for another Verdugo round-tripper in the fifth inning.

We actually trailed 6-5 after four innings. So Hack’s bomb made it 8-6 Verdugo, and we never looked back.

Bull Oxen picked up three hits and two RBI.

Additional hits by Robb Turner, Kirk Hagge, and Brendan Cowsill rounded it out for us offensively.

These dudes were tough to shake. They kept coming at us and they swung the bats very well for a team that was 0-8 or 1-7 coming in. They had some corn-fed big dudes playing for them, too.

The home runs we hit? I remember their pitchers doing a double-take on Evans and Workman when they both went DEEP. As if their guy on the mound was like “wtf? Nobody goes yard on me!”

This isn’t the type of reaction you would expect from a pitcher on an 0-8 team. Let’s face it….that pitching staff had been chuckin’ duckin’ and suckin’ all season-long. I read some of the scores about how bad these guys were getting their asses kicked in the LA Times where you could read the scores of all the games.

They were almost as brutal as “Little Rock” in 1991…

It wasn’t adding up in my book.

I’m sorry but I just didn’t see these guys as an 0-8 team or whatever they were. These dudes were actually pretty damn good. Hmmmmm….my wheels were turning and eyes were squinting as I watched these guys all day. I think you guys know what I’m getting at here.

That’s right. RINGERS….

We’ll never know. Their coach may not have known much….but interacting with him I got the impression that if he wanted to cheat, he would have known what he was doing.

We won a game in ’91 that we actually lost on the field. On a forfeit. I had to officially protest the game. It was against Palmdale. We dominated them early in the year at home and went up to Palmdale and they beat us 4-1. Problem was…it didn’t even look like the same team. They had a couple guys out there that looked like they were about 30 years old.

I caught his ass. That coach for Palmdale was a fool. I saved the lineup card he gave me and read the names off on it over the phone to Mel Swerdling the League Commissioner.

The whole team was illegal. This coach for Palmdale wrote the REAL NAMES of his illegal players that day on the lineup card he gave me.

I can say this….if I ever tried to pull something like that….I wouldn’t hand out the REAL names of my illegal players. I would write down names that were on my official roster that I turned into the league before the season started.

I remember reading the names to Mel over the phone and after about three names he stopped me and said…”he’s illegal as hell !!!!” He’s illegal as hell !!!!”

I can’t tell you how many times I heard Mel say “he’s illegal as hell” regarding all kinds of different players around the league and the widespread cheating that was going down. Especially up in the Antelope Valley.

Hey I tried it once too! We used Weapon in a game against Chatsworth in ’91 when Weap was 19 and actually coaching with us. Totally ineligible. Totally illegal. As Mel would have said “he’s illegal as hell”

We had no choice. We had nine guys at the game and Weapon was the ninth guy!

But did I tell the opposing coach at Chatworth that “Scott Anderson” was hitting in the five-hole for us that day?

HELL NO….the Weapon was “John Workman” that day!

Yeah I tried it….it didn’t matter…. they kicked our asses anyways but that’s a different story.

But did they catch us? HELL NO!!!!

So maybe this guy had some corn-fed ringers in there. We’ll never know.

We beat ’em in the first game….

The second game?

Well…”on any given Sunday” I type-in as I shake my head. Yeah….we got beat.

Made the drive home a lot lousier….

Anyways, in this game….Brendan Cowsill picked up the win. He threw the first four innings and Bull came in on six days rest and threw 40 pitches over the final three innings. This was Josh’s last appearance for us on the mound until the Glendale doubleheader a week away.

These dudes were actually hitting the ball and even scored off Bull. Shit…they scored six off Brendan and they came out hitting some fricken’ ropes early on. I’m talking two-irons!!!!

I’m sorry….but an 0-8 team just doesn’t do shit like that. Not against the kind of pitching we had. Nope. There’s just no way.

Again….we’ll never know.

That coach they had would have known what to do with phony players and names…that much I gathered.

I remember on the drive home all of this sinking in. That yeah….probably ringers….and yeah….there’s no way I’d be able to prove it.

I can’t remember if I even brought it to Mel’s attention. It was a long trip…a shitty day….it was about 100 degrees up there.

But on a humorous note….you’ve never LIVED until you’ve heard Mel Swerdling say the words “he’s illegal as hell !!!!”

I wasn’t sure if I should be pissed we didn’t sweep them or happy that we didn’t get swept. By the time I got home I was comfortable that WE had stolen a game from them….not the other way around.

Yes-sir-ree Legion is a lot like the NFL…..”on any given Sunday” right?

And to top it all off…..they pulled this shit against us on a Saturday!!!!

“Lancaster-North?” …

The best 0-8 team I’ve ever seen in my life!!!!