verdugo288

This may have been the longest seven inning game I’ve ever seen in my life. The Umpire behind the plate had a strike-zone about the size of a coke can.

Then …out of the blue he wasn’t shy about calling a guy out on strikes outside that coke-can sized strike zone.

He was …. consistently inconsistent? Haha

Am I complaining about the umpires because we lost? No

Well c’mon Gee…you complained about the opposition having illegal players last time we lost …who are you gonna blame this time Gee?

Honestly….I’m not complaining. It is what it is.

We’ve all had issues with umps. Haven’t we? I’ve always felt that with an umpire’s strike-zone (and it does change a little from umpire to umpire) that I really didn’t care what it was….I just expect the Umpire to be consistent with whatever it was.

That’s a reasonable and fair expectation….

I have to say….this guy was consistent. He was pinching the pitchers on both sides in this game.

There were 19 walks in this game for crying out loud.

The two teams playing in this game had the two best records in the 20th District. I was throwing my number one guy…and so were they.

You’re telling me the pitching is that bad for the two top teams?

Really? 19 walks?!?!?!

Again….the umpire was consistent. He had a strike zone about the size of a coke can and he enforced it for both sides. So I can’t really complain about the guy…..

But….

Really?!?!?

Notre Dame has three hits total.

Verdugo Hills had three hits total.

We gave up five unearned runs. We got down 4-0 early and didn’t score until the bottom-of-the-seventh. Even though this game was played at Jody’s yard….we were still the home team.

Maybe we should have played these fools at Stengel. But I really don’t think it would have mattered. All I can ask for as a Manager (at least from the umpires) is that whatever they call….they call it the same for both teams. And this guy did execute that basic principle.

But both teams agreed….and both coaches agreed after the game. Dang that dude sucked!!!’

This was still a great game and I think Josh threw a great game. And I think he threw well enough for us to win.

They tried stealing three bases against us….and Dave Fielder threw out two of them. He caught a great game.

I mentioned in the last post that even if we lost to Notre Dame we could still win the Division outright. This was in the back of my mind this whole night while we were down. I didn’t say anything….but there was still something we needed to do to keep us in the hunt. And I know Jody was thinking about it, too.

With the loss…..that hurt our chances. If Jody wins all of his remaining games then he wins the Division and we tip our caps to him for doing so and move on.

But what if he LOST one of his remaining games? What if both teams end up 20-3? Who would win the Division?

Well….they would then look at the “tie breaker” categories to determine who wins the Division.

Which team had the best record against teams in their own division?

Guess what? If we beat Sun Valley on Friday…that would give Notre Dame and Verdugo Hills IDENTICAL records in that category.

Oh really?

So what’s the next “tie-breaker” category?

Head-to-head.

Ok….

Verdugo beat Jody the first time we played.

Then Jody beat Verdugo.

IDENTICAL RECORDS again….

Oh really?

So what’s the next “tie-breaker” Category?

Haha it’s getting interesting, huh?

Well….let me put it to you this way. We went into the bottom-of-the-seventh down 6-0. Not only were we down 6-0 we were still in the ears all night. The rags were bruuuuutal….

Notre Dame had to be thinking….”god damn we’re up on them 6-0 and they’re still all over us”

Dan Bir reached base on an error.

Up came Hack..,

He rips a base-hit.

Whoa now we’re making a little noise here.

Up steps Robb Turner. Turner was fucking FURIOUS. He had been called out on strikes Twice already.

Once there were two strikes on him…he just started swinging at every pitch. He didn’t care where it was he just kept fouling them off till he got something he could handle.

And he kept fouling ’em off….

And he kept fouling ’em off….

Until he got something he could handle.

He REFUSED to allow the umpire to be a factor.

And when he finally got something he could handle on the 11th pitch of the at-bat he deposited and ABSOLUTE SHOT to almost dead center.

What I remember most about this HOME RUN was THE SOUND OF IT.

You could hear it rattling around after it bounced and banged into the football stands way out beyond the lights.

As he rounded the bases he was getting in verbal shots on all their infielders and their pitcher….sending a message that yeah….you guys have the lead but we STILL OWN YOU.

It was quite a TITANIC BLAST.

I had been thinking about this all night long.

And Turner’s MASSIVE HOME RUN had just put us in a position to still win the Division.

What were you thinking about Gee?

The third “tie-breaker” category.

What is it?

Margin of victory/run-differential in head-to-head games.

We beat Jody by four runs the first time we faced him.

Even if we lose this game now 6-3….that means Jody only beat us by three.

In margin of victory category ….Verdugo would now win the tie-breaker and the division if we both finished 20-3.

This home run kept the pressure on Jody. Now….he had to win his four remaining games. This home run would now factor in on every string Jody had to pull for the rest of the week.

When Turner hit it….and was rounding the bases I looked over at Jody. His reaction to the home run was almost how one would react if they lost the game.

He did one of those “ahhhh shit are you fucking kidding me?” Reactions

He knew exactly what that three-run homer just meant….and he wasn’t real happy about it.

As a coach….I’m not going to go into a game and tell my players….”ok whatever you do don’t lose by any more than three runs.”

I don’t even like using the word “lose” around my players.

So I never even mentioned it.

But Jody and I knew. We never discussed it…..but we both knew. And even if he won the game tonight….Jody knew I had just “kinda” won as well.

But yeah….this was in the back of my mind the whole night.

When Turner hit it out I was chuckling.

Verdugo…..even in defeat continues to frustrate and cause nightmares for Jody.

We got beat. It isn’t the end of the world…..because it’s already tomorrow in China.

We’re still in this thing!!!!

We got a game in Lancaster coming up and a playoff spot still to clinch!!!!