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!!!!

Ok gentleman now that I’ve said my peace about Verdugo and how we handled the BIG GAMES….let’s take a sneak preview here about what was coming up.

We had a double-header next in Rosamond, CA. Notice how I noted the “CA”….

That’s because this field was so far away we may as well have been playing in Arizona or Nevada…..

It was about an 80 mile trip….EACH WAY.

I was concerned….

Then we had two games against North Hollywood on the schedule. Not a double-header, but back-to-back. I wasn’t too worried about these guys. In fact, the Commissioner of the League, Mel Swerdling actually managed that team.

Mel was quite a character. I could go on and on about my dealings with him and someday will on this blog.

In a nutshell….Mel and I had some shouting matches with each other over the phone through the years (and even face-to-face) and then in 1993…he made me (and he gave me this Title) the “Mini Commissioner of the 20th District”

Yeah we kinda loved and hated each other. But it’s true. And in the 1993 pre-season managers meeting….he announced and introduced me as “The Mini Commissioner of the 20th District” to all the coaches and I went to the podium and addressed everyone at the meeting from the podium. Laying out about a five minute speech for all the coaches. You gotta know Ol Fat Jody was hating that!!!!

From 1990 to pretty much being 2nd in command…..not too bad!!!!

But it was what was up on our schedule AFTER these four games that was going to be the test.

Double Header versus Glendale. (Tough team we had never beat)

Sun Valley for nine innings at Stengel. (Tough team we had never beat)

Notre Dame weekday game at their yard (huge rivalry)

Burbank nine inning Saturday game on the road (they had already beat us this season)

Notre Dame again at their yard weekday game (huge rivalry)

Lancaster South (who we beat earlier this year in our second game) but still a ROAD GAME IN LANCASTER.

Sun Valley weekday game at Glendale High

This was going to be the test gentleman. And even after this stretch….we still would have have the final three games of the season to play!!!

You can start to see that a 23 game season is long enough to wear you down…but short enough to make every game a BIG GAME.

I just kinda kept telling myself when I looked at the road ahead we had ….”on any given Sunday……”

So in the next four games versus Lancaster North and North Hollywood…..I felt we needed to sweep these games. Sweep them and remain focused and stay in the moment and not get caught looking ahead to that vicious stretch of the schedule we had coming up.

I figured ok if we can sweep the next four games…then we can head into that Fourth of July double-header against Glendale at 11-1. That was the plan….and the other plan was to juggle the pitching staff so Bull would get the ball in the first game of that twin bill.

Even though that first game of the double-header against Glendale was going to be at around 11am on a Saturday morning (bringing the hangover-factor majorly into play) I still wanted Bull on the mound for that game.

Lots of interesting stuff came about.

These next few weeks coming up defined us. And it was absolutely magnificent to watch!

I want to interject this now. I think it’s important to say. My goal when I started this thing was to eventually put the most-feared team in the 20th District on the field. Nothing more…nothing less. That was the goal.

If we win it all then we win it all as the most feared team in the District. If we don’t ….we’re still the most feared team. And personally? I would say if you’re the most feared ball club you stand a pretty good chance of going far……and inflicting quite a bit of damage.

I always wanted Verdugo to have a certain degree of “notoriety” if you will….

Kinda like John Madden’s 1970’s Oakland Raiders.

We weren’t there YET. We still had a lot to prove. This season was an absolute battle. We had to fight and fight and fight for what we achieved. But we were well on our way.

We didn’t look too intimidating when we came on the scene in 1990…wow…remember THOSE “uniforms”????

Now….the uniforms, the caps, the batting helmets with the matching logo of our caps. The basic look was there.

In ’93….we went from white pants to a grey pant. The grey pant had navy pipe striping down the outer inseam of each leg that matched the jersey.

And yeah….if we had played in ’94, Jack Tiernan and myself had already started designing AWAY jerseys that would have been in grey….to match that pant.

Could you imagine that? A Legion Team with home and away jerseys?!?!?!? Hahahahaha

But most important….the attitude. The swagger.

I wanted us to intimidate. And seriously….the size and athleticism of the dudes on our team…..all four years….It had to be nothing short of intimidating.

I remember at our reunion Ivan Moreno came up to me at one point. You know he doesn’t say much. He’s a head football coach at Canoga Park High School now. When you’re a head coach or a manager you just kinda see things a little differently. He came up to me and took a deep breath and looked around the room and smiled and said “How did you get all these guys to play for us?” Almost in disbelief. He was saying “look at all the great players in this room!”

I told him…”yeah I know…and not everybody is here either” I rattled off names of guys that couldn’t make it to the reunion (Turner, Cowsill, Parque, Bir, Evans) and that it made it even more staggering.

This was the kind of shit that was going through my mind and what I was scheming to build when I first went out to watch CV play a preseason game so I could see Canale throw an inning back when he was a sophomore. Back in early 1990. Before we even had a roster drawn up for our first season.

He was bouncing pitches…getting pissed out there on the hill. Wild. Angry. It didn’t look too good, but he uncorked a couple of deuces (“yellow-hammers” as I like to call ’em) that were fucking unhittable. Another guy was with me that day and he said as we made our way back to my car “well that didn’t look too good”…..

I said to the guy who was with me “I fucking love him…..I’m building this team around that guy”

And that’s what we did.

I look back and we did eventually create without a doubt the most feared team in the 20th District. What we will be writing about here now is watching the fear unfold. It was even more distinct in ’93. I think Haggs once told me “after we hit pregame in ’93….the game was over before it even started”

But we never won the 20th District. Or the State. We went 20-3 in the regular season in ’92 and finished in SECOND PLACE in our Division. We did win the Division in 93……but many could argue that “Yeah….They were good….but they never won the big games”

I disagree. In LEGION…..EVERY game is a big game. And now that we were 7-1…..All the teams around the league were throwing their number one chuckers at us.

If someone is adjusting their rotations to make sure they throw their number one hurler at us….it sure sounds like it’s a pretty BIG GAME to them. Right?

Look at our regular season record combined for 92-93…..it was 38-5.

That’s a lot of BIG GAMES we won.

So don’t ever let anyone tell ya Verdugo never won the BIG GAMES….

And I think I need to let you all know that you’re going to keep hearing the phrase “BIG GAME” a lot from this point forward.

Because We were now the target 🙂

We had come quite a distance from our humble beginnings in 1990. We didn’t even have a home field in 1990. Now….we had TWO.

We had stopped the Glendale team from picking off guys from CV to strengthen their Roster. Now….we were picking off guys from Glendale!!!!

Things I had envisioned in the early days were starting to come to fruition.

It felt good. But I had to work hard to keep you guys on the same page while we won all these big games. Because to us ….and me….it was just another game. But for many teams around the league….playing Verdugo was their biggest game of the year…..and just beating Verdugo could make their season.

They may have an abysmal season but they could still say “hey at least we beat Verdugo”

We didn’t let very many people say that did we?

I jokingly mentioned in the last post that it seemed like everybody was coming after us now….even Mother Nature.

But things change when you start winning. And things really start to change when you start dominating. It does seem, at times, like everybody and everything is coming at you. Everybody around the League wasn’t being quite as friendly to Verdugo as they were to us the first couple of years.

And I was fucking loving it. It was an absolute honor for me to watch us take this thing to the next level. We all did it…

I’m looking forward to writing about the remainder of ’92….

But this early part of the season and the great start we got off to? This was the turning point.

I was starting to see the fear in the oppositions eyes.

I’ve already actually written a little something about this great day in Verdugo History about 9-10 years ago. I have a link to that story at the bottom of this post. The story I wrote back in 2010 was titled “Father’s Day with Ron Cey”

Yes this was Father’s Day 1992. And yeah Ron Cey was there at the field watching his son play against Verdugo. This was the first time in our history we got to face this team.

Another big game. Another future big leaguer playing for the opposition as well in this game….Randy Wolf.

So please check out the link regarding Verdugo’s interaction with Ron Cey himself. It’s still funny when I read it. We were brutal. And we never held back….not even with Ron Cey.

I remember this day pretty well. It was a beautiful day for baseball. No clouds ….birds chirping….even some bees flying around doing their thing. Gotta love Mother Nature ….even on Father’s Day.

We had a great thing going. It was Verdugo against the world. Everybody was trying to stop us now so it seemed. It wasn’t just the opposing teams coming at us anymore. It was umpires…..league officials…..reporters who may not have liked my attitude at times….everybody was coming at us.

But that’s what ya want….right?

And this day was no different. Even Mother Nature tried to derail us. She took a shot at our ass too!!!! But just like anything else that got in our way in ’92….even ‘Ol Mother Nature got her ass thrown to the ground and stomped on by Verdugo!!!!

I’ll get to that later. Let’s get to talking about this win!!!!

The final score was 8-3 but I don’t think the score was indicative of how thoroughly we punished these dudes. We hit the ball HARD that day. Not everything got us on base….in fact, we only had 8 hits on the day.

They scored three runs against us in the third inning but apart from that were totally dominated. Canale pitching the complete game nine-inning victory. He only allowed five hits and struck out 11.

Three balls they hit that day were weak ground balls right back to Bull….one he even turned a 1-6-3 double play off the bat of Dan Cey that ended the third inning.

Woodland Hills West’s two big guns….Cey and Randy Wolf were a combined 0-6 at the plate. Wolf striking out three times. Wolf reached base via a walk in the 5th and was promptly mowed down trying to steal by Dave Fielder.

Lance Evans got us on the board in the first inning with a two run homer. Evans drove in four runs for us on the day…..and his two-RBI base hit in the 8th really blew the game open and put it out of “grand-slam-reach”….giving us a five-run lead going into the ninth.

Kasey started and played the entire game at second base. And laid down a beauty of a squeeze bunt in the second inning….scoring Kirk Hagge and giving us a 3-0 lead.

They rolled a three on us in the top of the 4th tying the score at 3-3.

Haggs added a base hit of his own in the fourth that made it 4-3 Verdugo scoring Robb Turner, who drew a walk leading off the inning and was wild-pitched to second.

Hack Workman led off the 5th with a base hit….and was wild-pitched to second….and third. Evans drew a walk with one out and we ran a double-steal….Evans being thrown out at second….with Hack scoring and making it 5-3 Verdugo.

It was right around this time that Mother Nature struck. Canale on the mound….and what happens? He gets stung by a fricking bee!

On his pitching hand!

This Bee came from outta nowhere (what are the ODDS?) and dive-bombed his ass. He swatted it ….smacked it ….wrestled with it ….and finally knocked it to the ground with his glove and stomped it dead!

So what do you do as a manager when a guy like Bull Oxen gets nailed by a bee on his pitching hand? Well what else do ya do? You leave him in the game! He was on a roll !!!!!!

The players from the West team were ragging on him about it to be sure. But Bull kept mowing em down.

Honestly I don’t know at what point of the game this happened. I can’t remember. I personally am guessing it was after they scored off him. Because I remember he dominated after the sting.

But I may be wrong….I asked him today what he remembered and he thought it was in the second or third inning.

Either way it was no later than the fourth or fifth inning and he would know better than me ….so if it happened 2nd or 3rd inning that just makes it even more commanding!!!!

Either way. He shut them off. After they scored three in the fourth inning….he retired twelve hitters in row!!!!

He took the sting in the meaty area on his pitching hand between the thumb and index finger and yeah it swelled up.

But like I said earlier….nothing stopped us that year. Not even Mother Nature. So to Mother Nature? Nice try! And just like Sunland-Tujunga….Mother Nature got her ass thrown to the ground!

Meanwhile, we kept adding to our lead. Robb Turner was hit by a pitch leading off for us in the bottom half of the sixth. Haggs sacrificed him to second and then Dave Fielder ripped a double up the gap and it was 6-3 Verdugo.

Hack Workman led off the seventh for us with a walk….and Ivan Moreno singled. They threw another wild pitch…putting runners at 2nd and third when Evans stepped up and ripped the base hit that made it 8-3 and really put the lid on things.

The Wiley Jackson came into the game in the bottom of the 8th and drew a walk. He also hauled in two fly balls out in left field in the 9th inning….including the final out.

Verdugo goes to 7-1 !!!!

I remember I was smelling blood towards the end of this game as we came off the diamond between innings….maybe in the 7th or 8th inning.

I was saying stuff like “cmon continue to dominate!” Just reminding you guys not to let up.

I distinctly remember saying “cmon you beat these bastards and you’re on the map!” I turned around after saying that and Don Hornbeck….their manager was about two feet away from me walking from his spot in the third base dugout back to the first base dugout and heard it all!!!!

Did I care? HELL NO!!!!

I remember the eye contact. His eyes basically said “dang you guys aren’t fucking around are ya?”…,

My eyes said to him “no….we’re not”

We eventually had to let everyone in the league know, too. And I think we did. Word was getting around.

The one thing that happened after this game was as follows….and it kept happening every game during the regular season for the rest of ’92 and all of ’93 and it was this:

Every team we faced from this game forward threw their ace at us. They knew it was the only chance they had.

But that’s what ya want? Right?

To read “Fathers Day with Ron Cey” click here https://www.google.com/amp/s/verdugo288.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/fathers-day-with-ron-cey/amp/

The General and I loaded up his truck with the Verdugo gear and made the drive that morning out to Taft High. The site of “the dogpile” in 1990. Not much was said on the drive out. We knew what we had to do….

They can celebrate all they want over that one…..we only had eight guys on the field the last four innings. We proved we were the Kings that day and all I knew for today was we were gonna have nine guys on the field the whole game (barring the unexpected) so I was looking forward to this one.

Not all the guys we had on our roster knew what happened here in 1990 but by the time the game got going everybody had heard about it.

East had a different coach. Matt Borzello was the coach there in 90-91. His son eventually ended up as one of the bullpen catchers for The Dodgers.

The new coaches were a couple of twins…yeah….I’m guessing in their early to mid-twenties? Who they were I don’t know and I don’t really care….certainly before the game we briefly met and exchanged “pleasantries”….and our lineup cards for the day.

The place hadn’t changed much and just looking around kind of made me sick to my stomach. But we had a ballgame to play and even though to this VERY DAY I still haven’t let go of that loss….I at least let it go while we were there on this day in history.

We only had eight hits on the day. Five of those hits were off the bats of Jon Gabrielson (3 singles) and Hack Workman (a triple and a home run)

Hack drove in five. Scored twice. Gabe scored twice. The Wiley Jackson (who DH’d that day for Vo) scored twice and picked up a base hit as well. Robb Turner had a base hit, and Lance Evans padded our 6-2 lead to 7-2 in the top-of-the-ninth with a solo shot home run that was pretty much the final nail in their coffin. Both home runs we hit that day were DEEP. The kind of drives where the outfielder maybe takes a step or two back and then just kinda says “no way”…..and stops and just watches it.

It was a nine inning game. Jim went all the way on 112 pitches…..scattering eight hits. Struck out six, walked two and the two runs they scored were both earned.

East’s lead-off hitter started things off for them in the first with an inside-the-park homer. I kinda wanted to be pissed when that happened but I didn’t….and just kinda thought to myself…..”God I hate this fucking place” ….and chuckled.

The same hitter led off their third inning by reaching base on an error. The next hitter grounded out….which moved him to second. Jim hit the next guy with a pitch and we had a passed ball that advanced everybody 90 feet.

Up steps Gabe Kapler. Yeah….Gabe Kapler. He’s now the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Kapler ripped a base hit to left….

The runner on third easily scored. Hack was in left….fielded it cleanly and came up crow-hoppin’ and FIRED a bullet to Thunder and gunned that runner down. The next batter grounded out ending the threat.

And that was about all the noise their bats made the whole day.

Trailing 1-0 in the third, Wiley drew a walk. Gabe then stroked a little bay-hee (base hit). Hack came up and tripled deep into right center, clearing the bases. Hack scored on Ivan Moreno’s ground out.

Leading 3-2 in the fifth. Gabe led off with another base hit. Up came Hack. Hack bombed one outta there deep into the weeds and it was 5-2 Verdugo.

Wiley led off the 6th with a base hit….got BALKED to second. And Gabe stepped up and ripped another base hit. We held Wiley at third. Hack drove in Wiley with a sac fly.

It remained 6-2 until the ninth when Evans unloaded. Deeep into the weeds. 7-2 Verdugo.

We finished ’em in the bottom of the ninth on a 4-6-3 double play. We turned a 6-4-3 DP in the eighth inning as well.

Those guys may have had Gabe Kapler….but we had GABE!!!!

Gabe played a great game for us!!!!

They got some guys on base but Parque was solid. Just kept going at ’em. We played great defense. Turner with 4 assists from third that day….Evans with 5 assists from shortstop. Moreno was in center and hauled in three fly balls. We had two double plays. Hack gunning down the runner at the plate from left field. They tried to steal a base on Thunder in the 6th inning and ‘Ol Thunder mowed him down.

Just a great victory. We made it look easy.

This certainly didn’t sweep their dogpile from 1990 into the trash bins of history….but it felt good. All the coaches and players who were there for that game in 1990 were happy with what happened on this day in history.

This was big. This proved Vo was ready. I was hoping for 5-6 innings from him….but his pitch count was low and while 112 was pushing it a little…he handled it.

We’ve had this blog a long time. You guys all know how I enjoy writing about all of you. The rookies we have every year are important. This was a great rookie class we had….Jim….Thunder…Hagge….Bir.

As we go through the season here I will stop and write some fill-ins about everybody at some point….in addition to what was going through my head in our drive to the playoffs.

Everybody contributed this season. It seemed like there was always a new guy or guys stepping up. Today it was Vo…Wiley….and Gabe. We all played great this game…but those guys definitely stepped up.

Workman? Commanding day at the plate!

Evans? The homer in the ninth HURT those guys….it was hit THAT hard.

We’re 6-1. We bounced right back from a tough loss. We let it go and got back to work. We got Woodland Hills West tomorrow. At home on Father’s Day. We got Bull ready to go again with another one weeks rest under his belt.

What could be better?

I called Vo on Friday night. With the partiers and hell-raisers we had playing for Verdugo…..I had a feeling not only would Vo be home to take my call…but he was probably the ONLY guy who I’d be able to reach via telephone on a Friday night.

Sure, enough he was there.

“I think you’re ready chief” I told him

“For what?” He asked.

“It’s a big game tomorrow….and I’m giving you the ball”

“Ok” he said….

“Just do me a favor …no fucking around out there ….get the fucking ball and fucking go at ’em”

He knew what I was talking about. I had him on my JV Team at CV in ’91. I always felt he took too much time between pitches. A little too cerebral. He had great stuff. Could work both sides of the plate at will and could throw his off-speed stuff for a strike at any time in the count.

Yeah he was small but it didn’t matter. He gave hitters fits…..

I could hear in his voice how happy he was when he said “okay!”

I remember telling my JV team in 1991 that season…..”You guys are out partying too much and raising hell….. you guys need to back off …I need to see a little more IBM and a little less David Lee Roth out of you guys!”

(Silence from the team as they sat there and looked at me)

“Well….except for YOU Parque! You need to start drinking! You? I need to see a little more David Lee Roth out of you and a little less IBM”

That got a roar out of the team.

A paid high school coach saying this kinda shit to his team? HELL YEAH!!!! Why? Because it was true.

Did I want him to start drinking and partying and raising hell? No…

But I made a point with him that needed to be made.

When I played ball at CV we were all drinking and smoking weed and ice-blocking at Verdugo Hills Golf Course. I was a kid once, too – ya know? I knew what these shit-heads were doing….that’s what you do when you’re that age.

And I never messed with his pitching mechanics….Jerry Reuss was coaching him and he also had his dad in his ear 24/7….he was fine. His dad was a wonderful man. Loved his kid….loved the game….and molded Vo into a force.

But dude….just pick up the pace huh? Please? You’re killing me!” Hahahahaha

And he did. And I thank him for that. And I think this was when Vo was at his best. When he just let his stuff do the talking and let his defense make some plays. Just get the fucking ball and fucking go at ’em.

And I will also say this. “The Friday-night-factor” played heavy into me giving him the ball on a Saturday. I knew he wouldn’t be out partying and raising hell the night before the game.

Sundays we were pretty cool because I had arranged for early evening games at Stengel …..and that gave some of the hangovers you guys were sporting about 6 more hours to wear off…..

One thing you could ALWAYS expect from Jim. He was ALWAYS mentally and physically prepared for having the ball.

Yeah ….he was ready.

I remember before this season talking to him on the phone and him expressing his disappointment in not getting enough starts on the mound when he was a sophomore at CV.

He WANTED the ball.

We got a huge game. Against a VERY good team. Pivotal. We gotta win this game. I didn’t need to tell him any of that shit. And I didn’t. He already knew. And he was ready.

I’m not so sure I was ready….because anything could have happened. But there comes that time where you just gotta go with your gut feeling.

Jim not only answered the phone that night….but as you’re about to read ….he also “answered the call” for us.

That’s pretty much what I took away from this game. The way we were playing and what we had going on was what mattered to me most after absorbing this defeat.

Verdugo takes its first defeat of ’92….final score Burbank 6 Verdugo 4.

Was I thinking we were going to go undefeated in League play coming into this one? No.

Were we doing all the right things and riding high coming into this one? HELL YEAH

I distinctly remember what happened BEFORE the next game we played when I gave the scorebook to Nancy shortly before the game.

She said “Kelly that game we lost was so nerve-racking…you were so calm in the dugout the whole game. I couldn’t believe how you stayed so calm”

Yeah…I was. Because win or lose I was LOVING what I was seeing out of you guys.

We had some bad breaks. Got behind early. They had a feisty ball club. Their pitcher threw a great game. And Legion is a lot like the NFL…..”on any given Sunday…..”

But yet I couldn’t question the fire you guys played with getting back into the game. Maybe we pressed a little but that’s what great Teams do in my book.

We were down 6-1 after five innings and scrapped back. Cowsill hit a huge home run that got us back in it. Huge. Fucking Clutch.

And in the top of the seventh….Hack led off. Verdugo trailing 6-3. He draws a walk.

Moreno steps up….base hit.

And just like that….the tying run is now at the plate.

Evans steps up….base hit. Not enough to get Hack home and I was playing it safe because a.) we were down still and didn’t want to run us out of the inning and b.) the next three hitters are Bull, Turner, and “B”….who had already hit a monstrous home run.

You could literally see the little beads of sweat forming on the foreheads of the Burbank team at this stage.

Josh drove in a run when he reached base on a fielders choice making it 6-4.

Turner grounded out into a double play to end the game. I still thought we played a great game. I was still LOVING what I was seeing out of you guys.

And I loved how you guys took the loss. Turner standing just off the foul line past first base shaking his head. Evans walks over to Turner. Canale walks over to Turner. Picking him up. The three of them standing there in disbelief ….just looking out at the field while Burbank celebrated.

Our dugout quiet. All of us shocked.

As far as I was concerned, that’s all I needed to see. What I was seeing told me you guys were for real. And we were gonna be just fine.

And I stayed calm in the dugout for pretty much the entire next two seasons…..

Hack took the loss on the mound. He gave up six runs….but only three were earned and only gave up five hits. He threw well for us that day.

Our next two games were going to be against both Woodland Hills Teams. The East Team we already had plenty of bad blood with. They were the only team that ever dogpiled on us…and although it happened two years prior….that defeat was still as fresh as ever in my head ….and General’s head….and Henry’s head….and Weapon’s head.

The West Team we had never faced before. They had Dan Cey. They had Randy Wolf. Their program had even WON the American Legion World Series during the late 80’s…..

These were two powerhouse teams we were coming up against. But I was confident. Bull was gonna get the start on the mound Sunday against West at Stengel.

We needed a win. I didn’t wanna go into Sunday night against West riding a two-game losing streak. I could have gone with Evans or Cowsill on the mound against East in the next game…..

I thought about it and thought about it…and either of those two guys I know would have answered the call and thrown a great game for us.

But as we got closer and closer to game time….a Saturday afternoon nine-inning game.

I remember I made the decision late Thursday night…..staring at the ceiling in the dark before falling asleep. A little smile came across my face that nobody else in the world saw.

And I thought to myself…..”this is a huge huge pivotal game for us ….and you know what? I’m giving the ball to VO” and I went to sleep.

No, they didn’t throw Jeff Suppan at us. But I’m not sure it would have mattered if they did. We pounded out 17 hits in the victory.

Once again, everybody played. Honestly, I didn’t have any plans to use Parque at all unless it was out of the pen but he played the last few innings in right field after Robb Turner was ejected in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was actually pretty funny what happened and I’ll get to that later.

Bull was on a roll and had a shutout going after five innings. They scored a run against him in the sixth.

All said and done The Bull went eight innings and gave up one run, and struck out nine while picking up his second victory of the year for us.

Lance Evans pitched the ninth and gave up a couple of runs but it was mop-up time at that point. We knocked these guys around pretty hard …..

This game had a little bit of everything. Both teams throwing at each other’s hitters (and one coach denying it was intentional….and it wasn’t me)…..

Wild-ass base-running by both teams. Five double plays between the two teams. Overthrown cut-off men….guys getting called out for not touching bases…guys getting called out for stealing bases cleanly (Turner hahaha) and a lot of line-shots off the Verdugo bats.

We came out raking in the bottom of the first. The first four hitters – Workman, Moreno, Evans, and Canale all ripping base hits. Turner drove in a run on a fielders choice and while we could have scored more….we came out of the first with a 2-0 lead.

In the second inning Dave Fielder led-off with a base hit. Kasey Canale followed with a base-hit of his own (“The Calf” starting that night at second base….at age 14!!!!)……and Thunder eventually scored on a fielders choice making it 3-0.

The fourth inning we racked up six more hits. And six more runs. Haggs led off the inning with a base-hit. Thunder followed with a base-hit of his own. Calf drew a walk.

Up steps Hack with the bases loaded and he rips a GRAND SLAM to right-center. This was at Stengel Field. That ball was an absolute SHOT. 7-0 Verdugo.

Moreno singled….Turner ripped the first of his TWO doubles of the game ….and Haggs (who led off the inning with a base hit) singled yet again….the ball also was misplayed by their left fielder and ended up going all the way to the wall. The bases emptied and it was 9-0 when Haggs was thrown out at third trying to stretch it.

Can you blame me for waving him to third?

At this point of the game I will be honest. I wanted to ten-run-rule mercy these guys. Did I huddle all the players around me and tell them that? No. But was that what I was looking for? HELL YES.

The fewer innings we play the more gas in the tank I’ve got with our chuckers….it’s just that plain….it’s just that simple. I would never apologize for trying to do so either.

We added another in the bottom of the sixth, making it 10-1 at that point. Bull Oxen drove in Gabe….who had led off the inning with a base-hit when he came in to replace Moreno. In fact…..right now….if we score one more run and hold them scoreless in the top of the seventh….then this game is over.

After Canale’s double…..Their pitcher got the ball in his hand. Went into his stretch with Canale on second and picked over to first….claiming Bull hadn’t touched first base on the double. The umpire punched him out!!!!

Wtf? Really?? Honestly I didn’t even see the play. And with a 10-1 lead I was like …whatever. But on deck “The Reverend” (Robb Turner) was breathing FIRE!!!!

Turner steps up and cracks another shot up the gap for his second double of the night.

Then …..clearly…..for whatever reason…..their pitcher was not even remotely paying attention to anything. Turner WAS paying attention….and tried to steal third. He bounced out and got his lead and looked at me ….and bounced out a little further ….and a little more while their pitcher was reading a book or something and by the time he was about half way to third he looked at me as if to say “fuck it I’m taking it if they’re just gonna give it to me!” And off he went full bore!

And why not? He was three-quarters of the way to third before the Crespi dugout started yelling at their pitcher “heyyyyyy!!!!!” And then he fired to third. And this play? I had a front row seat. And he was safe!!!!

But no….the umpire not only called him out……he “wound-up” and called him out!!!!

I think the umpire was more fired up at calling him out than Crespi was. That umpire was strutting around big time ….kinda trying to rub it in. I don’t know what the hell his deal was. I looked at the guy as if to say “you’re kidding me right?” Anyways….soon after….Turner was launched for arguing the call.

That’s how Vo ended up in right field that night. Haha….

Hey….I’m good with it. I like my players taking what’s there if the other team doesn’t give a fuck what’s happening on the field. I say it was a heads-up play by Turner. He stole that base on THE PITCHER…..not their catcher. A pitch never was even thrown .

Yeah….he was already in scoring position with two outs ….but I still say if the pitcher has his head THAT FAR UP HIS ASS….you gotta take it……if only for the embarrassment factor.

And yeah….he was safe. If he was out I know Robb. He would’ve walked off and said “yeah they got me”

Maybe Crespi got a little hot and bothered we were even stealing bases with a 10-1 lead. It’s possible. But this wasn’t your conventional “stealing bases with a nine-run lead” either.

But I’m looking at the scorebook and we didn’t run a straight steal the whole night. Why would I when it was raining line-shots and gappers all over the place? Turner trying to steal third he did it because the pitcher had his head up his ass….not because I gave him the steal sign. He was thrown out by the pitcher….not the catcher. Look at the scorebook. 1-5…..

Maybe that’s why Canale got dosed in the ninth. Who knows?

In fact….it was CRESPI running the straight-steals that night. Once in the fourth inning (and the guy trying to steal second got MOWED DOWN by Fielder) and they ran a straight steal in the eighth when they trailed 10-1. So it’s okay for them to play hard when they trail and we’re supposed to just lay down when we have the lead and let them back in it right?

Wrong. At least not in LEGION.

But after the game I felt a conversation needed to happen between myself and Coach Muckey.

So I told him after the game. This is not verbatim…..but these are the basic thoughts I voiced to him: “This isn’t the major leagues. You and I? We don’t have a farm-team in Albuquerque where we can pull a guy up for a couple of weeks and then send him back down to get us through a tough stretch of the schedule. I’ll be honest with you coach … I was trying to ten-run you….because to be honest with you any innings I can save this summer along the way I will try and save them when they are there….and I’m sure you’d have done the same. I understand one of the ‘unwritten rules of baseball’ says you don’t steal bases with a nine run lead. I get it. But again….this isn’t the major leagues….let’s not pretend that it is ….and if you think I’m gonna lay back and stop playing when my team has a lead you better think again. Now….I’ve been honest with you….and with that being said ….certainly you can be honest enough to admit you threw at one of my guys right?” I said with a big smile.

I said this in a conversational tone with him in front of several of his players. I smiled and I remember his players smiling too. I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t lecturing. And I don’t think he was mad. But I made my point and I confessed. I asked him to confess….but I also knew he COULDN’T have confessed ….at least not to that……so I think that made the whole thing a lot more humorous for us both.

Coach Muckey may not have liked what I said ….and just like me….he never would have admitted he threw at one of my hitters. I’ll never forget the look on his face when I asked him that and smiled. But I think Coach Muckey had a little better understanding of me after this game. Respect? Maybe not. But I think he understood at that point that I was just like he was at the end of the day. And that was the point I had hoped to make with him.

The point? That yeah….I’m just a guy like you coach who’s looking to kick your ass. Just like you’re looking to kick our ass. Neither of us is getting paid to be here. We push it when we can and yeah we can be “righteously indignant” too when we’re down and one of the unwritten rules of the game gets violated……to put on a little show for our players as well….it gets everybody all jacked-up….I get it……I do that too Coach from time-to-time…..just like you.

I’ve gone off on a little tangent here so forgive me but I think it needs to be said. Coach Muckey (Scott) ran the Crespi Legion Team and was also the Head Coach at Crespi High.

I always thought ‘Ol Muck was a pretty cool dude. And probably the only Manager in the 20th district I genuinely liked. We all loved Spiro from the Glendale Team…but Spiro wasn’t managing that ball club. Coach Muckey’s assistant coach Craig Sherwood (who is now the head coach at Burbank high school and runs a great program) had long hair at the time just like me….and Coach Muck more than a few times could be found in the dugout enjoying a dip.

He ran his Legion program with all of his underclassmen. So if you were a senior at Crespi high ….you won’t be playing any Legion ball that summer (at least not for coach Muckey). And honestly, if I was a high school Head Coach I would have run my program the same way.

I will also say this. If I had a kid and could have hand-picked what high school I wanted him to play baseball at and the coach I would have wanted coaching him….I would have sent my kid to play for Coach Muckey.

He was THAT good.

Coach Muckey also was a very funny guy. I remember being at the pre-season coaching meetings we would have for the 20th district and he would always arrive just before the meeting would begin. I think he would wait until the room was full intentionally before making his entrance. He would enter the door….then back up….make eye contact with a few of us and instead of saying “hi” he went into “Coach Muckey-mode”…standing in the door opening and pretending he was giving signs to (who knows? Haha) from his imaginary third base-coaching box while we all either smiled or laughed out loud.

Many of the coaches gave signs BACK to him after he did this…..and a few of the signs sent back in his direction from some of the other coaches had only ONE finger on them for some reason…..

We all got a kick out of that.

He LOVED the game.

And he turned out some great kids. Not just great players…..great people.

He kept things in perspective. He knew he had a young team out there every season in Legion. He could go 5-18 or 18-5 and regardless he maintained his sense of humor.

If they went 18-5 it was due to his “brilliant managerial effort” he would say…..obviously tongue-in-cheek.

And if he went 5-18 he would say “yeah I remember that team I had ….I think the greatest offensive weapon we had that season was the TAKE SIGN”

Coach Muckey passed away a year or two ago. He was in his early sixties. He won the Southern Section CIF championship at least TWICE. It’s hard enough to win that even once…..

He won over 500 games as Crespi’s head baseball coach in his 27 year career there.

So while at the end of this game there may have been some “friction” between Coach Muckey and myself…..it was on the surface level only. He knew the game. He knew people. And I won’t tell ya now….but he did something even funnier before the game we had against them later in ’92 in the playoffs. He was a quiet man….but quite a character.

I have to say he handled that situation exactly the way I would have …and I’m sure he would agree that I handled it from my end exactly the way he would have. What could be better than that? Huh?

Two baseball guys just trying to get their “fair” advantage over the other guy…right? Hahaha

Rest In Peace Coach. You were GREAT!!!! Thanks for the epic battles…..

Scott Muckey ….RIP Coach….loved ya!!!!

Okay….we’re 3-0 and playing a perennially weak team in Valley South. In 1990…they were known as “Valley ET” (Encino-Tarzana) and we beat them twice that season as well as blowing them out on the ten run rule in 1991.

But this was (to me anyways) a huge game. As we had all experienced in Legion…it was kinda like the NFL….”on any given Sunday….anybody can beat anybody” so while worried …I was confident.

This was a Saturday game on the road (nine innings)….and we had to play Encino-Crespi for nine innings Sunday evening at Stengel.

To give you an idea of how confident I was, we started the game with Hagge, Turner, and Bull Oxen on the bench. I could have DH’d any of those guys as well to hit for Jim Parque who got his first start on the mound for Verdugo….but did I?

HELL NO I didn’t! I played the lineup National League rules-style….letting Parque hit for himself in the nine-hole.

And what happened? We shut them out and picked up the win….Final score: Verdugo 7 Valley South 0….,,

Vo stepped up. Threw a great game. He shut them out for seven innings on only 76 pitches and “B” Cowsill pitched the 8th and 9th to pick up the save….and Verdugo was 4-0!!!!

Haggs, Turner, and Bull all played that day as well….but came in late in the game. It was another win where we all contributed.

No attitude whatsoever from Haggs…Turner….or Bull when they started the game out on the pine. We were all having a great time in the dugout that day!!!!

Jon Gabrielson led off for us…played the whole game at first base. Jon reached base three times, had a couple of base-hits, stole a base, and scored a couple of runs.

Wiley Jackson was roaming the tundra for us out in right field….hitting in the six-hole….drawing a walk and moving a runner over on a sacrifice and hauling in a couple of fly balls.

Dan Bir played the whole game in left field that day, and picked up his first hit in his Verdugo career with a seventh-inning single.

Kasey Canale started at second base for us and drove in a run.

Vo scattered two hits and two walks through seven innings….again….only 76 pitches….and struck out five.

Hack Workman had three hits, two of them doubles, and scored a couple of runs.

Brendan Cowsill singled….and stepped up to the plate in the third inning and bombed a two-run HOMER.

Thunder (Dave Fielder) ripped a base hit in the third inning and caught a great game for us.

Kirk Hagge came into the game in the 6th inning, played a couple of innings at second base and caught the final two frames when Cowsill had the ball.

This was a fun day. Everybody got in some work. We took it easy again with Bull because he was gonna be on the mound the next day against Crespi. Bull played the last couple of innings at second base and didn’t even get to hit this game.

Robb Turner came into the game in the 6th inning as well, and picked up a base-hit in his first plate appearance. We shifted him around from right field to third base when “B” took the mound.

Good times….Verdugo 4-0. Everybody’s playing. Everybody’s loose.

Honestly I was expecting to ten-run mercy-rule these guys but it’s okay. We played nine….no injuries….

We got the two things I was looking for….number one, the win…..and number two….Bull Oxen was fully rested for Crespi. Crespi had Jeff Suppan. I didn’t know if he was going to pitch against us or not. And honestly? With Bull rested….I didn’t care who they threw at us.

Yeah…3-0. Verdugo at this stage of the year was 3-0. This wasn’t unchartered waters for me, as a manager. Prior to Verdugo I had managed one championship in 1985….a Colt League Team. That was the first team I managed. What a fight to win it all it was that season. I could write a book about that season (and just may someday).

In ’89 we had another Colt League Team that went 11-2….losing two games to a team it was later discovered (after the season) had a couple of college players on. So really…..one could argue that my ’89 team ran the table……

As a manager…in terms of winning… and even dominating….this wasn’t my first rodeo.

But for Verdugo….this was pretty big. This wasn’t a Colt League Team. This was LEGION. And we’re off to a great start. I liked what I was seeing. A lotta bodies flying around out there. Guys picking each other up. The dugout was loose. Guys that weren’t playing were still totally into what was happening on the field.

Guys in the dugout and on the field weren’t just barking out “QUICK!!!!….PANTHER-LIKE!!!!….everybody in a Verdugo uniform was looking to be ACCUSED of being quick and panther-like. Myself included!!!!

“Ahhhh!!!!” Was being barked out left and right. I can’t even imagine what the opposition must have thought watching the shit we did.

The rags were flying. Rituals were in full force. Flip was happening. Between-inning hockey had gotten to the point that guys were keeping their own stats and won-loss records. Everything was pretty much on auto-pilot.

23 games in the summer is a long season…especially when you factor in the nine-inning games and the double-headers. I remember 1990 and it was tough managing the rotation, and the innings pitched, and pitch-counts…..because we were a little thin with our staff (especially after they pulled Chili and Chandler from the roster)

91′ we were fine. A three-man rotation. Big Breck….The Bull Oxen….and Chili. The starting chuckers we had would get the ball once a week. And we stuck with that. We had plenty of help out of the pen that season as well.

For ’92…we originally planned for Bull, Evans, and Hack to be the three-man rotation. We had Cowsill… who I planned to “spot-start”…..and we had Parque (who at this stage was still a huge question mark)….but Vo could be used in many different ways ….we could “spot-start” him as well……we had Wiley Jackson….and don’t forget we had “Gabe” (Jon Gabrielson).

With Parque…my plan was to spot-start him and look for opportunities where I felt he could do well, and not just throw him to the wolves. Once Evans got hurt, I really had no other choice but to throw Vo to the wolves. But you know what? He answered the call.

Vo had a lotta thugs playing behind him defensively. He learned to trust those guys behind him. And thankfully the thugs we had talked him through some tense situations ….. keeping him focused and just reminding him to keep throwing strikes ….and that was huge in keeping him chilled out when we were playing in those nail-biting tight games towards the end of the season.

But again….I liked what I was seeing. 3-0. Going into the season I had broken the 23 game season down (at least in my head) into SIX four-game “mini seasons”….(yeah I know 24 divided by six isn’t four….but I’m sure you “get the gist”)

Usually by the time the season ends the tank is empty and you’re running on fumes anyways…..well…. USUALLY….but not in ’92.

So breaking things down like this enabled me to keep things in perspective…to have certain expectations as to what I felt we could do in each “mini-season”…. and manage the chuckers….

The 3-0 start was huge. I’m sure it raised more than a few eyebrows around the league.

But something very special was happening here. We had built something and the first couple of years was starting to pay off.

The reason I’m writing this story is for a couple of reasons. Number one…saluting the 3-0 start. But number two is this…,what happened over the next three games for us in 1992 basically SET THE TONE for the glorious run we had in both ’92 and ’93.

And I personally believe that it was the loss we took in game six that changed everything.

After that defeat the eyes of Verdugo never looked ……. they PIERCED.

I will NEVER forget that loss in game six. As a manager, of course….I don’t forget ANY game I get beat. But I still can see Evans, Turner, and Canale standing like statues ….hands on their hips after that loss in game six…..ending our five-game winning streak…..on the sidelines….looking ….just staring out at the field in disbelief. The dugout doing the same. We played a great game in that loss….as far as I was concerned everything was gonna be okay.

But as a manager…when you see your players want it as bad as you do…and maybe even more…..it’s a feeling not very many managers get to feel. This wasn’t the first time I had felt this as a manager. But up in the La Crescenta area, quietly…and unbeknownst to most of the fools around the league…..a 3-0 monster was growing. And every guy we had on the roster was involved in it. And it was getting bigger. And it was getting meaner. And it was getting angrier. And it was getting nastier. Every. Single.Day.