verdugo288

I was sitting here for about ten minutes looking at a blank screen where all it said at the top was “The Calf” and spent the next ten minutes kinda smiling and laughing to myself before I started writing this.

We had a guy on the Team here at Verdugo we nicknamed (originally) “The Bull”….and we changed it later to “The Bull Oxen”….

Bull Oxen had a little brother. I met his little brother when he was twelve. We knew he would play for us one day. In fact, we had already nicknamed this guy “The Calf” before he ever even wore a Verdugo Uniform!

I’ve already written a short story here on the blog about how he “came to be” a member of Verdugo at the ripe-old age of 14….

This guy hadn’t even stepped foot on a high school campus yet nor had he played an inning of high school ball yet and he was playing for Verdugo!

Josh and Robb Turner and Lance Evans had talked me into the short Roster for 1992. We had 13 guys and could have stopped there.

Nancy Canale had told me all of 1990 and 1991 how she always wished Josh and Kasey could have played one season together but that their age difference had prevented it.

The last time she brought it up was sometime back in the ’91 season. As ’92 closed-in she never even mentioned it. She knew it would never happen. She wasn’t telling me to put him on the Team nor was she even suggesting it.

But I never forgot what she wished for….

When we needed that one last absolutely crucial guy to add to the Roster I made sure I let her know in person.

She had tears in her eyes when I told her. I kinda did too….

This wasn’t just a warm body we stuck on the Roster. This guy was a perfect fit. He understood what we had going on here. And he could play….

And yeah….he was a CANALE….

What a great acquisition.

Verdugo was a fun ball club to play for. But this kid made the dugout and the field even more fun.

He wasn’t just there to fill a spot on the roster either. He played. And he produced. We’re gonna talk about that. He started and played entire games that we won against some strong teams…

Notre Dame, Glendale, Crespi, and Sun Valley…..

He didn’t just appear in those games he played entire games that we won against those Teams. A 14-year old.

I still smile and chuckle out loud and shake my head when I think about yet another rookie we had ….this guy named Kasey Canale….and how he rose to the occasion for Verdugo ’92.

This was part of the magic of the summer of ’92. We had all the right guys who fit in with what we were trying to do. Yeah even Vo…with his quirkiness….and Gabe…with his religious affiliations. And Kasey …with his youth…They fit right in. Bir with his “professionalism”….Jackson with his…his….his….Wiley-ness.

…..somehow….each guy we had played a pivotal role for us.

I mean ….Gabe was to Verdugo Hills what that religious kid named “Strap Purl” meant to Hickory High in the movie “Hoosiers”…

Right?

Somehow we had all the right pieces. It didn’t matter about their personality or their accomplishments or their resume or their age or their size or whatever.

A lotta people would look back on our Roster in ’92 and say “what?” when they looked at it on paper.

But as I go through writing about each guy here before I start in on the playoffs a pattern is emerging here.

Every single player we had contributed to us dominating…….in a major way. Everybody was clutch at some point.

That’s why every player we had in ’92 was an absolutely perfect piece to the puzzle.

And this guy was yet another one of those perfect pieces….just like the rest of you.

Yeah he played and yeah he contributed in a major way in ’92.

But he was just as big a part of it all when he wasn’t playing but was there in the Verdugo Dugout. Imagine playing for the opposition and having this guy….plus Bir…and plus WILEY in your fucking ear and eventually in your head by the time the game was over.

He was a presence both on the field….and in the dugout….and he fucking loved Wearing that RALLY WIG!!!!

I didn’t waste any time getting him on the field either. We led Agoura 4-1 on opening day and it was still a ballgame and I put him at second base in the 7th inning.

His first plate appearance for Verdugo he singles, driving in a run giving us a 5-1 lead…and then steals second base.

Game two of the season I started him and led him off. He was hitless in three at-bats but he hit the ball sharply and played great D until he came out of the game after five innings.

He played a couple of innings defensively against Sunland-Tujunga and made a couple of plays in the 6-1 win.

He started and drove in a run in our 7-0 win against Valley South.

He started and played the entire game in our 10-1 ass-kicking of Crespi at Stengel. He reached base three times and scored a run and drove in one as well.

He started and played the entire game against Woodland-Hills West when we ruined Ron Cey’s Father’s Day in an 8-3 win.

He did miss some games throughout the season due to basketball commitments but generally when he was there he saw action for us.

He started and played the entire second game of the double header against Glendale. Played great defense and picked up another-base hit in that win. STELLAR.

He started and played the entire game in our 5-1 victory against Notre Dame. Picking up yet another base hit. Fucking HUGE. This was a HUGE GAME.

He started and played the entire road game against Lancaster South as we came down the stretch. Singling twice in our 6-3 win. MASSIVE.

He started and played the entire game in our playoff clinching win against sun Valley…..hitting an absolute SHOT for a single (I remember it vividly it was deep enough for a double) FUCKING CLUTCH.

We hit a lotta SHOTS off fat-bitch that night….and the one he hit was as HARD as any of ’em.

He picked up yet another hit in the 11-1 win against Panorama City the day after we clinched. ARE WE SEEING A PATTERN HERE?

And to top it all off….the final regular game of the season against NewHall-Saugus I put him behind the plate for the last four innings of our nail-biting 4-3 win.

I put him back there because I felt it was ROOKIE SHOWCASE TIME.

When the dust had settled at the end of the season The Calf was 8 for 28 (.286) for Verdugo as a 14-year old. He went 2-4 in the playoffs (.500) and finished the season at .313.

What a season. Loved having him in a Verdugo Uniform. There were a couple of times during the season I remember when Kasey would do something HUGE for us and his nervous mom who was watching both her sons play ….Nancy ….her and I would make brief eye contact and I’ll tell ya….the happy look on her face was worth just about as much to see as anything else I witnessed in 1992.

Verdugo….once assembled …..was the perfect puzzle. And this guy was yet another one of our perfect pieces.

Calf? I’m still shaking my head in amazement…..almost 30 years later!!!!