verdugo288

I’ve been putting off writing this GD story for 33 years…..it’s painful, but it has to be written.

In the immortal words of Yul Brenner in the movie “The Ten Commandments”…..

“So it shall be written….so it shall be done”….or some BS like that.

We played a helluva game. WE jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Then gave up THREE unearned runs when Crespi rolled a four on us in the fifth. We tied it in the bottom of the seventh when Kirk Hagee singled in Brendon Cowsill and retook the lead 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth when Dave Fielder came up and doubled in Hack Workman. It was a gutsy effort by Verdugo….Cowsill throwing six innings and allowing only ONE earned run. Brendon went out and just “handled it”…..Verdugo-style….it really was a commanding performance by “B”…..in addition to dominating on the mound…..”B’ had three hits.

Robb Turner had three hits. Workman two hits. Canale had a hit. I also want to mention this: Turner was an absolute machine during the playoffs, reaching base 15 out of 20 times! He set an all-time Verdugo record for “times reached base’ (playoff games included) with 65!!!!

Now we stood at the summit….needing only three outs to clinch a birth in the next tournament. I also wanna say three of our rookies really stepped up on this day in history. Kirk Hagge…delivering two clutch hits, driving in three runs….and handling 8 ground balls flawlessly during the game. Dave Fielder, hitting probably the most clutch double that gave us the lead when we needed it most. And Jim Parque, throwing two innings of scoreless relief after pitching five innings and picking up the win the day before against Notre Dame.

Three outs. That’s what we needed. I had a tough decision to make. Vo was on a roll, but he had thrown over 100 piches in the last 24 hours. I didnt hesitate and told Hack to get loose as soon as he scored the go ahead run. We’ll never know what would have happened had I sent Vo out for another inning. I still believe I made the right call giving the ball to Hack.

Hack had one ball that was hit hard off him….a lead off double. The next hitter popped out.

Up came Jeff Suppan. Suppan had quite a season at the plate for Crespi. He led the district in three or four categories. I’m not talking about him leading the district in pitching categories….I’m talking HITTING!

This guy had been hitting SHOTS all over the yard all summer long.

I know what “the book” says….you never intentionally walk the potential go-ahead run. I still stand by my decison….and I did it. And Scott Muckey, the Crespi manager fought me on that decison I made. As Hack made the first two pitches over in the left-handed batters box, Muckey had Suppan SWING at the first two pitches. They were baiting us into trying to throw him just ONE STRIKE!!! The count now was 0-2…..I still made the decision to walk him anyways.

Muckey even said in the newpapers after the game “I like that situation with Jeff up there…If we hit into the double-play….Oh well”

Muck did NOT want Suppan to be intentionally walked. I didn’t want Suppan to beat us.

My thinking? Suppan was hitting clean up. He’s slower than the second coming of Christ on the basepaths. We set-up a potential double-play scenario. We had turned over 20 double-plays during the season thus far. So it wasnt like I was asking our defense to do something they had never done before. Even if we don’t get the double play…..I don’t see Suppan scoring on a gapper. I didnt fear their lineup from the five-hole to the nine-hole. I liked our chances with Hack versus 5 through 9 in their lineup.

The next hitter fouled off a couple of 3-2 pitches. It was getting tense.

Hack fooled the hitter with an off-speed pitch and he flailed at it and looped it over Yves’ head at second base and into right field for a base hit. Kasey had a short throw from right field to hose the runner at the plate who was trying to score from second.

Calf’s throw throw was a little off line and high. Fielder adjusted and went a few feet up the third base line….the ball arrived before the runner but as Fielder leaped up to get it he got clothslined by the runner trying to score from second, knocking him to the ground. The runner now easily scored….and by the time Hack got to it ( he was backing up the play) fucking Suppan and the batter had moved up another 90 feet!

The correct call should have been that the guy who ran over Fielder should have been ruled out and Suppan and the other runner should have been sent back to 2nd base and 1st base, respectively.

I was FUCKING PISSED. They made a big deal out of this every year. If a player gets bowled over by a baserunner…..the runner is OUT. I had been listening to this for three years now at every managers meeting. I went out and unloaded on the umpire. I guess the rule had morphed into “if a player gets bowled over by a baserunner, the runner is out….unless the player who gets bowled over is a Verdugo player”

I informed the umpire that I had no choice but to file a protest.

I remember the first game in Verdugo’s history. Andy Saltsman got mowed down by a Panorama City player and the runner was automatcially OUT. Henry Fernandez got brutally bowled over by Berger from the Glendale team trying to catch a routine pop fly half way between home plate and first base. Berger was ruled automatically out. That was the rule in Legion…..you bowl over a defender, you’re out. I guess that rule doesnt apply to playoff games.

It’s 6-6 now……runners at 2nd and 3rd. I intentionally walked the next hitter.

I pulled the corners up and kept Haggs and Yves at double-play depth.

We got the ground ball we wanted. Haggs fielded it cleanly….fed it to Yves….Yves makes a good throw….the runner beats the throw by a half-step.

FUCK.

Boy did I feel like a dickhead when Suppan scored….(the first guy I intentionally walked)….

It’s 7-6. Runners are now at the corners. Everybody knew what Muck was gonna do now. Steal second.

We had run first and third plays all season without a glitch. We were rattled and I should have gone out to the mound to try to settle everybody down. Make sure we were all on the same page. I didn’t do that. It ended up costing us.

We ran the play where Fielder makes a sale and looks like he’s trying the throw out the runner at second base and the pitcher cuts it off. Fielder made a GREAT sale….had the runner on third leaning out into no mans land big time….and Hack lets the throw go through. The runner scored.

It’s 8-6. I was hurting now…I’m sure you guys were too. None of us showed it though and we all handled it like men. I’m not singling out Hack here. I wanted to tell this story as one of the reasons why we had the greatest kids.

Hack asked for a new ball from the umpire. There were a LOT of people at this game. Like….250 I’m guessing?

As Hack stood on the mound…his glove hand stretched towards home plate to receive the new ball….and everybody in the stands was wondering “what the hell just happened?” Hack took his throwing hand and started slapping his chest slowly…..as if to say “I fucked up that play”

Hack….you didnt have to do that. When Verdugo goes down….we go down as a team. It was a team loss. You didnt have to do that……

And lets not forget that damage I had caused by walking Suppan. If anybody fucked up the game it was ME.

This is why we had the best kids….bar none. I have told many stories about Verdugo to family and friends through the years. And invariably, people come to the conclusion that “damn you guys were bad ass!”

But when I tell this particular story….about the first and third play…..I want people to know that Verdugo had a human side to them as well. And I never seem to be able to tell that story without people noticing I have a few tears in my eyes as I tell it. Not tears of sadness at our defeat that day….But tears of pride that we indeed had the best kids. And I always finish that story by saying “It just happened to be Hack on the mound when that happened. Any of our guys would have reacted to what happened on that play exactly as Hack did”….

All of you guys were selfless. It was such a joy working with you guys. I’m going to talk about that in the next game we played against Chatsworth. Lance Evans….pitching (and hitting) with a fucking CAST on his left arm. I can go on and on….examples of our guys just doing whatever it took to battle for Verdugo. I can’t seem to put it into words…..but I think you guys know what I’m talking about here.

We had runners at first and second in the bottom of the ninth, but came up short.

We got beat. I’ll still stick by my words….”Verdugo had the greatest players who played in the greatest games” and this was another great effort in another great game. I was proud of you guys. I’m sorry I walked Suppan…if I hadn’t done that….maybe we’d still be playing that game and trying to break the tie.

I am looking forward to writing about the ’93 season. I will particularly enjoy telling everyone about the two games we played against Crespi. And not just defeating them twice, but ripping their hearts out BOTH times….both games at THEIR yard.

But our season wasn’t over. We still had a game against Chatsworth to try and stay alive.