It only happened ONE TIME.  94 Games in our history.  88 in the regular season plus another six playoff games.  That’s right…only ONE TIME it happened.  And looking back on it all….I’ll take that.  But it’s inevitable when you play that many games.  Somehow, the law of averages catch up to you and it happens.  What am I talking about?  I’m talking about the ONE TIME another team DOGPILED on us.  And let me tell you………this one HURT.

We rolled into Taft High School late in the season for a Sunday morning game against Woodland Hills East.  We were 8-7, coming off an upset win over Newhall-Saugus…and WHE was leading their Division at 15-4.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I was looking forward to the challenge.  I had gone back and forth all week with Vic and he wasn’t going to be able to make the game because he had to study for finals.  We took NINE guys to the game.  There was no reason for McBride to be there after throwing 134 pitches the day before….so I thought.  

So I told McBride to stay home and relax on Sunday.  Little did I know how McBride ultimately would become a factor in this game…even from his home….even though he wasn’t even there with us. 

I felt we had a chance because BullOxen and Hank were rested for the most part.  McBride had given us a huge lift by throwing a nine-inning complete game victory against Newhall-Saugus the day before.  We were gonna miss having Vic’s bat in the lineup, but I still felt pretty good about our chances.  And like I said in an earlier post…there should have been a camera crew following our ballclub around that entire season because we didn’t back down, we electrified, we were emotional, we shocked our opponents, and the bottom line is you never knew what we were gonna do when we came to the yard.  And this game was no exception.

BullOxen got the start on the mound.  And by the time he went out to pitch we had a 2-0 lead.  Frost led off the game with a base-hit.  Rogers and Tex hit SHOTS that resulted in outs.  Bull drove in Frost with a single, and Weapon hit a shot up the gap for a double that scored Bull. 

We extended the lead to 5-0 in the the second inning with singles by Turner, Rogers, Martin, and BullOxen. 

Then we made it 8-0 in the third.  Hank singled, Turner singled….then Frost roped one into the left field corner for a bases-clearing double.  Rogers drove in Frost with another base hit. 

Twelve hits.  Count-em!……Twelve hits in the first three innings.  We came out that day and totally raked!!!!

And it wasn’t just the hits.  It was the STINGS.  I kept a statistic that year I called STINGS.  A “sting” was when we hit the ball right on the screws…..and right AT someone for an out.  We had six stings this game in addition to our 17 hits.  We had hit the ball HARD at Quartz Hill when we pounded out 19 hits, but this game was probably the hardest we hit the ball all season.

Rogers, Turner, and Hank had three hits apiece.  Frost, Bull, and Martin all had two hits.  Weap doubled, and Sammy singled. 

Around the third inning guess who showed up to the game?  VIC.

Shit, we had an 8-0 lead….and now we got VIC. 

I didn’t waste any time getting Vic into the game. 

You never know in a Baseball game.  We took nine guys to that game.  What if  a guy got hurt?  What if a guy got thrown out?  Well, that’s EXACTLY what happened before the game ended. 

Around the fourth inning Sammy sprained one of his wrists.  He couldn’t swing.  So we bunted each time he came up the rest of the game.  He did a great job of “faking it” and not letting the WHE team know he was hurt.  Anything could have happened as well if they hit the ball to second base.  And each inning he was in more pain.  I asked him if he wanted out of the game and he said “no way.”

Then in the top of the sixth, Weap got thrown out for arguing a called third strike. 

Here was the problem.  When Vic showed up I immediately got him in the lineup, subbing him for Yoder, who had started.  So if Yoder comes back into the game, he can only go into Vic’s spot.  So if I enter Yoder back into the game…Vic has to come out.  So when Weap got tossed, that left a hole in his spot in the lineup.  I had no one on the bench I could put in Weap’s slot in the lineup, even though Yoder was sitting there on the bench watching the game.  So every time Weapon would’ve come up to hit for the rest of the game there was an automatic out recorded.  Around the time all of this went down….all I was thinking was MCBRIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!  Don’t forget…we started the game with nine guys before Vic showed up.

It wouldn’t have been perfect if McBride was there that day….but at least we would have had a warm body to help out in the outfield.  We were forced to play the rest of the game with eight players. 

WHE had cut our lead to 8-2 by the time Weap was ejected.  All we needed was twelve outs….and we were hitting the shit out of the ball that day, so I wasn’t TOO worried.  But the momentum had certainly shifted….

Before I go on let me say this.  Weap getting run was not the reason we lost this game.  Although Weap tried to pin the loss on himself, it wasn’t his fault we ended up losing.  I spoke with Weapon on the phone about this game a month ago or so and he said it was “the worst he had ever felt” after a Baseball game. 

When Weap got run, EVERYBODY was starting to get pissed on our Team.  The WHE team, parents, and coaches were ALL starting to mouth off.  They felt this was their chance now.  But by the time we had stopped playing nine against nine…all I can say is that the score was 8-2 in our favor.  Yeah, they beat us with eight guys on the field but with nine-on-nine….let’s face it……they were our BITCHES that day.  Maybe that’s why they got so worked up when they beat us. 

Meanwhile, on the field…the Verdugo anger was in full force!  BullOxen had thrown a brilliant four and two-thirds for us.  WHE had loaded the bases with one out when Hank relieved him.  Hank clutched up and struck out a guy and retired another on a fly ball to end the threat.  Ahh Hank! 

We were playing great defense that day.  We had a lotta bodies flying around out there on the field, the kind of shit I like to see.  Hustling, backing shit up, everybody was picking each other up.  The same stuff we had been doing all season.  In fact, with only eight guys out there…we were playing defensively with a sense of heightened awareness.  They did score on us in the bottom of the seventh to make it 8-3…..but even with eight guys on the field, we were in CONTROL.  Hank was clearly starting to get tired, but didn’t want out of the game.

While we weren’t getting guys on base we were still hitting the ball HARD.  There was quite a bit of “chirping” going on from both dugouts.  We were trying to hold on and pull off what would have been the biggest upset of the season and they were getting impatient they couldn’t get anything going against our hustling and diving group of eight guys on the field (one with a sprained wrist).  Vic and Tex combined to catch four fly balls when our outfield had been reduced to two.  They were motoring out there and flagging shit down….it was an awesome sight to see.

Then in the bottom of the eighth, they started to “hit-’em where they ain’t.”

They started hitting these routine fly balls that we couldn’t get to.  If only I had a warm body out there to help out Vic and Tex we would have beat ’em.  I couldn’t go with three infielders….I HAD to go with two outfielders.  All I was thinking was “MCBRIDE…………………………………..”

Hank gave up a routine fly-ball that resulted in a double and walked a guy to open the bottom of the eighth.  Hank was out of gas.  He fought me…but I pulled him and gave the ball to Rogers, who had already caught the whole game.  I moved Hank to first base, put Canale at third and Turner went behind the plate. 

Rogers got a ground-ball out, then a guy hit another “routine fly” deep into right field.  The problem was….no one was in right field.  Inside the park homer.  It would have been a sacrifice fly for sure…but they wouldn’t have scored three fucking runs on that fly ball…that’s for sure.  Now it was 8-6.

The next batter hit an absolute SHOT…..it was about four or five feet over Frost’s head at shortstop.  And Frost LEAPED to meathook it!  He must have put a two and a half foot vertical leap to spear that thing.  We were all jacked up when he made that play!  Hank even ran out to Frost at shortstop from first base to high-five him….then as Hank walked back to his position at first base……..he POINTED at their fans behind the first base dugout.  He was taunting them!  Ahhhh Hank! 

It was REALLY getting loud.  Both teams were totally pissed.  Both teams wanted to win this game.  We were about to play what I think was our greatest inning of the season….even though we got beat.

We hadn’t scored since the third inning.  It wasn’t like they were shutting us down…we were still hitting the ball hard, and racking up a lotta STINGS.  But we NEEDED A RUN.  We NEEDED to somehow get on the board.  Remember, we had no one in the number five hole since Weap’s ejection and an automatic out was recorded everytime he would have come up to hit for the rest of the game.  This was our chance, because Turner was leading off the ninth in the number eight hole.

And what does Turner do?  He RIPS a fucking base hit! 

Now Vic steps in.  We NEEDED to get Turner into scoring position and I didn’t like the idea of trying to steal second.  I didn’t want to waste the at-bat with Vic with a sacrifice bunt, either.  I figured we HAD THE LEAD, and I wanted to stay aggressive.  So we tried a hit-and-run.  Vic hit a groundball SHOT that somehow the pitcher caught.  They threw out Vic at first but it was enough to get Turner to second. 

Frost got hit by a 2-1 fastball and now we had runners at first and second.

Up came John Rogers.  Rogers was ripping that day.  Two hits and two stings already.  And what does Rogers do?  He RIPS a fucking base hit to drive in Turner!  AHHHHHH!!!!!!  Everybody was up in the dugout.  I knew we were gonna beat these bitches!!!!!

We were unable to score Rogers or Frost…but somehow we had broken up their momentum.  And while the game wasn’t out of what I like to call “grand slam reach”…we led 9-6.

WHE came up in the bottom-of-the-ninth and started hitting a few more “Routine Fly Balls.”  Vic and Tex could cover a hell of a lotta ground…but they couldn’t cover THAT MUCH ground.  I just remember them running full-steam trying to track those fucking fly balls.  We just couldn’t get to ’em.

Next thing we knew…it was 9-8 and they had runners on second and third with NOBODY OUT.  Their crowd was making a hell of a lotta noise.  I went out to the mound. 

I must admit…I didn’t know what I was going to do or say.  I got out there and just kind of looked at everybody.  Hank was out of gas.  BullOxen had already thrown about 120 pitches.  Canale gave me the look I was hoping someone would give me.  So did Hank.  So Canale went back in to pitch.  It was crazy.  But that’s why I loved this Team!  Both my main chuckers that were at that game (Hank and Bull) were totally out of gas and they still wanted the ball.  Both of “em did.  I can’t tell you how proud I was.

BullOxen came in and threw the best inning he had thrown all season.  Better than that inning he had thrown in relief at Quartz Hill. 

He came in against their cleanup hitter…and struck that motherfucker out!

Then the five hole came up….and he struck that motherfucker out!!!!!!!

You people reading this need to understand something….he didn’t just strike these two bitches out…..he made them look like IDIOTS.

Right then…right there….was one of the proudest moments I have EVER had as a Manager.  I’ll be honest with you now…there are a few tears in my eyes as I am writing this.  Not because we got beat….but because I was so proud of the ballclub that day, the effort we gave.  My two pitchers were both out of gas and they BOTH wanted the ball, plus I got everybody on the field out there SO READY for the ball to be hit to them that they all looked like GOALIES for a hockey team! 

Canale then made the next hitter look like an idiot as well.  He fooled the hitter…the guy made a check swing……….I don’t know if he hit the ball or if Canale’s pitch hit his bat but the ball the guy hit was a weak fly towards right field.  If anybody was out there we win the game.  I just remember seeing Sammy (sprained wrist and all) take off for that thing like he was being timed in the 40 yard dash.  He came up about eight feet short.  He was parallel to the ground when it fell in.

It was like a nightmare.  They had about fifteen guys on the mound dogpiling.  There was a huge dust cloud from all of the celebrating they were doing.  I remember looking through that cloud of dust and seeing a couple of our guys helping Sammy off the ground. 

It HURT.  But I’ll say this….that game brought everyone together just as much if not more than all of the times WE had dogpiled that year. 

I didn’t know what to say to anyone after the game.  We gathered.  I saw all of the faces.  Disappointment.  Anger.  Every guy was totally fucking pissed.  But we had left EVERYTHING we had out on the field that day.  And like I said, I don’t think I had felt prouder of that Team as I did right then.

All I remember saying was “let’s just get the fuck outta here.”

There were no handshakes.  I was just trying to get out of there.  We all were.  One of their parents said something to me on the way out.  It took two or three guys to restrain me.  He was out of line.  We didn’t handshake because the emotions had run so high that day that “something’ would have happened……….we were just trying to get out of there. 

Would I have gone after that guy today after what he said to me?  I don’t know.  But when you’re 30 years old (like I was at the time) and all full of piss and vinegar (which is a good thing) like I was….well, that’s what you do.

Both papers ran stories on this game.  One of the stories you can still find on the Internet.

I went home.  Did the stats.  General was there.  Hank, Weap, and a couple other guys stopped by.  There wasn’t much talking.  Long periods of silence were broken with someone saying the word “Fuck!!!”

Nobody really said much.  Once in a while some guy in the room would stand up and say “God dammit”….walk outside….and just look off into the distance. 

It HURT…yeah…..but we were more united than EVER after this one. 

It’s no coincidence that the guys who came by “The Dome” that day ended up coaching with us.  Hank, Weap, and BullOxen.  And it’s no coincidence that every year we kept getting better.  These guys NEVER forgot this game.  And when we started dominating in ’92 it was that much sweeter for all of us. We had been through it all together that first year.   And these guys were a big reason that no one EVER dogpiled on us again.  They were a big reason a lot of great things happened for our Team in the future. 

Again, Weap had nothing to do with the loss that day.  That’s just how we roll at Verdugo.  We electrify.  We shock our opponents.  We wear our emotions on our shirtsleeves.  We don’t back down to anyone.  We get caught up in the moment.  It’s what we had created.  It was this style of play that took us everywhere we went.  And frankly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way…………

And while it happened ONLY ONE TIME in 94 games.  One was too many.  Even though we were down to eight guys when it happened………

AMERICAN LEGION : Winning Rally Ignites Celebration as Well as Opposing Coach’s Fuse

Even worse, the game was lost when an East batter sent a two-out single into the hole in right field.

That’s right, right field.

Verdugo Hills’ Scott Anderson, the team leader in runs batted in, was ejected by the plate umpire for arguing a called third strike in the sixth inning, Magee said. No big deal, except that Verdugo Hills had already exhausted its complement of reserves.

Legion rules allow a team to continue playing with eight men, provided there had been nine players to open the game. Magee said he opted to continue playing with just two outfielders.

Verdugo Hills led, 8-0, after three innings, but the lead dwindled. Nevertheless, entering the bottom of the ninth Verdugo Hills still held a three-run lead. Eight was enough, it seemed.

But East rallied, scoring two runs on a double by Benji Belfield and then placing runners at second and third. Magee re-entered starting pitcher Josh Canale, who struck out the East’s Nos. 4 and 5 hitters, Jamie Zeichick and John Erganian. But Carey Wilbur’s base hit to right drove in the tying and winning runs, igniting a celebration by the East and near-combustion by Magee.

“They acted like they just won the damn World Series,” Magee said. “They should have beaten us. That last hit was a routine fly to right, we just didn’t get to it.”

But East got to Magee, to be sure.

“They were the loudest group of pop-offs I’ve seen all year,” Magee said. “I couldn’t believe it, they were out of control.

“We need a rivalry, and I think we just found one.”

I remember before the 1990 Season started I had to go sit down in a restaurant in the City of Burbank with the little weasel who was coaching the Burbank team.  I had to make sure that rat-weasel signed over Chandler and Chili to our team.  And he did.  Unfortunately, I had to sit in a restaurant with that dork for about two hours but it was worth it.  Chandler and Chili were “legally” on our Team and we could all just kind of move forward.  There were a couple of other guys I could have also had him sign over to us who would have helped us out that season….Ozzie Areu and Teddy Gonzales.  But I didn’t want to “push the envelope” too much.  Besides, Areu and Gonzales were playing on our Connie Mack Team that summer anyways. 

Areu and Gonzales were loyal to me and they wouldn’t have been able to commit to playing Legion ball that summer due to time constraints.  So I had them tell the Burbank coaches that they’d play for the Burbank team (which they had NO intention of doing) to kind of “bait” the guy into signing off on Chandler and Chili.  I also told the Burbank coach he could have a guy named Joon Kwon and another guy named Jeff Kadis.  To make a long story short, I put together that guy pretty good.  First off, we beat them 5-4 early in the season (with Chandler on the mound), and then later he found out that Areu and Gonzales wouldn’t play for him.  Then, about 10 games into the season he was pretty much in last place in our division and Verdugo was ahead of him in the standings.  Yeah, he was pissed………

He probably realized about this time that he had shot himself in the foot with the “deal” he had made with me.  But it was a deal.  I told him “I don’t know” if Areu and Gonzales would play for him or not…and that it was up to him to make that happen.   I remember the guy telling me “I don’t have any worries about my recruiting abilities, in fact, it’s my strong point.”

It must have been his strong point…because he sure didn’t know anything about baseball.  And there was a reason no one ever saw him swing a bat or throw a ball to anyone.  Well, one guy did….my buddy Jack down at Tiernan Athletic did (the guy who made our uniforms).  Jack told me there was something “wrong about that guy,” and he decided to take him out into the back parking lot at his store in Glendale for a “quick game of catch.”

Well, let’s just say that our buddy from Burbank was exposed as the fraud that he was after playing a little catch with ‘Ol Jack.  All Jack told me was “I think when him and I played catch may have been the first time in his life he ever threw a baseball.”

So now rat-weasel is pissed at Verdugo for beating him, working him in a trade, and the fact that he’s pretty much holding the pink slip of the cellar in our Division. So how does he get back at us?  He informs the League Commisioner that he has CHANGED HIS MIND about signing off on Chandler and Chili.  Well, I had a legal document that he signed off on.  He now claims he never signed it.  Oh, this gets better…wait till you hear the other shit this guy tried to pull on Verdugo later in the season…..incredible!  I’ll give you that one in a later post.

So I now get a phone call from the League Commissioner Mel Swerdling saying that Chandler and Chili are “Ineligible.”

“He changed his mind”..Swerdling tells me.

I just barked right back at Mel….”Bullshit, he signed a contract.”

“He says he never signed anything”

“If he ‘changed his mind’ then that means he already agreed to it….and I have the fucking contract he signed…..and you have it too Mel!…we couldn’t have started the season without that contract being signed God-dammit!…you were the one who made me get together with him to get him to sign off on it…….how short is your memory?…..sounds to me like maybe YOU have changed your mind!”

Now Mel was pissed at me.  I called Mel on his bullshit.  This was the first of many episodes with Mel.  In the ’92 season he kept telling me “that kid Moreno, I don’t think he’s legal.”

Most of you guys don’t know this…but I must have spent 10 hours on the phone throughout the ’92 season going over the “legality” of Ivan Moreno.  Mel threatened the entire season to “pull”  Moreno from the team.  In the end..I WON.  And Mel didn’t like that. 

“He’s untouchable” I would tell Mel.  I’m no genius, but at least I knew the doggone Legion Rulebook regarding player eligibility BETTER than Mel did.

God damn that would get him pissed.   I started referring to Moreno as “The Golden Child” every time I talked to Mel….kind of “taunting him” a bit.

I’d be on the phone with Mel about something else and before I’d hang up I’d say something like “Oh Mel, I forgot to tell you…the GOLDEN CHILD was three for four today”

That would always get him all geared up…..

The only thing Mel knew was that we had some kid on the team named Moreno.  Mel had seen him before…but had a short memory and could never put two and two together.

One of the funniest moments in our Team history (to me anyways) was the Chatsworth BRAWL in the ’92 playoffs, and the first time MEL realized just who Moreno was.

This was a crazy brawl.  The Burbank Police Department showed up to help break it up.  Things would flare up, then calm down.  Then shit would flare up again, and calm down.  There must have been a 45 minute delay in the game when that BRAWL went down.  During one of the periods when it looked like things were calming down….Mel (who was at the game) comes up to me all pissed off and asks me “Who’s that kid there?  He’s out of control!!!” 

All I said to Mel was “That’s the Golden Child!!”

Oh my God was Mel pissed!!!!!!!

So here we were at about the halfway point in the season and everyone could see the writing on the wall.  We were coming together as a Team, we had the horses, and with any luck, just may have ended up in the playoffs.  That didn’t sit real well with the “powers that be” within the League.  And I’m sure Mel was getting complaints from other coaches and umpires around the League about our “spirited” style of play and the fact that we weren’t shy about saying what was on our mind(s).

We went back and forth about this for days.  Finally, I just threw my hands in the air and said “Fuck it.”

Ironically, Chili played the entire ’91 season for us and was never deemed to be “Illegal.”

So this was our first taste of the 20th District.  It was a four-year ongoing battle between Mel and I.  All I know is the rat-weasel signed the ‘effin contract.  But in the 20th District, even a contract that was signed by both parties held no water…..

So what had Chandler and Chili done for us at this point of the season?  Here are their combined pitching stats.  Innings pitched: 28.2.  Hits allowed: 22.  Walks: 9.  Strikeouts: 24.  Earned Runs: 5.  ERA:  1.39.  And Chili was hitting .355 at the time, playing great at shortstop for us when he wasn’t pitching, and was tied for the Team lead in doubles with Martin and Canale with four.

Yeah, I mentioned a “Gentleman’s Agreement” at the beginning of this post.  I’m sure you picked up on my sarcasm.  There was never anything “Gentlemanly” about 20th District Legion Ball.  And I certainly didn’t enter The League with the intention of being anyone’s doormat.  Legion was a four-year FIGHT for whatever we earned.  When we weren’t fighting on the field, I was fighting on the phone with someone….another coach about the schedule, the Head Umpire, The League Commissioner, a reporter from a paper who wanted to write a story about us but didn’t want to go to the game and see for himself what happened on the field.  It never stopped…..but I must admit…I LOVED THE FIGHTING!!!!!!!!!! 

Yeah, this fucking HURT.  But we still had 14 more games to play.  It was gut-check time……and I think it’s safe to say that we MORE than passed that test.

The Deck was Stacked?  C’mon Gee……are you making excuses for the 1990 team?  Hell NO!!  Everybody knows that Gee pulls no punches when we’re talkin’ Verdugo!  But let’s face it…the Deck indeed WAS stacked in 1990.  And it was stacked AGAINST Verdugo!  So allow me to point out some of the things we had “working against” our 1990 miracle season.  But before we go there, lets give a little thanks to The Good Lord himself for putting in a little “overtime” and creating something pretty special on the eighth day.  The eighth day?  That’s right…and I’m here to give to you the verse that for some reason never made it into the Bible.  Here it is…..”AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY, GOD CREATED VERDUGO HILLS!!!!”

Weapon made a great comment on The Blog yesterday.  he said “if there is no Genesis…there is no Bible.”

I agree.  And 1990 was the “Book of Genesis” in our storied history.

Here are some of the factors that SHOULD have worked against us that first season….but ultimately….they didn’t. YOU be the judge.

Cal Frost did not play any Baseball his senior year in High School.

John Rogers sat out most of (if not all) the 1990 season at the High School with a broken nose.

“Tex” Martin was caught up in some kind of b.s. with the coaches at the High School his senior year and didn’t play most of the season.

“Weap” was caught up in the same scandal…..something about Berger chewing tobacco if I am correct.  The coaches up there dragged Weap and Tex into the mess.  Weap had to ride a little pine that year as well.

Hank probably didn’t swing a bat his whole senior year at CV…yet he hit .339 for us.  Hank TOTALLY caught fire for us at the plate towards the end of our 1990 season…going something like 10 for his last 19 at the plate. 

Turner, Big Breck, Sammy, and Yoder had never played any Varsity Baseball before joining the Verdugo Hills squad.

BullOxen sat on the bench most of his sophmore season at CV on the Varsity squad……again, another guy with little or no Varsity experience.

This is what I’ve been talking about.  Yet The Daily News and Foothill Leader that year dubbed our Verdugo Hills squad “The Biggest Surprise of The Season.”

I did a quick history check last night.  Of all the NEW teams that came into the 20th District from the years 1990-93 there was only ONE Team who had a winning record in their first season.  Verdugo.  That’s right………Verdugo.  We barely did it at 12-10…but we did it!

Add in the fact that we had NO home field.  Add in the fact that Chandler and Chili got pulled off the Team around the middle of the season (that HURT).  Add in the fact that we really didn’t even know who the hell we were playing, let alone WHERE the field was located.  Add in the fact that all of the Umpires were “Local”…meaning that they sent “homeboy” umpires to the games who already knew the players and coaches of the teams we were playing against.  You think they gave us any love?  Hell No they didn’t!

I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into that first year.  I’m old school.  Hand me a schedule at the beginning of the season and I WILL BE THERE at every single game come hell or high water.  Shit…that first season I even coached a game the day I GOT MARRIED!!!!!  Well, not everybody thinks like I do.  Some guys go on vacation.  A lot of guys weren’t at all of the games.  I could have worked out all of that shit BEFORE the season started……..and I learned a hell of a lesson that year.  By the time ’92 came around…I had the whole deal figured out.  Here’s what you do…you get the schedule…you contact EVERY PLAYER and find out who will be where for the WHOLE summer.  Then you call up the other coaches, umpires and League Officials and start telling them a bunch of LIES about why you need to “reschedule.”   About two or three days later, the original “schedule” they gave you gets thrown in the trash can.  And you make the other coaches STICK to YOUR schedule…not THEIRS.  I had no idea that was how it worked.

So while all of these “forces” were working against us….somehow, we had a miracle year.  At least that’s what it was to me.  A season of (if you will) “Biblical Proportions.”

Of all the teams that made the playoffs that year, Newhall-Saugus had the weakest record at 15-7.  We went 12-10.  We also BEAT Newhall-Saugus…so if we both finished 15-7……WE would have made the playoffs.

We lost  to Glendale (a team that made the playoffs) 3-2 and gave up three unearned runs.  We led that game 2-0.

We lost to Sun Valley (another team that made the playoffs) 3-2 the day I got married. 

We lost to Woodland Hills East (another playoff team) 10-9………possibly the most gut-wrenching loss I’ve ever had.  We led that game 8-0.

We lost to Panorama City (another playoff team) in our season opener 6-4 in extra innings.  We led that game 4-1 in the eighth inning. 

We lost to Lancaster (another playoff team) 7-5 and we had a bases-loaded rally happening when they recorded the final out.

That’s how close we came.  If Chandler and Chili don’t get pulled from the roster at the halfway point in the season….well, things might have been different.  We finished the last half of the season with (really) Bull, Hank, and McBride doing all of the pitching.  Big Breck had basketball commitments.  We just flat-out ran out of pitching.  Big Breck courageously ditched a basketball commitment late that season for us and pitched a great game for us.  We won that game, but more importantly, it gave Hank, Bull and McBride a much needed day off.  Big Breck was worried the basketball coaches would find out so after we won….I DIDN’T call the results of the game into the newspapers.

I could just see the basketball coaches at CV reading the headline “Big Breck Pitches Verdugo to Victory” after he gave them some lame excuse about being sick or something…….

Ahhh Big Breck for chucking that game for us!!!!!!!!!!!

And you know what else was cool about the 1990 squad?  They DOGPILED four times!  Four times we won in the last inning.  Clutch.  I’m not taking anything away from any of our other teams……but that was pretty doggone amazing.

The point I’m trying to make here is that we were basically IN every frickin’ game!  Battling it out until the final pitch of every game….regardless of the Deck being Stacked against Verdugo! 

Yes, it’s true………”if there is no Genesis…there is no Bible.”

1990 and 1991 were kind of like “The Old Testament” of Verdugo-lore.  And the characters we had were a hell of alot more entertaining than Moses, Noah, Abraham, and King Soloman.

I’m working hard behind the scenes to finally get that lost Bible verse “AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY, GOD CREATED VERDUGO HILLS” back into the Bible.  But for some reason, the “powers that be” just aren’t listening to me (what’s their problem?)

1992 and 1993 were kind of like “The New Testament” for us.  But we had no Savior.  We never did have a Savior.  That’s what was so great about ALL of our Teams….no Saviors, no heroes, no egos………..just a bunch of guys playing their asses off…………somebody different every game “stepping up” to carry us.

Yes-sir-ree….The Deck was ALWAYS Stacked against Verdugo.  For FOUR YEARS it was.  But that never mattered….because ON THE EIGHTH DAY, GOD CREATED VERDUGO HILLS!!!!!!!!!!!