Archive for the ‘1993’ Category

A Few Words from “THUNDER”…….

Posted: June 12, 2011 in 1992, 1993, Behind the Scenes, Thunder
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As our reunion approaches….I think we’re ALL doing a little reminiscing.  Thanks for your words Thunder.

In a reminiscent state…

 

Well, it’s that time of year again and it’s my favorite time of the year.  Not because summer is upon us and good times are sure to be had.  No, it’s because the College World Series is about to begin.  While watching the Super Regionals yesterday something came over me.  I think I finally realized why this time of year and the College World Series brings such joy to me.  It’s because I’m watching, essentially, a bunch of kids play their hearts out and leaving it all on the field.  A lot like we did during our Legion 288 seasons.  Most of the guys in the College World Series will never see another game after their last in the “The Series” and for most, their last game will be the most memorable.  Watching the ASU Vs. Texas game yesterday I caught myself drifting off into thoughts of Little League Baseball and American Legion.  The best and most vivid memories I have (With the exception of the birth of my daughter) are of my times in Little League and American Legion.  My wife caught me looking at the TV but she knew I wasn’t watching the game. I was in my own head recounting times spent on the ball field and remembering the incredible friends I made along the way and the coaches, players and parents that helped shape my life in the process.  My wife turned to me and said “Hon, what are you thinking about”? I turned to her and simply said “Baseball, it’s fucking AWESOME”.

 

I spent the rest of the day on the Verdugo 288 Blog and I swear I must have read 75% of the blog. Some of the stories I had read before but purposely searched for them because I remember them striking a cord with me.  I stumbled upon the post “Harry Leroy (Insert My Last Name Here)” Posted: February 9, 2011.  The post was about Gee’s grandfather who passed on his love of the game to Gee who ultimately passed his love of the game on to all that read this blog.  The story brought me back to a memory of a man who in three days one summer when I was 6 years old sparked the love of the game in me and ultimately instilled the philosophy that when your are between the lines everything else in life just seems to fade away and nothing else matters.  His name was Orville and I’m sure he has long since passed away as he was the neighbor of my Great Grandmother and at the time he was probably about 60 years old.  Now I could go into a long story about those three days playing for hours with only a broken wooden bat one old baseball and one really old glove.  However, that’s not what this post is about, it’s about remembering the love of the game and those we came across during those seasons whom we will never forget. 

 

My wife could sense I was in a reminiscent state and she quietly got up and left the living room.  She returned about 20 minutes later said “Come in the guest room”.  She had an old dusty box open and two Jerseys laid out on the bed my Glendale City Employees jersey from Little League and my Verdugo 288 Legion jersey.  I was overcome with emotion and more and more memories came flowing in.  In the box, believe it or not, was the glove and ball Orville had given me at the conclusion of out three days together.  That glove and ball, along with those two jerseys are all I will ever need to remind me of my love for the greatest game on earth BASEBALL!! 

 

I look forward to seeing all you guys at the reunion.  Between now and then I hope you all take some time to get lost in the memories of the game.  “Baseball, it’s fucking AWESOME”.

 

I want to thank my wife Jessica for her support and for encouraging me to get into the Blog and to reconnect with the “Guys”.  Most of all thanks for realizing these seasons were not just a bunch of games, it was life.   And life was GOOD!

 

Ahhh!!

 
Regards,
Dave Fielder

 

Have You Seen This Man???

Posted: April 22, 2011 in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, General
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I finally touched base last night with THE GENERAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  General confessed that (believe it or not) he STILL has not logged onto our BLOG here…but has promised to be making an appearance soon…signing in…and RSVP’ing for the Official Verdugo Bash!!!  The picture here was taken in 1993….and just a couple of hours before Thunder made his famous LEAP over the Crespi catcher for the walk-off, dogpile victory!!!!  Yes, even during the heat of a battle our players and coaches would have to stop for a moment and smile for the many camera-wielding fans who followed our every move back in those days!!!! 

The General told me to wish everyone well.  He also said that even to this very day….he still prefers the “Flatbill” look on his caps.  “Yeah,” he said….”there was just something about that flatbill I wore that just ANGERED our opponents…..so I stuck with it.”

So don’t even try to ask The General to “Hook that bill” at the Reunion……..”Old Flatbill” he shall remain!!!!!!

Softening in My Old Age????

Posted: April 18, 2011 in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, Bir-Dawg, Calf, Chandler, Evan, Hack, McBride, Moreno, Sammy, Turner, Vic, Yves
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You know, I’ve had all kinds of people who have known me through the years say that to me….”You must be softening a little in your old age.”  OUCH!!  That hurts!  Well, maybe I am A LITTLE….but I’m STILL GEE!!!  I mean, even when my wife tells me “You swear too much”…..I always tell her “The HELL I do!!!!”

Even HACK noticed it in an email he sent me.  We were talking about airfare to the Reunion.  I said something like “we’ll find a way to get you there.”  What did HACK say?  “You must be softening a little in your old age.  A more typical Verdugo response would have been ‘We’ll hi-jack a plane for you.'”

Yeah…I guess he’s right.  Maybe I am.  And I’ll try to keep all the sentimentality out of this Blog……at least until AFTER this post!!!  This story is for those of you out there who haven’t said the magic words….”I’m IN!!!”  Maybe you’re thinking…”why are we doing this?” or “what’s the point?” ……..well…..read this story and tell me what you think…..

I will never forget the image in my head of Bir-Dawg rounding first base with a clenched fist in the air as he hit a TITANIC three-run shot on a Sunday night game at Stengel Field against Notre Dame in 1993.  We trailed 7-0 and Bir-Dawgs blast made it 7-6.  I had been thrown out of the game and got to watch most of this one from the stands.  Let me tell you something……..that was THE GREATEST GAME Verdugo Hills ever played.  And I can’t wait to TELL YOU WHY it was the GREATEST GAME WE EVER PLAYED in a later post!!!  But let me tell you….Bir-Dawgs SHOT….and the vivid images I can still see of EVERY SINGLE PLAYER coming out of the dugout to mob him at home plate still, to this very day, raise the hairs on the back of my neck every single time I think about it.

I will never forget Robb Turner at bat in the bottom of the seventh inning against Notre Dame in 1992.  A game that we were trailing 6-0.  There were couple of guys on base.  Turner came to the plate FURIOUS.  He had been called out on strikes twice in that game on horrible calls.  We were down…and still talking shit!!  Turner was like a Bull in a China Shop at the plate.  Snorting, digging in….fouling shit off.  The count was 3-2.  He swung at everything.  He was NOT gonna let anyone call him out on strikes again that night.  He waited…he waited…fouled everything off he could…and then on the 13th PITCH of the at-bat he JACKED a ball that went at least 450 feet.  Think about that…the THIRTEENTH PITCH of the at-bat.  And as Turner rounded the bases….he verbally unloaded on everyone on the Notre Dame squad within earshot of him.  Yeah, “The Reverend” was screaming from his pulpit that night!!!!!!!!!

I will never forget a game in 1990 we lost 10-9.  We only had NINE GUYS at the game.  VIC couldn’t make it.  He had been telling me ALL WEEK he wouldn’t be able to make the game.  I tried like hell to get him there…but what could I say when he said “Gee, I gotta study for finals.”  This is what a great kid he was.  Forget about all the heroics he pulled off on the field for us.  He, like ALL Verdugo players…was a fucking GREAT KID.  And he told me “Gee, I gotta study for finals.”  And I accepted it.  Let me tell you this ….I will NEVER FORGET that in the second or third inning I looked over towards our dugout and THERE HE WAS putting on his cleats.  All he said was “I couldn’t let you guys down.”………..Let me tell you something people……I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT.  Not only did he show up, he drove himself out to Woodland Hills that day and found the field on his own………..

I will never forget that very same day we lost 10-9 in Woodland Hills finishing the game with only EIGHT Guys on the field.  Well, actually SEVEN and a HALF.  Our second baseman, Sammy was injured.  He couldn’t move one of his wrists.  Yet he stayed on the field.  And he was hurting BAD.  Here was a guy who never complained about anything so I knew that if he told me he was hurt he wasn’t kidding.  Yet he stayed on the field.  And on the final pitch of the game….when we had no one in right field…there he was….laying it all out for us (just like he always did)….DIVING for that ball that fell in to defeat us…risking even further injury.  Yeah, I will NEVER FORGET the effort he gave for us that day……and the effort WE ALL GAVE…even though we came up short.  Sammy was a total Verdugo Warrior!

I will never forget the charge we made in ’92 to finally clinch a playoff spot.  I think of TWO balls that were hit that final game where we clinched against Fat Bitch from Sun Valley…after he had vowed to dominate us the next time we played.  TWO balls that were hit that knocked him out of the game (in the third inning).  One was off the bat of CALF….and the other off the bat of YVES!!!!!  YVES hit one of the hardest balls we hit all-season off of that hard-throwing fatso.  I think that those TWO balls that were hit were the exclamation points that said “We’re IN” (the playoffs).   That’s right…I WILL NEVER FORGET.

I will never forget the game “White” Chandler threw against Burbank for our first win in 1990.  Chandler was emotional, hard-throwing and was coming off a not-so-great season at Burbank High.  But he did throw a gem in our season final at Burbank High…and I was wondering how long he could ride that wave.   As it turns out…he rode that wave quite a long time.  Because he was pretty much unbeatable the rest of his Legion/High School career.  Got drafted in the 49th round by the Royals.  I will never forget the front row seat I had to watch him develop into what he became.  I got to see him throw all of his emotions out the window and become one of the most poised pitchers I have ever seen……and “White”…if you’re out there reading this…..thanks.  I’ll NEVER forget.

I’ll never forget McBride.  How he lit a fire for our ballclub that will always burn with his profanity-laced tirade against Fat jody.  One of the defining moments of Verdugo-lore.  And by the way…he didn’t get thrown out of the game for all the four-letter words, either.  Throwing his glove into our dugout, kicking bats, batting helmets, waving his arms around and screaming.  We were lucky that day…the Ump was a reasonable guy….and he came to the conclusion that McBride was RIGHT.  Contrary to public opinion….it was VERDUGO who actually had the good kids…and we usually didn’t throw the first punch.  But if someone did, they found out in a hurry that getting into a game of BENCH JOCKEYING with us was not a very wise decision.  McBride wanted to wear number 14…..and so did “White” Chandler…so what did McBride do?  He wore number 14 and a HALF!!!  McBride…We’ll NEVER forget!!

I’ll never forget Yvan Moreno in the playoff game against Chatsworth in 1992.  The Umps had already thrown three guys out of the game.  Yet the Warriors from Verdugo stepped it up big time.  Lance Evans came off of the bench and PITCHED WITH A BROKEN ARM.  I will talk about that in greater detail in a later post.  But it was Moreno, the quiet kid, the guy who never said too much who came of age on this day.  We trailed 5-0…..then they threw three guys out of the game.  Yet in TRUE Verdugo-style..we rallied to take the lead 6-5.  When we took the lead…Moreno had made it to third base on a crazy play where he just flat-out took off on his own.  I was yelling “Get Back!!!”  but Moreno was possessed.  The throw beat him by ten feet and he just jarred the ball out of the third baseman’s glove when he came in HARD!!!!  Moreno was safe…the crowd was going wild and he was just feeding off of it.  I had never seen this kid show even a trace of emotion in two seasons with us.  Yet there he was …..standing on third base…staring down Chatsworth’s shit-talking POS third-baseman.  All of a sudden…the shit-talking third baseman didn’t have anything to say.  It was Moreno doing the talking….or the screaming I should say.  “Get the fuck away from Me!!!!!!  It’s 1-0 VERDUGO….get the fuck away from me I’m gonna stuff you in that trash can!!!!!!!!!!!”

That piece of shit third baseman didn’t just believe Moreno…he was CONVINCED.  He backed up close to the left field grass.  I will NEVER FORGET the way I felt at that exact moment.  Everything that I wanted to say myself was being said by my own players!!!!!!!  I didn’t have to say anything.  I will NEVER forget that moment……..and I just wanted to say to Yvan……Thanks!!!!!!!  And to all of you for the fight we gave them that day………….

Most of the guys I have mentioned here have not said the magic words “I’m IN”………

If what we did 20 years ago didn’t mean anything at the time I can see how it wouldn’t matter now.  But from the brief stories I have mentioned here (and I have plenty more) it is obvious that what we did way back then DID indeed mean something. 

I know this…I WILL NEVER FORGET.

And I know, you haven’t forgotten either……

I’ll see you guys at the Reunion.  And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to this BLOG!!!!!

The “Wiley” Jackson’s “Tough Knuckler”……

Posted: February 27, 2011 in 1992, 1993, Wiley
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I’m sorry.  I’ve made it a point through the years to NEVER single out anyone on our team(s) as “the greatest” at anything.  I just don’t think it would be fair to say that any ONE guy in particular was “The Greatest” hitter, player, or pitcher we ever had.  And in regard to that, I won’t.  But I’m sorry.  I have to finally single ONE GUY out as “The Greatest.”  I am giving him the tag as “The greatest RAGGER to ever wear a Verdugo Uniform.”  And I’m sure no one would dispute it….and you guys know who I’m talking about…The “Wiley” Jackson. 

Wiley was one of two players to first break away from the Glendale Legion team and come over and play for us in 1992.  The other, was of course Lance Evans.  Wiley was not the greatest player, but soon after joining us he had created a role for himself.  His job was to simply get in every head of every member of the opposition he could.  And….he did.  Here we are in 2011….18 years later…….and I’m sure if Fat Jody saw ‘Ol Wiley walking down the street today someone would have to hold Fat Jody back from trying to kill Wiley.  There was a certain FINALITY with Wiley’s rags.  We will mention some of his brutal rags in a future post.

Wiley played two seasons for us.  He pitched in a total of six games during the regular seasons in ’92 and ’93.  I never kept any of the playoff stats…and I know he got hit hard in one playoff game.  But he was crucial in ’92.  We had great pitching that season…but we were not DEEP in pitching, especially after Evans got hurt and missed the last 10 games of the season.  So there were some key games that Wiley had to step in and keep the Verdugo ball rolliing….and that’s EXACTLY what he did for us. 

I’ve heard people say that “there is no such thing as a crafty right-hander.  There are only crafty left-handers.”  Bullshit I say.  Wiley was about as crafty as it got.  Every pitch he threw kind of went down and away from a right hander…and he would change speeds.  Then he would change his arm angle a little bit.  Then he would screw around with different grips on the ball.  He may have tried to change speeds, grips and arm angles but the RESULT of just about every pitch he threw was the same.  And nobody ever figured it out.  And he probably topped out on the Juggs gun at about 77 mph.  But he threw strikes and got ahead of people, and he battled….Verdugo style.

Even from the bench we would help him out…trying to sell the opposition that Wiley had a “tough knuckler” in his arsenal.  I think Wiley loved it.  He kept throwing the same pitch…and the guys in our dugout kept selling everyone that the next pitch old Wiley threw was going to be that “tough knuckler.”  I would even see Wiley screwing around with a knuckler when he was playing catch between his appearances on the mound for us……but I don’t think he ever used it in a game.  But he loved having the label as the guy with the “tough knuckler.”  He would even HOLD the ball while he was off the rubber like a knuckler just to get in their heads a little..but never would throw one.

Then…around the sixth or seventh inning…the other team would finally realize “hey wait a minute…this guy doesn’t even HAVE a knuckler.”  And we would start selling from the bench that he would be bustin’ out that knuckler soon….and how he only uses it if he NEEDS to use it.  And the other team would continue to believe again that maybe just indeed “Ol Wiley actually did have a knuckler.  And they would believe because he was getting guys out, we usually had a big lead at this point in the game, and really…if he DID have a “tough knuckler”….he certainly had no reason to use it…..he had been getting guys out with the same pitch the whole game!!!!

So the other team never really knew FOR SURE whether or not ‘Ol Wiley even had a “tough knuckler.”  Then, when there was only one or two outs to record before another win…we would start saying “And it looks like he’s done it!  He said before the game that he could beat these guys WITHOUT his knuckler and it looks like he’s done it!!”  (pretending to sound like play-by-play announcers)………..this would really get in the heads of our opponents.

Well….even though none of us and the rest of the league ever saw The Wiley Jackson’s “tough knuckler”……it still became kind of like “The Legend of Bigfoot” or something like that.  We’d just keep telling everybody he had one, and all of those dumbshits on the other team just kept believing us!!!  Even a couple of coaches around the League asked me about our guy with “The Knuckler.”  I would tell ’em…..”Yeah, it’s pretty wicked.  In fact, we’re not worried about anyone hitting it…we’re more worried about our catcher CATCHING IT!”

And Wiley kept that poker face going while we were selling it.  He kind of had that look of a guy who just might have a knuckler……

Here were Wiley’s regular season numbers for Verdugo for two seasons.  23 and 2/3rds innings pitched.  24 hits allowed.  ONE walk.  That’s right…ONE walk.  18 strikeouts.  Five earned runs.  Three wins…NO losses…One save.  Three Complete-Game victories.  Wiley’s ERA???   1.69…….

Shit, with numbers like that, I’m beginning to think that maybe he DID have a tough knuckler!!!

“QUICK!!!!!….PANTHERLIKE!!!!!”

Posted: February 21, 2011 in 1992, 1993, No Way!, Rags/Trash Talk
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 I don’t even know how this shit started……but it’s something we started doing in ’92.  All I know is that it REALLY pissed off the other team.  And here at Verdugo…when we sense you don’t like something…we take that as a DIRECT CUE to just keep on doing it!  I will let you former players out there explain to our viewing audience what all this “Quick!!!………Pantherlike” shit was all about.  Please remember guys that when explaining it…there was a TIMING element that came into play.  We would say “Quick” after one event…and “Pantherlike” after another event.  I must say…..when you’re managing a team and you hear guys on the field and on the bench saying this shit…you just KNOW everything is going to be okay!!!  Then our guys started changing it up a little bit depending on the situation.  They’d maybe say……”SLOW!!!…SLOTHLIKE!!!”…whatever we could do to get in someone’s head(s).  I must say I am laughing as I write this……….in fact, I’m going into the backyard right now and say “Quick!!!!!!………Pantherlike!!!!”  And after our guys explain to you what this great shit is….I’m sure you will too!!!!!!!!!!

“Flip” OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: February 19, 2011 in 1992, 1993, Behind the Scenes, Hack, No Way!
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Yes, Hack Workman just happened to have some additional vintage Verdugo footage.  Here they are before one of our games at Stengel Field going through their pre-game ritual of “FLIP.”  Now, do you readers out there STILL think we’re just making this stuff up?  Notice how the ball is in the air!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This was the ’93 Team.  Now, could someone PLEASE explain to me the rules of this game??????

“It was me….”

Posted: February 16, 2011 in 1993, BullOxen, Games, General, Hank, Rags/Trash Talk, Weapon
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It was no secret that I liked to run kind of a “loose ship” at Verdugo.  I was smoking cigarettes in the dugout.  We always had our official Gatorade cooler filled with some nice cold water.  Oranges were always in the dugout.   I allowed Jess Rogers to set up shop IN our dugout making snowcones for everyone.   Even though the league had very tough rules on tobacco use on the field and in the dugout, I never got caught by the umpires smoking.  The rule was simple if you were caught…immediate ejection from the game.

I even let our players chew tobacco.  Some of the guys had that thing going on where you get a chaw going and then wrap it in bubblegum.  I used to chew, but by the time I was managing our team my chewing days were long gone.  It had been at least 10 years since I had chewed.

In ’93 we were playing a game on a Saturday at Birmingham High.  Birmingham always had a weak team, but this season they were winning a few games here and there and were starting to get a little “uppity.”  Anyways, one of their guys came up in the first inning and bombed a home run off Garrett Lee, giving them  2-0 lead.  It was the bottom of the first inning and they were celebrating like they had just won the World Series.  We just kind of laughed at them and by the eighth inning we had opened up an 11-2 lead…and I had knocked their pitcher out of the game.  Wait a minute you say?  I knocked him out of the game?  Yes I did. 

We all know about the importance of “the short hop” but from the third base coaching box you can’t be short-hopping EVERYONE.  You gotta kind of pick your spots.  If I couldn’t do a blatant SHORT HOP at someone…I would usually toss back to the pitcher what I called my “Tough Knuckler.”   Well, a foul ball came over my way around the 5th inning after we had been knocking their starter around and I decided to fire that “Tough Knuckler” at the pitcher.  It was the mother of all knucklers.  I had screwed around with knucklers my whole life and this may have been the ONLY one that actually “knuckled.”  Well, it knuckled so well that he couldn’t catch it…it hit him in his right kneecap…and he had to come out of the game.  I really don’t think the knuckler hurt him as bad as the battering our hitters were giving this guy.  Let’s face it..he WANTED out of the game.  But put it down in the books…..I was the guy who delivered the official knockout punch. 

The boys at Birmingham were getting a little upset.  They had to find SOME WAY to win this game, and it wasn’t going to happen on the field.  So one of their coaches goes to the ump and tells him that we had guys chewing tobacco in the dugout.  Sure enough, the umpire comes over to our dugout to see if there was any “evidence” of chaw.  The whole dugout was filled with spit all over the ground.  Forensic tests were not needed on this one…we were BUSTED.  The ump said “who’s been chewing?”

“It was me”……….I said.

“You did all of this?” he asked.  “You could have been sitting here for two days and not spit that many times.”

“Well, I was doing it, too” ……….announced General.

Then Hank pipes up “Yeah, so did I.”

Weapon followed up with “Okay, you got me….I was doing it, too.”

BullOxen said…….”Yeah, it was me.”

The funny thing that was happening here was that NONE of the coaches had chewed.  Well, except for maybe BullOxen.  But we all stepped up to account for the mess in the dugout and to protect any players from getting tossed out of the game.  Totally unorchestrated, every coach instinctively took the bullet for the other guys.  Anyways, the ump BELIEVED our story and threw all five coaches out of the game.  Automatic forfeiture of the game.  No coaches left.  This set off an immediate dogpiling from the Birmingham team.  They had defeated us and now they were rubbing it in……

But wait a minute!!!!!!!  There JUST HAPPENED to be a couple of old codgers there from Post 288 who were there watching our team play that day.  In fact…ONE OF THEM was actually listed on the official paperwork of our team (that I just so happened to have with me that day) as the DE FACTO Manager of our team!!!  That’s right…’Ol Dave Haskell was there and had to come on the field for the final few innings to guide the team to victory.  The umps were really disappointed that Haskell was there.  And the boys from Birmingham had to break up their little dogpile and get back on the field and finish off the whoopin’ we were giving them.  And all five coaches who were thrown out of the game got to sit in the stands and take it all in.  The boys at Birmingham were now STARING DOWN Haskell.  They were not happy.  Hank said something to the Birmingham dugout like “we’ve got some bad news………HE DOESN’T CHEW!!!” 

Haskell knew nothing about baseball, and was the first to admit it.  This made it even more hilarious.  He was hamming it up down in the third base box…giving signs to our players that had no meaning.  Haskell, probably about 75 years old at the time, was rubbing it right back in Birmingham’s collective faces……and he was loving every minute of it.

Haskell was a drill sergeant in the Army.  After the game he went into full drill-sarge mode….which scared the hell out of a few of our players.  “Pay attention now I’m talking to you!!” he barked at the team.  I’ll never forget the look on Cowsill’s face!!  It was like…holy shit!!! 

“Now!!” Haskell said “I want you all to say right now WE’RE THE BEST!!!”

A few guys said “We’re the best”

It wasn’t loud enough for Haskell…….”I said I want to hear you say WE’RE THE BEST!!!”  He looked like a real drill sarge.  Scary…mouth open…sizing people up….daring someone to challenge his authority.  Moving in close on people acting like he was about to grab them and kick their ass if they didn’t do it.  Everyone got the message.

“WE’RE THE BEST!!!!!!!!”

“Say it again” he barked.

“WE’RE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Haskell had everyone…including me, all jacked-up and screaming “WE’RE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

It was so loud the Birmingham players and coaches were really starting to get pissed about it.

God that was a great day…………

Verdugo ALWAYS gets in the last word……….AND the last laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!