verdugo288

Okay.  Let’s get back to what was happening in the 1990 Season.  We had just pulled off a miraculous victory against Quartz Hill and now we traveled out to North Hollywood High on a Sunday morning.  This was our first of two games that we were scheduled to play that day.  Our second game would be in the evening against Glendale.  We came in to this game at 3-3-1 and overall I was very happy with the way we were playing.  Alot of the guys came to the field that Sunday morning tired and about two skin shades darker (or redder in my case) than the day before after baking in the Quartz Hill sun for almost six hours….but by gametime, we were ready to go. 

Chili got the start on the mound and came within one pitch from throwing a perfect game!  He threw only 62 pitches, and gave up one base hit in the fifth inning.  This win put us over .500 for the first time of the season.  The Team had really come together at this point..and with Hank, BullOxen, McBride, Chili, Chandler, and Big Breck on the mound for us, I started to think that we could actually make a playoff run.  And so did the players….

Chili struck out eight guys and we won 10-0.  He also had two doubles at the plate. 

Vic had two hits, including an absolute SHOT that went for a ground rule double.  BullOxen doubled, and Robb Turner’s 2nd inning double drove in two runs for us. 

But the highlight of this game was a SHOT hit by The Weapon.  When we got to the field that morning we were eyeballing the homerun area in center field and right field.  Left field was wide open… there was no fence.  There was a locker room area in right-center that was considered a homerun if you hit the roof of that building.  There was a small area out there maybe five feet wide where there was no roof…and if you hit it in there the ball was still in play. 

As we have written in earlier posts…The Weapon was always looking to hurt the opponent, and he had a little flair for the dramatic as well.  Weap came up in the fourth inning with a couple of guys on base and hit a ball that (as soon as he hit it) EVERYONE in the park knew was GONE!!!  One of those balls where the outfielders kind of start to make a move on it and then just kind of stop and admire it as it leaves the facility……….

We were all admiring it…..Including The Weapon!!!  As soon as he hit it….he just flipped the bat towards our on-deck circle and he started WALKING….just like the guys on TV used to do!  It was an awesome sight!  However, there was just one problem…..it landed in that little five foot area that was STILL IN PLAY and rattled around in there and spit itself back onto the field.  SHIT!!  Although he had hit it beyond any boundary at the field that day for a homerun….Weap had the unfortunate luck of it landing in that little five-foot porch area….NO HOMERUN!!!

When it landed back on the field….Weapon was MAYBE halfway to first base and was still in his Homerun “walk.”  The centerfielder was now chasing it down and Weap was running full bore.  To this day I still don’t know HOW he turned that thing into a triple.  Talk about going zero-to sixty!  Weap did his signature pop-up head-first slide into third base………..even though there was no play at third.  I don’t know what was more awesome…the SHOT he hit or the fact that he turned it into a triple!

Most coaches would be all bent out of shape for a guy going into a homerun “walk” like that.  Not me.  I loved it!  I also loved the look on the faces of the North Hollywood players that basically said “Okay…we give up” after that play happened.  A couple of their guys just kind of looked at him and said “damn.” 

There was one other player for us who went into a homerun walk…but it happened in 1990 in a Connie Mack League game.  John Rogers did it.  He hit a mammoth SHOT to dead-center one night at Stengel Field…and went into his walk.  I’ll never forget the look on Rogers’ face when it STUCK in the top of the ivy.  And I’ll never forget looking over at him and laughing when they held him to a SINGLE on that BOMB he it!!!  But it was worth it….I used to let our players have that swagger….it’s risky, yes indeed….and if you let the players do that then you gotta take the bad with the good.  And like I’ve said before…I wouldn’t have changed a thing about how I let the players be themselves.

This was a great win.  And I was REALLY looking forward to our match in a few hours against Glendale.  Here’s what the Newspaper said about this win………