verdugo288

It’s no secret that “Gee” has been dilly-dallying around with this blog for the last couple of years. Gee caught fire in the months leading up to The Verdugo Reunion Bash, posting over 130 stories. But then it all came to a screeching halt. I’ve been putting in a few posts here and there, but I’ve really been unable to get any momentum going since “The Bash.”

I asked myself “why” and really couldn’t come up with any reasons. I had plenty of excuses, but no real reasons. Until I got to thinking the other day.

I don’t know if I’ve ever explained this to everyone, but I’ll try to do it now.

I have told many people through the years that “I don’t miss coaching one iota.” That has pretty much been my stock answer when I’m asked why I no longer do it. That statement really isn’t the truth….

I have to admit I was pretty devastated when Verdugo disbanded. All that we had accomplished in such a short time was incredible. By our third season we broke through, and by our fourth (and final season) it was “More of the same.” We had pretty much established ourselves as “The Most Feared Team in 20th District Play.” I was very proud of what we had accomplished, and looked forward to what we might do in the future.

Things were changing though at Crescenta Valley High. The coaching staff there was starting to realize that the kids there looked forward to playing in the summer for Verdugo as much if not more than playing for The High School. I could see the writing on the wall. And I could hear it, too. Alot of things were said by members of the Coaching Staff at that High School and were making their way back to me. It wasn’t pretty.
And in a lot of cases, I didn’t think it was right. But it was what it was….

So I wasn’t sure how long we were really going to even be able to pull players from CV. I figured at some point, the Coaches up there would pull the plug on Verdugo, and communicate to their players that they were not going to be playing for us in the summer anymore.

Initially, when we started Verdugo, I had the blessings of the High School. I was even hired to coach there after out first season with Verdugo. And I was even asked to return and politely declined. I found it was interesting how the blessings we originally had turned into curses as we climbed the ladder in 20th District play and started to totally DOMINATE.

But I figured we might get another couple of seasons after the ’93 Season…..Maybe.

We had built quite a monster at this point. Players were getting a lot of ink and guys were being projected as very high draft picks. Hell, in’94….Haggs, Vo, And Garret Lee all got drafted. If we had played the ’94 season, I don’t know if Garrett or Haggs would have even been able to join us. I know those two wanted to be there for us if they could, and Vo had already quit. So I pulled the plug in ’94.

It was a gut-wrenching thing for me. I was devastated. I have to admit it. It really did hurt to let this thing go. I had been coaching for 10 consecutive summers at this point in my life. What is even more interesting is how THAT came about. I will share that with all of you in the final post on this blog.

Verdugo was so very important to me, and it went away.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? This is what I’ve been thinking about recently….

You see, it is going to be hard for me to finish this Blog. But I promise I will.

If I finish this Blog, I’m going to have to go through all the agony of losing Verdugo again. Losing the Team we built that we loved. I’m going to have to relive that pain as I write about it all. And Honestly, I’m not looking forward to going through that again.

That’s the “reason” gentlemen. That’s been the “Hold-Up” with this Blog. I figured this out just in the last couple of weeks….

I’ve also figured out something else recently. Everything in this world we lose is always REPLACED by something. Something will be provided to fill the void. We may not see it at first, but it IS there. You’ll see what I’m talking about on the final post in this Blog and you all will see the role that each and every one of you has played in my life.

So as I go through the final chapters of Verdugo here at this Blog….please just hang with me.

I’m glad I pieced all of this together. I feel better. We’ll get it done….

Let me just start by saying this:  Reaching the Playoffs in American Legion Baseball is a very difficult thing to do.  By the time ’92 came around, I think there were close to 30 Teams in the 20th District.  30 Teams, Four Divisions, with seven or eight Teams in each Division, and only eight Teams made the Playoffs.  Four Division winners and four “wild-cards” get in. Every year they were bringing in new Teams, and the odds were becoming increasingly difficult to get to Playoffs. 

In ’90, they had us in the Eastern Division.  In ’91 they moved us into the Northern Division (this is why we kept traveling up the 14 Freeway that year).  About a month before ’92 started, The 20th District Commissioner informed me that Verdugo Hills would be back in the Eastern Division.

I wasn’t real happy about this.  I felt the Eastern Division was the toughest Division in the 20th District.  Hell, in 1990 alone….THREE of the eight Teams that made the Playoffs came from that Division, and Notre Dame didn’t even make it that year.  Notre Dame had gone 14-9 in ’90, and missed out on the Playoffs by one game.  So had they won ONE MORE game that season, then HALF of all the Playoff Teams would have come from the Eastern Division alone.  I was beginning to feel like 1992 was going to be like pushing a 40-Ton boulder up a hill.

I looked at our record against the Teams that kept making the Playoffs every year that were now in our Division again and it didn’t look too good.  0-2 Against Glendale.  0-2 against Sun Valley.  0-2 against Panorama City.  1-1 against Notre Dame.  I had a copy of our schedule for ’92 already and also saw we were going to be playing against Lancaster (1-3 career against), Woodland Hills East (1-2 against), Crespi (0-1 against).  Do the Math!!!  3-13 career against those Teams! Yeah, we were coming into 1992 with a 25-19 record, but we were definitely sucking against these teams!!!!

We also drew Agoura, who we were going to be playing opening day.  They had a feisty Team.  We also had Burbank on the schedule.  Burbank wouldn’t have been a big deal, but when you combine Burbank and Burroughs (like they did), they were going to be tough.  We also had a game against Woodland Hills West, a Team that WON the Legion World Series in 1989.  They were always tough, and they had Randy Wolf and Dan Cey.

It wasn’t looking good.  And….we were going to challenge all of this with 14 guys on our Roster!  Our pitching was pretty good, but Parque was still a question mark at this stage.  We also had no clue Evans would get injured and miss the entire 2nd half of the Season.

Canale, Turner, and Evans were still making weekly appearances to “The Dome” and brimming with confidence for the upcoming Season.   They would stop by and talk about all the carnage they were going to inflict, and I would rebut them with all of my concerns.

“We’re Going to the Playoffs” they would say.

“Have you seen our career record against the Teams we’ll be facing this summer?

“Sun Valley…we’re 0-2 against them and that big fat-dude is back AND he played an entire season at Valley College this year….we couldn’t touch him two years ago…how are we gonna get by that guy now?”

“Fuck that guy” the three of them would say ….”we’re gonna light has fat-ass up”

I went through our entire history with the three of them.  Nothing I said could get them to waiver.

“We’re going to the Playoff’s this year” announced Turner.

“Dude, if we make the Playoff’s I’ll shave my fucking head” I said.

“Then you’re shaving you’re head!!!!” Turner said.

Like I said in an earlier post, these guys were ON FIRE.  It was hard to believe.  We certainly had never gone into any season with this kind of swagger. 

“We know what it takes now, Gee” said Canale.

I remained the “doubting Thomas.”

No matter what they said, I kept thowing out objections.  All they kept saying was “Don’t worry Gee….”

I even told them “Hell, we haven’t even won on fuckin’ opening day yet!!!! And you guys are talking Playoffs?”

“Don’t worry Gee….it’s handled.”

I had already agreed to the craziest thing I had ever heard of in my life (A 14-man Roster).

Maybe it was time for me to sit back, stop trying to pull every string and just let ’em play.  To really put my faith in them.  I had to admit to myself that this was something I had NOT done in the first couple of years.  Not fully anyways….

All these things they were talking about seemed like pipe dreams.  But they certainly had never spoken out like this before. 

Verdugo, at this point, had suffered some incredibly BITTER DEFEATS in ’90 and ’91 that I know that I wanted to avenge.  I could see they did, too.  I reminded them that they were certainly going to get their chance to avenge them. 

“Don’t worry, Gee….”

The dialogue we were having was actually very healthy.  And it was a great dynamic we had going on.  The players and manager going back and forth, in essence, arguing.  Using Four-letter words as we communicated, but not in a bad way.  Being brutally honest about what lay ahead for us, and what had happened in the past.  Yet still respecting one another.

They were letting me know that they were actually going to do everything they could to make my job easier this season.  It was almost as if they were saying, “we’ll get everybody on the same page, and then we’re gonna fucking dominate.”

I kept getting visits from the three of them.  Sometimes two-three times a week as the season closed in.  Their message didn’t waiver.  And we would air out our concerns.

I do remember thinking about all of this quite a bit.  It had quite an impact on me.  I remember falling asleep at night looking at the ceiling and thinking about it all.

And I remember one of those nights making a conscious decision that no matter what happened, I was going to do my best to not get on anyone’s case this season.  That I was just going to “let ’em play.”

And….everything else that went with it.  I was going to let ’em rag.  And just let ’em be themselves.  I had a guy who told me about a month earlier at a bar to simply be myself.   So why not let the players do the same thing? 

Going with the grain certainly wasn’t working for us.  The 14-Man Roster was going against the grain.  Being ourselves was going to be going against the grain.  Leading off Hack was going to be going against the grain.  Growing my hair down to my shoulders was, too.  Allowing the Rags was going to be going against the grain.  Putting Kasey on the Roster was a little crazy, too.

But it was empowering to decide to “let it ride” and to go into the season with a “come whatever may” attitude.  I’m happy that Canale, Turner, and Evans kept stopping by “The Dome” and “airing it out” with Gee.

And after the ’92 Season, I had to ask myself “Why the hell didn’t I do this sooner?”

 

 

 

Now that’s what I’m tawkin’ bout! Everybody knows Verdugo was the outright, undisputed KINGS of American Legion of ALL-TIME. But not everybody knows about the most important Geographical location on this planet as it relates to all-things-Verdugo. Not everyone had the privilege of even gaining entry to it. Many tales have been told about it. Most people who entered it were never the same again. What we’re talking about here is literally “Hallowed Grounds” in terms of Verdugo History. What are we tawkin bout here? Yes-sir-ree…..THE DOME!!!!

I will let the pictures I took today of “The Dome” speak for themselves. Those of you who truly know of it are free to contribute in the comments section.

Just admire the beauty of the birthground of Verdugo. This is where every plot for our World Dominance was conceived. Where every drunken bash took place. Where every victory was celebrated. Where our Four-Year Reign of Terror Began!!!!

As you can see, The Gods have somehow protected this sacred abode. Even it’s color hasn’t changed through the years.

And to keep consistent with Verdugo History, even the guy who Rented that place to me from 89-92 LIVES THERE TODAY. He is about 92 years old, and he probably has more money than God. He could live literally ANYWHERE he wants to. Yet for some reason, yes-sir-ree….he, too LOVES “The Dome.”

But there’s just something about that place. I don’t know what it is. Just something special about it. He knows. We know. Anyone who has ever walked in it knows exactly what we’re tawkin’ bout here.

Ladies and Gentlemen….THE DOME!!!!

I have made reference in several earlier Posts that Verdugo was “scaling down” our Roster for 1992.  We had 17 on our original Roster and 18 in 1991.  For the first two seasons it seemed like we either had too many guys at the field or too few.  It would be nice to find that middle ground.

However, in my eyes, cutting the Roster “down” from 17 or 18 was non-negotiable.  We had never forfeited a game before, but we had certainly played our share of games in the past with only nine or 10 players at the field, and with our propensity to getting players and/or coaches launched from games, if anything we needed MORE guys on our Roster instead of fewer.

While I was the guy that put these “Rosters” together, I still needed a GM.  For the original Team in 1990, my GM was John Rogers.  He knew everybody and I could throw a name out there and he would give me the scoop.  He also would suggest guys I had never heard of.  Rogers was always “spot on” with what he told me about a particular player.  He was honest about what a guy could or couldn’t bring to the table, and I trusted his opinion.

In 1991, the GM spot was held by Rogers and Canale.  Canale was the guy who suggested Ivan Moreno.  Were it not for Canale, I wouldn’t have even known Ivan was available to play for us.

So 1992 was closing in, and it was time for me to start throwing names out there to Canale and see what he had to say.  I threw some names out there we could “fill” the Roster out with.  He wasn’t impressed with any of the names I suggested.  I asked him “Why not?  What’s wrong with that guy?  We might need him in a pinch.  He may not start, but he might be a good guy to have around…..he might….”

 Canale cut me off mid-sentence.

And he asked me a question.  He said “You know what that guy is?”

“What is he?” I asked.

The answer he gave to me may sound cruel, it may sound cold-hearted, but it was the absolute TRUTH.  And he hit me right between the eyes with it.  As ruthless of a comment it was, it needed to be said.  And we all know Canale is never one to not speak his mind….

He said “He’s a CHECK!”

What he meant when he said this was that we didn’t need certain guys on our Roster.  And that I had only placed certain guys on our Roster in the past to help fulfill the budgetary requirements (which were not cheap by the way) to make it through the season.

He was right….

But he was also speaking of a “Utopian World” where everyone would be at every game and would have a specific role with us.  I didn’t believe something like that could happen.  The players we had in the past had all kinds of shit going on throughout the summer.  As I let what he said kind of “sink in” I thought back to ’90 and ’91….toward the END of both seasons, where we ended up with a workable group of guys who were committed to being there.  The reality was, we had started each season with 17-18 guys, but towards the end of the season we had 11-13 guys we could count on.  Guys who had a role to play, they knew what it was, and they WANTED to be there. 

I had to admit to myself that having a smaller group of players makes managing a lot more FUN.  I understood where he was going with this, but didn’t believe it could happen.

So I said to him “We’ve had enough trouble the past two years just trying to get nine guys to the fucking yard when we had 18 on the Roster and you’re now suggesting trimming the Roster down?  Are you fucking crazy?”

“I’ll make sure they show up Gee” he said.

“So will I” I thought to myself.

I wouldn’t have even considered what he was talking about were it not for a couple of things.  Canale and Turner were ON FIRE.  They had been making a few visits over to “The Dome” (where I lived) and they were also talking about actually reaching The Playoffs.  These guys were talking quite a bit of trash about the damage they were planning on inflicting in 1992.  It was going to be the last season with us for both those guys.

And they had backed it up….they had already got Lance Evans to join forces with us. 

I didn’t give anything up when he first said the words “He’s a check”….

I needed to think about this one. 

And I did.  I thought about how Canale and Turner had always been there for us.  They had endured quite a bit for us the first couple of years.  The numbers Canale had already produced for us were staggering.  Turner was a total warrior.  They were chomping at the bit, fired up to kick ass, and they had landed Lance Evans for us.  I had NEVER seen Turner this fired up.

Doing something like this would be the equivalent of playing blackjack in Vegas with the Dealer showing an Ace and I’m showing a six and me pushing all of my chips out onto the table.  Fucking CRAZY!!!!

I was going to have to go into Post 288 and ask for more money if I decided to do this.  How embarrassing would it be if I took more money from them, sold them on the idea of having fewer players, and subsequently ended up forfeiting a bunch of games????

I was going to have to really research the schedule and talk to every player IN DEPTH about what they REALLY had going on that summer before I could put someone officially on our Roster.  I was going to have to hold everyone ACCOUNTABLE for whatever they told me about their availability to play for Verdugo in the summer of ’92. 

And I was going to have to get our schedule for the season, match it up against who was available and when, and start calling the other coaches and rescheduling games to our advantage, No more playing the games on the date the schedule had.  I could always get on the phone and lie to get the games scheduled for when WE had the horses available.  I could also get a permit to use Glendale HIgh ANY day of the week.

I thought about it and realized it COULD be done.

So I said to Canale “If I decide to do this and we end up forfeiting a bunch of shit I’m holding you fucking accountable”

He just looked at me and said “Don’t worry Gee, I got this covered”

It seemed like all I heard the entire summer of 1992 were the words “Don’t worry Gee….we’ll handle it”

I thought about it for a few days.  I went to The POST.  Post 288 IMMEDIATELY stepped up and said if we needed the extra money to cut the Roster, that they had my back.  God those guys were awesome.  You know….in 1993, our final season, I asked them for some more money as well.  And they told me “You guys have a blank check with us, just get the kids whatever they need.”

I thought about this being the last season for Canale.  i thought about all he had done for us.  I thought about the fact he was right about what he had the balls to say to me.  I thought about the fact that I had built this Team AROUND him when we started in 1990. 

Yeah, the Dealer had an Ace showing….and I was sporting a six.  But the guy I had built the Team around had spoken. 

I took every last chip I had….smiled….looked that fucking Dealer in the eye….and pushed them all to the middle of the table.

 

 

So coming into 1992 we had a pretty good Roster.  In the next post I will explain how Canale talked me into going with only 14 guys, instead of our usual 18. 

We had gone 12-10 in ’90, and 13-9 in ’91.  Both seasons we flirted with making the Playoffs.  But we lost our last two games in ’90 and our last THREE in ’91.  Still, we had gone 25-19 in the first two seasons.  Pretty respectable.  I considered it to be VERY respectable, because we had played all 22 games on the road in ’90, and only five games at Glendale High in ’91.  We still didn’t really have a place to call ‘Home.”

I thought it was interesting that The Glendale Team had control of Stengel Field.  They drew their players from both Glendale High and Hoover.  Both Schools have decent fields.  But somehow they had ended up with Stengel, and they weren’t going to give that up to ‘Ol Gee.

I actually had stopped talking to the coaches of their Program in 1990.  Their coach wasn’t too happy about me taking CV as a base school.  Somehow, their program had found a way to combine Hoover, Glendale, and CV into one powerhouse Team.  They were looking to cherry-pick the guys from CV.  When Gee took over Verdugo, they no longer had that option.

To further the bad blood between the two programs….I told them to “pound sand” when they asked me to sign over Vic Ramirez to them in 1990.  They weren’t real happy about that either.  So Stengel field was a “touchy subject” to say the least, and I felt it was good we didn’t even play them in ’91.  It only would have made the bad blood thicker.

I realized they didn’t care about the field at Glendale High.  So that’s why I went after it in ’91.  I went behind their backs to the guy in the City of Glendale who was in charge of getting permits to play there.  He let us have it, and we took good care of that field.  I was hoping to build a good relationship with him because (honestly) I wanted to hi-jack Stengel Field from the Glendale program (someday).  

But before the ’92 campaign, I contacted the Glendale Manager.  I had a little plan.  I also wanted to build my relationship with the guy at The City of Glendale.  This would be the perfect opportunity.

I called him up and said “How would you like to not have to do any field maintenance after your games at Stengel this summer?”

“Hell, Yeah” he said, “It’s a pain in the ass doing that shit”

I said to him “Let me have the field on Sunday when you guys are done with it and I’ll make sure the place is spotless when we leave.”

It was silent for about 15 seconds.  He was thinking about having to hang out there an extra hour after every game, dragging the field, cleaning it up, locking the place up, etc.

He was weighing this against something I’m sure he had already vowed to NEVER do.  Let Verdugo share Stengel with his program.

I sat there in silence and awaited his response.  I had already talked to the guy at The City of Glendale about it and he had given his blessings but told me Marcel had the final say on it.

I had also worked the guy at the City pretty good.  They NEVER allowed night games at Stengel on Sunday nights.  I had already talked him into letting us play under the lights at Stengel if Marcel agreed.  Marcel didn’t know I had already closed this deal.

“OK” he said….breaking the silence.

I said, “OK Thanks Marcel, I really appreciate it.  You guys get the early game, and we’ll take it from there. And this is only for the dates we SHARE the field. If you have a game on a Sunday and we don’t, you gotta clean it all up. Otherwise, we do it.”

“No Problem” he said.

He had gotten himself OUT of doing field maintenance after MOST of his games Sunday morning, not All of them, but MOST of them.  They would start around 10 or 11 am.  But he didn’t realize that he had just locked himself INTO his team playing under a hot sun every Sunday morning. 

While Verdugo would be kicking down relaxing, resting, and waiting for the weather to cool down so we could start playing around 6PM!!!!

So everything was (no pun intended) “cool” from my end.

I had Glendale High on Saturdays and I had got him to agree to let Verdugo share Stengel with them on Sundays.  At least for four dates that summer.  It wasn’t much, but it would be a double-header against none other than Glendale, plus three night games where we could be close to home, and out of the Hot Sun.  Our players were pretty happy about it.

I didn’t want to tell Marcel about my little deal I made with The City to play under the lights.  I figured he’d find that out on his own.  Sure enough he did.  From what I heard he wasn’t too happy about it.  He first figured it out around our fifth game of the year when we played Encino-Crespi.  He dropped by the field that night.  You should have seen the look on his face….

It was another battle we had won.  This was a Verdugo victory behind the scenes.  As the schedule was shaping up for 1992, it looked like we would have 10 dates that summer at either Stengel or Glendale High.  Which was more than we had had in our first TWO seasons.  We were all pretty happy about it.

We took really good care of both of those fields in ’92.  I would even call the guy from The City of Glendale every Monday morning that season just to follow-up with him and make sure he KNEW we had done our job with his field. 

We used Stengel four times in the summer of ’92.  One was a double-header against Glendale.  We know what happened that historic Fourth-of-July.  Our record the summer  of ’92 at Stengel?  5-0 ….

Our record the summer of ’92 at Glendale High?  5-0 ….

Having Both those fields in ’92 was HUGE for us.  Effin’ HUGE.

And another funny thing happened that summer.  I got a call from The City of Glendale later that season.  We were done with all of our dates at Stengel.  It turns out The Glendale Team had played a game there on a Sunday towards the end of the season and got beat.  They left the place a mess and they left the gate open.  Some kids had got in there and made the mess even worse. 

It was Monday morning and he called ME.  He told me what had happened.  At first he thought we were responsible.  But he said “then I was reading the Newspaper and saw you guys had played your season finale at Saugus High.”

Glendale had burned the bridge with him. 

He said the reason he was calling was that he just wanted to let me know that for NEXT SEASON (effective 1993) that “Stengel Field has officially been awarded to Verdugo Hills”….

We finally had a Home….

 

 

So we had our Roster “filled” for the ’92 campaign (with 14 players) and I gotta admit I was WORRIED about alot of things.  What if 5 guys didn’t show up?  What if someone got injured?  Cowsill had basketball commitments that summer, and Moreno had football commitments, and I had let Canale talk me into going with only thirteen guys on the Roster!  I was kinda thinking “What the hell am I doing here?”

But I was looking at this Roster we had.  And if everybody was there, it was a pretty impressive lineup we were going to have.  As the season approached….Me, The General, Hank and The Weapon were spending quite a bit of time at “The Dome” plotting for the season.

One of the questions that kept coming up was “Who’s gonna lead-off?”

I know, I know, I know.  Everybody has in their head what a lead-off hitter should be.  Quick, can steal bases, a guy who makes a lotta contact at the plate and then runs like a demon after he puts it in play.  Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…..

I took a look at all the bats we had in the lineup and it was absolutely SICK.  I knew we were going to put some runs on the board.  I knew there were going to be some innings where we “batted around”….

I always felt that the only time a leadoff guy leads off is in the top or bottom of the first inning.  That’s it.  Once the game gets going….ANYBODY may lead off an inning.

I also knew the bottom part of the order was going to reach base quite a bit for us.  I didn’t need a “Leadoff hitter” per se….I needed a cleanup hitter leading off for us who could run a little bit.  Shit….anyone in the WHOLE starting lineup (with the exception of Yves) could have hit cleanup for us (but sorry, that job was already reserved by a guy named Canale).  I felt that once the game got going, our “leadoff hitter” was going to have a shitload of plate appearances with runners in scoring position.  As I thought about it, I knew it was kind of crazy….but the choice to me was a no-brainer.

We were there at “The Dome”….Me, General, Hank, and Weapon.  We were talking about “HACK”….

Finally, I blurted it out.

“I’m leading him off” I said.

It got silent for a bit.  Not long.  Just long enough for people to kind of let it soak in.  And one after another, everybody in the room started smiling.  Or laughing.  Just seeing everybody’s reaction to this had me laughing.

Henry broke the silence.  He said “Can you imagine THE MESSAGE we’ll be sending to whoever we’re playing with by sending that guy up to the plate to lead-off?”

“Oh my God” said the Weapon in a Heavy-Metal-Style narrative voice. 

More laughter.  HACK…with his BIG SWING was going to lead-off for Verdugo.  And he didn’t even know it yet.  He pitched his Senior season at St. Francis High and they had completely taken the bat out of his hands.  They had DH’d for him all year.  But I didn’t care.  We had caught a glimpse of HACK in ’91.  And by the end of the season, we were using him as a position player when he wasn’t pitching just to have his BAT….and his energy….in the lineup.  We saw in ’91 that there was just a different vibe on the field when he was out there for us.  He hadn’t swung a bat more than a few times all year.  But I didn’t care….he was the guy.  We loved him, and he was itching to do what he does best….to HACK!!!!

Six-foot, three-inches tall.  And a swing that would put the fear of God into any pitcher.  Yeah, he struck out a few too many times….but I didn’t care.  He was the guy.

It was a pretty ballsy move to lead him off.  But damn if it didn’t pay off.  Sometimes you gotta take chances.  Sometimes….you just gotta BE YOURSELF when you make decisions if you know what I mean (or if you read the last post).

21 years later….and I’m still patting myself on the back for that decision.

I didn’t really know how it was going to turn out when we made this decision, but I knew this much….1992 was going to be different.  Win, lose, or (with only 13 horses in the stable) forfeit….All I wanted to do was put the fear of God into every Team that played us.  

Take a close look at this lineup:

1.)  Workman 2.) Turner 3.) Evans 4.) Canale 5.) Moreno 6.) Cowsill 7.) Hagge or Fielder 8.) Hagge or Fielder 9.) Brancheau

Just looking at that lineup, you can see why the official Verdugo song that summer was “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC!!!!

DAMN!!!!

The story I’m about to tell is probably the most important conversation that took place prior to the ’92 season.  It came from a very unlikely source.  And it was something I needed to hear.  I will never forget what was said to me that night.  I am not bullshitting about what was said to me.  Because it was encouraging, it set me on the right path, and it (most importantly) made me feel for the first time in my life that MY WAY of Managing a Ballclub worked. 

I was sitting in “The Barru” about 11pm one night.  It was about a month before opening day.  My friend and I were pretty hammered.  There was about 20 people in the bar.  In walks this older guy.  He sits down at the far end of the bar.  I was facing East.  The bar had a “U” shape to it.  He sat down on the stool that was closest to the door.  Everyone else was bunched up in the middle where I was.  He sat far away from the crowd.   He was facing north.  The way the lights were set up there no one could see his face.  It was just a silhouette we could see.

And as he took his seat, this silhouette pointed right at me and barked out “That guy is an ASSHOLE!”

This certainly wasn’t the first time anyone had said this to me.  So I didn’t think much of it.  Although some of the people now were straining their eyes to check out the face that was attached to this silhouette at the far end of the bar.

“Yeah”…he said to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “That guy’s an asshole.”

I was kind of chuckling now. 

“In fact”….he said….”buy that asshole a beer!”

The bartender jumped on it….and set down another beer in front of me.  I still couldn’t tell who the hell this guy was.

I figured the beer he had bought for me was somewhat of a “peace offering”….so I did my best Robert Deniro impression.  I hoisted the beer this mystery guy had bought for me in his direction, smiled, raised my eyebrows and said “from one asshole to another” as I took the first gulp.

He didn’t say much for the next five minutes.  I still didn’t know who he was, and my friend was like “who IS that guy?”

So I decided to buy the mystery guy a beer.  That was when my friend said to him “so what’s the problem here?”

“I hate that guy” the silhouette said.

“Why?” my friend asked.

“Because I’ve coached against him, and I’ve umpired games where he managed.  And I’ve never seen anyone who could get his players to run through brick walls for him like that asshole could.  I always resented him for it.  He was always able to do with his Teams what I dreamed about doing with mine, but I could never do it.  I could never connect with my players like he could.  And while I respect him for it, I’ve always hated him for that, too.”

He walked over to where we sat.  I could see his face now.  He smiled, shook my hand and said “I’m really looking forward to following what your Team does this summer.  You guys are gonna probably win the whole thing.”

I was floored.  Speechless.  And indeed it was a guy who had coached against me.  He never beat me.  He came from the CSA.  He was a very knowledgeable guy.  He absolutely LOVED the game.  But it was true.  I had listened to this guy coach his teams and while he was always saying all the right things….he just couldn’t connect with his players.  I didn’t know how to react to what he said.  I had never really been given a compliment like that before.

Maybe he was drunk.  Maybe it was the beer doing the talking for him that night.  But what he said opened the door to what he was ABOUT to say.

He knew what a hard-headed guy I was.  And he was wise enough to open for what he REALLY wanted to say to me with an “attention-getter” like the one he had just used.  It turns out, he was about to give me a little ADVICE.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“Sure” I said.

“The BEST thing that happened for this Legion Team is you leaving the High School.  You could be a College coach if you wanted.  It’s just not YOU.  I’ve seen ’em all.  And the WORST thing that happened to you as a coach was becoming a High School coach.  I know you belonged there.  But you changed your style!!!!  Yeah, I watched you coach at the High School level, you did well, but you weren’t being YOURSELF”

He was right. 

“I’ve been following you as a coach for many, many years.  I’ve seen both styles of coaching.  Just be yourself!  Just do what you do!  You don’t have anything to prove to anybody.  You’re one of the most gifted coaches I’ve ever seen.”

Like I said a couple of Posts ago….I didn’t really know how many fans Verdugo had.  And I certainly had no idea that I had a fan.  Someone who had been watching me all of these years.  It was pretty humbling indeed.  And to hear it from a guy who loved the game as much as he did, and for him to say these things to me with a bar full of people listening….it really meant a LOT to me.

He smiled, and said “Just be yourself….and you guys are gonna win the whole damn thing!!!!  Good luck this summer.”

And he left.

He ended up coming to just about every home game we had that summer, and all of the playoff games.  I knew when he was there.  But there were only a couple of times where him and I made eye contact that summer.  This would happen when I was on the field, in the heat of the battle, and he was in the stands, watching Verdugo.  And every time our eyes locked that summer, he did the same thing.  He nodded, smiled, and he gave me a wink.

Because he knew that this hard-headed guy named “Gee” ….who never really listened to much of what anybody had to say….had taken his advice.

 

By the time 1992 rolled around, “The General” and I had coached together for SIX seasons.  “Wait a minute!!!” you say…”92 was our third year, Gee.”  Yes, you’re right….easy does it….it’s just that “The General” and I had coached for three seasons in Colt League before we took the Legion Team.  So we had six seasons together.  And one thing for sure had been missing all of those years.

Yes-sir-ree, The General and I had coached together for quite a few seasons.  And we would always complain about ONE thing.  EVERY SEASON we would say it, sometimes even in games.  Sometimes even in front of players.  And it had gotten to the point that we no longer cared who heard our cries….our unanswered prayers.  You know what we were always bitching about?

The fact that we NEVER had a fucking shortstop!!!!

Never!  Not one time did any of the Teams we coached up until ’92 EVER have a bona fide shortstop.  We would drive home after games and I would ask rhetorically to the Gods out loud “when am I EVER going to get a god-damned shortstop?!???!?!?!”

In would chime  General as he looked up towards the Heavens in jest….”Yeah, what’s up with that?”

We were pissed about it and we wanted some answers!!!!  WHEN??????????  When will we EVER get a shortstop!!!!!

I’m not taking anything away from the guys we had before.  Chili was pretty close in ’90 to being a legitimate shortstop.  In fact, he was damn good.  But….he didn’t play but about 5-6 games for us that season at short.  He came back in ’91 and all he did for us was pitch.

Hell, the first Team I managed in ’85 WON the whole thing.  And we played the entire first-half of the season with a left-handed shortstop!!!!  WTF?!?!?!?

Something always went wrong with Me, General, and shortstops!!!!  We’d get a guy, he’d quit.  We’d WANT to get rid of a guy….and that guy would become our shortstop!!!!

And we had GREAT Teams through the years.  But we never had what I would consider to be a dominating shortstop.  It seemed as though it was never going to happen.  And we had proven we could win without one.  But we always dreamed that it sure would be nice, just for ONE season, to actually have a shortstop.

Sure, we always had someone who could PLAY shortstop.  But we never had a dominant shortstop.  The kind of guy who had a gun for an arm, the kind of guy who could go into the hole and fire a guy out, the kind of guy who could make every routine play look….well, ROUTINE!!!!   We just couldn’t find that guy to save our souls.  And we knew it.  And we were starting to become very vocal about it.  The cries were getting louder as each season went on.  It had almost become a joke.

Every ground ball hit towards our shortstop for the last six years of our lives had been a fricking adventure.  We never knew what the hell was gonna happen.

We even nicknamed Cal Frost “Clank!” in 1990 because I could have SWORN his glove had teflon coating on it!!!!  We loved the guy, too. By 1990, The General and I had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we would NEVER have a shortstop.  So we never got too upset with whoever was playing that position for us.  We had actually grown pretty accustomed through the years that anytime a ground ball was hit to our shortstop….it was time to hold your breath and wait and see what happened!!!!  Really….it had gotten SO BAD that we were actually almost kind of OK with it.

Until 1992 came around. 

And our prayers were finally answered.  And we didn’t get just ONE….we got TWO!!!!

In fact, the entire 1992 and 1993 seasons had one thing in common.  We never had to worry about what was going to happen if a ball got hit to our shortstop ever again.

By the time the 1992 season came around, believe it or not, we had developed quite a following.  We had a hell of a lot more fans than most people realize.  Where were all these fans?  Well, many tales have been told about the incredible amounts of alcohol consumed by Gee.  During the time I coached our Legion Team from 1990-93,  I was pounding away like there was no tomorrow.  And I did most of my pounding at the local bars in Montrose, California.  This is where we had an INCREDIBLE fan base.  If anyone was looking for me between 1990-93 after 6PM, I was pretty easy to find.  Where?  “The Barru”…..”Mike’s Verdugo Room”…”Lady Jane’s”….or “My Way.”   No joke….

Looking back on it all, I’m certainly not proud of all of this.  But it is what it is.  And if there’s one thing this Blog WILL be….is HONEST.

And the fact of the matter is as follows:  I ENJOYED being the rebellious, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, controversial, former-musician who coached Baseball Team(s) that were usually at the top or near the top of the standings!  Every Damn Season!  It was WHO I WAS at that time in my life.  I loved beating people.  I lived for it.

I am not recommending that anyone reading this “try this at home.”  Eventually, all of the “errors of my ways” caught up with me.  But let’s face it, it certainly was WHO I WAS at that time in my life.  And I truly believe if I had conducted myself in any other manner….that whatever I was selling to the players, NO ONE would have bought it.  So I have no regrets.  And there have been incredible changes in my life since then.  On October 19th, 2012….”Gee” had his 16th birthday completely free of alcohol and drugs.   Yes….16 years!!!!  Not one sip!!!!

There was a huge following of fans we had who were “regulars” at these local bars.  I don’t know if they took an interest in our Team or me.  It didn’t matter.  They followed all the stories about our ballclub in the local paper “The Foothill Leader” or “The Glendale News Press.”  Since there was nothing going on in High School sports over the summer, Legion Ball got quite a bit of ink from the “Los Angeles Times” as well.  And they took it all in just to find out what was happening with “Verdugo.”

I loved going into a bar and having everyone saying “WTF happened?” if we lost, and the pandemonium that would erupt upon my entry if we won.  Just hanging out, having a few tall cool ones, and shooting the s*** about all-things-baseball.  I enjoyed the people.  And as difficult as it was to get any of these people off their barstool to come see a game,  MANY of them actually did come out and watch us in action.

Obviously, our biggest fans were at the Legion Post.  The came out to many games as well.  We all remember Dave Haskell, Art Napiwocki, Ken Zeutell, and Jess Rogers.  In ’90 and ’91 they came to quite a few ball games.  And dragged along with them quite a few other members of The Post and some of their friends to see us play.

Let’s not forget the great parents of our players who were always there for us.  Just incredible support we had from them as well.

I had direct contact with a lot of people in our Community that were following us.  They saw how close we came in ’90 and ’91.  Everyone in the Community knew I was no longer coaching at the High School.  And as we closed in on the beginning of the ’92 Season, everyone was talking about KICKING ASS in ’92.  Even some of the players!  I’ll get to that in the next couple of posts.

It was kind of strange.  Our first two seasons, all I talked about was KICKING ASS.  Now….everybody else was.  I had grown pretty cynical.  We did well our first couple of seasons but I didn’t feel we reached our potential.  I guess you could say I was going to need a little convincing from the players, AND the fans.

So why am I writing about this?

Because ’92 was our year.  The most magical summer we had.  And as we closed in on opening day ’92….I sensed something different was in the air.  Everybody was looking forward to ’92.  For me, it was just another Season.  But the winds of change seemed to be blowing a little bit.

There were a few interesting exchanges I had with both players and fans that kind of set the tone for ’92.  And I want to write about them before I get into writing about the magical summer that took place.

We had quite a following indeed.  GREAT FANS.  They were still great fans of our ballclub because they had seen a glimpse of our potential the first two seasons.  But they were tired (as I was as well) of our “flashes-of-brilliance” mixed in with underachievement.

Some interesting things happened before the season began, and I’m going to be going over it all in the next few posts.

Yes indeed, quite a following we had.  And I had NO IDEA how much our following was about to grow….and what was about to take place that summer.

Before I get started, I just wanted to let everyone know that even during this “down time” where I haven’t really written much over the last year or so….the Blog has been ON FIRE!!!!  I don’t know who the hell is reading this shit, but we’ve spread our disease pretty much to the four corners of the earth!!!!

They have a new feature here on WordPress.  I can go into the “Stats” section and find out all kinds of information.  How many hits, how the viewer(s) found our Blog, search engine keywords used, and so on.  Now they have a new “Stat.”  It’s called “Views by Country.”

Yeah, “Views by Country.”  So I can now go in and see not only how many hits we’ve had, but what Country the hits came from.

Since the Reunion…we have had over 3,000 unique visitors check in here at Verdugo Headquarters.  We haven’t even written anything new and the fans have continued to pour in. 

Let me show you the list of countries that have viewed our Blog since February 25, 2012:  United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, Syrian Arab Republic, Russian Federation, Hong Kong, Poland,Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Equatorial New Guinea, Bulgaria, Germany, United Kingdom, Thailand, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Turkey, Bangladesh, Hungary, and Serbia.  From this list, it’s pretty safe to safe our disease is slowly becoming a worldwide epidemic!!!!

When Soldiers from the Mideast are throwing stones at one another….and they connect with their target….do they now say “AHHHH!!!!”????????

Are the dudes down in Syria now saying “Get outta my dugout!!!!”????

Do Thai fishermen now bark out “Quick!!!!….Pantherlike!!!!” when they haul one in from the shallow coastal waters????

Are Ecuadorians now “short-hopping” one another with a soccer ball????

These are things we may never know.  But clearly, from the impressive list above,  the Verdugo Disease Continues to spread!!!!