verdugo288

Last night was a really sad night. I got a phone call from Scott’s sister and she informed me that Scott had passed away yesterday.

He had a long and hard battle with cancer.

She said I could make an announcement on the blog here but has asked us all to not make any posts or announcements about this on Facebook or any other social media.

She is in the process now of trying to notify a lot of people so please honor and respect her request.

You gotta have an exclamation point after that letter if it’s associated with Verdugo…..right?

Brendon Cowsill.

I “think” I was the guy. When I first saw him play he was a freshman at CV and jeez …this guy was hammering shit deep beyond the Ivy growing all over the walls at Stengel Field.

Yeah….as a freshman.

When I say “I was the guy” I am referring to where they were playing him defensively. He was playing shortstop. He ended up with Verdugo. And he ended up being our third baseman.

I “think” I was the guy that said “hey look he’s a great shortstop but that guy is not only a third baseman….he’s a professional prospect down there”

I never met anyone…player, coach, parent, or scout that disagreed with me putting him there.

Obviously he could pitch. I really didn’t use him much as a pitcher in the three years he played for us. Not because he couldn’t pitch. But because he was such a game changer as a position player.

Electrifying. When he struck it always had a huge impact. Offensively or defensively. And he had some great appearances for us on the mound.

As a side note I wanna say this, too. From ‘92 forward we had about as intimidating of a pre-game drill as you could find. It showcased everybody. One could argue that in certain games we played that by the time we finished hitting our pre-game drill the game was already over.

We would start our drill like any other ball club would. We would start with the outfielders and then finish with the infielders.

I will tell ya this. There’s no better feeling as a coach when you’re hitting pregame and you get to the infielders and you’re holding a ball and a fungo with cigar burn marks all over it and hitting that first ground ball to our infielders and it’s Brendan Cowsill.

Clean pick. Chest-high feed over across the diamond to our first baseman. You could hear the ball “fizzing” and see it rise a little as it made its way across. It just set the tone. We had a lotta cannons on that team. But watching this guy was just “wow”…..

I think “B” responded positively to me letting him spend more time running around the yard as a position player and just letting him get his hacks in. If he wanted more innings on the mound with us….I certainly never knew about it and I’m confident that he would have asked me. Or somebody would have said something.

Due to basketball commitments with the high school…we only had Brendon at 13 or our 23 regular-season games. We knew this going in. Obviously we would have loved having him there every game. It was what it was.

When the playoffs came around he was at every game…and he hit .389 for us in those four post-season games.

Like I said earlier…he was electrifying. And he was clutch.

If we had signed him to a contract and were actually paying him to play for us that’s exactly what we would have paid him to do. Be electrifying. Be clutch. And that’s exactly what he did.

Very similar to the role “The Weapon” had with us in 1990.

“Just do your thing man….” and turn him loose!

He wasn’t just a power-hitting third baseman either. This guy could RUN. In ‘92 we only stole 42 bases as a team. We didn’t have to run. There were so many bats that could inflict so much damage at any given moment that it really wasn’t a necessity.

The ‘93 team I had to manage differently. We stole 95 bases with that team and could have stolen many more. We had to manufacture some runs here and there with that team. “B” stole 14 bases for us in ‘93. Third on the team behind Hack (17) and John Lister (15)….

“B” showcased his wheels when we snatched sole possession of first-place from Jody’s greedy hands and moved our record on the season to 15-2. I remember that game vividly. We were short-handed and I had a choice…Yves in the outfield? Or put Yves at third and put “B” out in center field and let him roam the tundra?

I went with “B” in center. We won 5-1. That was the only game Brendon ever played in the outfield for us in three years. Why did I do it? To be honest? I just knew this guy had played hour upon hour of that little game called “over-the-line” as a kid …probably with his older brother and his older brothers friends.

So what does he do? He sets an all-time Verdugo single game record for put-outs in a game as an outfielder. SIX.

count em….SIX (and in a seven-inning game no less)

These were not routine plays either. I can still see it in my mind….these high towering flies that he had to go get. Through some DEEP outfield grass!!! Jody later admitted to me that he intentionally left the outfield grass long and unmowed for that game. He did this because he wanted to try and slow down any gappers we hit from reaching the fences.

Jody’s gardening didn’t work out to well…all the shots we hit up the gap that day touched the fences….and B….with his long loping strides ….just kept fighting his way through that tundra and flagging ‘em down!!!

It was so awesome to see it was almost comical !!!!

ELECTRIFYING!!!!

He absolutely BLASTED three home-runs for us in the 13 regular season games.

A THUNDERING two-run shot in the fourth inning of game four against Valley South that broke it open and made it 4-0 on our way to a 7-0 victory.

Undefeated at 5-0 against Burbank in game six we were down 6-1 in the top of the sixth. Their pitcher had held us to only five hits and B steps up with Josh aboard and crushes his second of the year and in one swing it’s 6-3.

That ignited a furious rally and while we ultimately came up short and took our first loss….it was clutch and got us back in the game……all I can say is….

ELECTRIFYING!!!! CLUTCH!!!!

The biggest games of the year on July 4th, 1992.

Double-header versus Glendale. Down 2-1 in the top of the fourth. Our backs were a little bit against the wall. Bull was owning ‘em but we needed to get something going offensively. Haggs draws a walk and the next pitch B hits an absolutely TITANIC blast deep into the wash and it’s 3-2 Verdugo!

We hit 15 home runs in 1992. 28 in our team history in the combined regular seasons.

I would have to say that one was was the most EMOTIONAL home run we ever hit. They all had meaning. But this one? BACK-BREAKING. This settled a territorial dispute. It settled a lot of stuff.

ELECTRIFYING!!!! CLUTCH!!!!!

(go with me here and substitute those words for “QUICK!!!! PANTHERLIKE!!!!)

Verdugo became the new bully on the block that day.

That game also went into extra innings and “B” drove in the runs that were the difference in the game in the 5-3 win.

Canale’s gem that day. Lance breaking his arm and coming back to the field to watch the 2nd game. Haggs breaking his nose in a collision at the plate and scoring. Hack coming in and playing at shortstop when Evans went down. EVERYBODY just gutted-up on this day. But this home run by B?

ELECTRIFYING!!!! CLUTCH!!!!

We had many many glorious moments in Verdugo history ….many which surpassed the Glendale sweep…but at that time in our history?….those two games and especially that first game was (at that point) “our finest hour”

He hit another home-run in our first playoff game that was instrumental as well and we will talk about that too in a future post.

He only threw 10 innings for us in the regular season in ‘92. Those 10 innings yielded three wins and a save. He was scheduled to start against Sunland-Tujunga and they forfeited so I credited him with the win. But still….two wins and a save in ten innings is pretty “electrifying” I would say.

He threw the last two innings in relief of Vo against Valley South and picked up a save.

He relieved Vo in the first Sun Valley game at Stengel and gave us 3.2 innings. Mowed down four hitters and allowed zero earned runs for his first win of the year.

He started on the mound in game one of the double-header against Lancaster North. The ball club with all the ringers. We won. We got hit hard that day but they had some college players out on the field against us. All things considered he beat a very strong team that day.

So when he started on the mound against Crespi in our third playoff game he only had ten innings under his belt all season. Yet he threw a gem. He threw six solid innings and gave up ONE earned run.

Once again….

ELECTRIFYING!!!! CLUTCH!!!!

We loved having B in a Verdugo uniform all three seasons!

The question with Bee was never if or when he would electrify or do something clutch for us. The questions were (at least in 1992):

Is he going to wear his number nine jersey?

or the number 25 jersey Evans wasn’t using as he rehabilitated from the broken bone in his arm?

is he going to ever wear his Verdugo cap?

(B loved his USC cap)

Sure those questions were always running around….but as a coach who had a player this electrifying and this clutch …honestly I didn’t give a shit what he wore out on the field. Or what anybody wore for that matter.

“Once Verdugo, always Verdugo” I always say.

No matter what you wear.

“B”?

It’a no surprise to me that long after your playing days ended ….even as a professional baseball player …..that you simply plugged in a guitar and a microphone and joined a cool band and CONTINUED TO ELECTRIFY!!!!

Yves Brancheau.

We’ve talked already about the great rookie class of 1992. But the next four guys we will be talking about are recruits from 1991. Three were rookies …and that rookie class from ‘91 was money, too….you better believe it! And Yves was one of ‘em. Great acquisition.

Yves saw significant time for us in ‘91 as a rookie and was our lead-off hitter and played great defense. Acquiring him really set us up with a quality second baseman for the next three years. But he could play anywhere in the infield for us. In 91 he saw some time at shortstop as well and in 92 he played some great games for us down at third base.

I never hesitated to play him at third base for us because he had a very, very good arm.

So coming into ‘92 he ready had a full season under his belt and we knew he was our starting second baseman. I expected him to have a great year in ‘92 and that’s exactly what he did for us.

He hit .300 on the year. Reached base 28 times for a .452 on-base percentage. Loved his wheels. Loved the hustle. Good range. Came in hard to get the high choppers. Knocked down the hard shots. Threw across his body well. Good footwork around the bag. Wasn’t afraid of getting dirty. Loved his glove. Loved his arm even more.

He started and played entire games at third base for us in wins against Sunland-Tujunga, Woodland Hills West, and Notre Dame ….and handled it masterfully down there. He even caught a few innings in a double-header up in Lancaster.

We knew going into the season he would have a week off for a family outing but apart from that he was always there.

Our Opening day win against Agoura/Oakpark was a tough game. We had never won on opening day. Yves singled, stole a base and scored on Robb Turners base hit in the fifth to give us a 2-0 lead.

In the 7th, Agoura’s first three hitters reached base …..and they had scored to make it 4-1….they had broken up Bull’s shutout he had going with nobody out and they had runners at the corners. Josh got a clutch strike out and I moved the middle infielders back to double-play depth and left the corners up in case they tried anything. A sharply-hit ground ball was hit to second base and there was no way we could get two on that play….

I remember Yves making a great play and diving just to keep it from going through for a base hit and then FIRING to the plate to barely nip the runner. Fucking HUGE play. Bull retired the next hitter on a weak ground ball to end the threat. HUGE PLAY by Yves that helped us pick up that elusive, first-ever opening-day victory for Verdugo.

He picked up two hits in the double-header split in Lancaster North. The Team that had all the ringers.
That win in the opener was an uphill climb for us and they hit us HARD in game-two and beat us. I thought Yves and the rest of our hitters did a great job that day against the thirty-year-old pitchers they threw at us.

The day we took over sole-possession of first place later in the season was a game against Notre Dame. First place on the line at Fat Jody’s yard. We were short handed that day. I put Cowsill in center and Yves down at third and we didn’t miss a beat. Huge win.

The next game was key. We had to maintain first place and the best record in the District. This was a huge game. Against Burbank. Burbank handed us our first loss of the year back in game six. And they were throwing the same guy at us who had beat us before. He gave us fits both games. But we got to him this time and knocked his ass out of the game in the fifth inning. We only had four hits that day but we really made things uncomfortable for him that day out on the mound.

Yves turned a 4-6-3 double play in the first inning of that win and handled three other ground balls for us that day. Including the final out. Clutch game. At the plate? He lays down a sacrifice bunt moving two guys over who scored on Hack’s triple. Granted….they would have scored on the triple but Yves did his job.

That day at the plate he sacrificed, drew two walks, took a dose and scored two runs. Played the entire game and went zero-for-zero at the plate! ….yet he was a huge factor….scoring twice! In the eighth inning we only had a three-run lead and we needed a run. He took the dose….moved to second when the Wiley Jackson drew a walk and then baited their pitcher into a balk!

He easily scored on Robb Turners base hit to make it 6-2.

The last four games of the regular season this guy went on a tear. Starting against Lancaster South. A huge game. He was really starting to hit shots all over the yard. He singled that night in our 6-3 win.

The next day against Sun Valley he played his best game of the year. Greeting Fat Bitch from SV with two absolute SHOTS in his first two plate appearances. Both doubles. Balls that were hit as hard as anything we had hit all season. He drew a walk and picked up another single later in the game….going 3-3 with the all the money on the line.

Yeah …this guy was clutch too!

That night he was in on a 1-5-4 rundown that resulted in an out ….a 2-5-4 back-pick that resulted in an out….and caught a line-shot and back-picked to first for a double play.

Again….he stepped up.

The next day he added another base hit in our 11-1 drubbing of Panorama City.

The next day we were still in the hunt for the division title and played Newhall-Saugus over at their yard. He hit the ball with authority yet again. Doubling and singling in our 4-3 nail-biting win and extending his hitting-streak to four games.

The last four games of the regular season he was 7-13 with three doubles….and hitting the ball HARD. There were several guys we had who carried us offensively down the stretch that last week of the season …and Yves was one of them.

Yet another example of 1992. We never knew who was going to step up or when. But everybody did at some point. And this guy was crucial to us getting to 20 wins and reaching the playoffs for the first time.

We only had five guys in our team history who played three seasons for us. Yves was one of those guys too!

Old number eight himself. The guy with the tough last name to spell….

The guy with probably the coolest first name to go with that last name on earth!

Yves? We loved having you in a Verdugo uniform all three years…

Thank you for 1992 and all three seasons with us!

When we put together the roster for ‘92 we had several multi-sport players. Cowsill and Kasey both playing basketball at CV. Dave Fielder played football…as did Ivan Moreno. Although Ivan had already graduated from High School he was already involved with summer workouts with his College Team for next season.

I knew going in that this would “bite us” here and there….(At least throughout the regular season). But I still felt that our abbreviated roster with only 14 guys on it could sneak through the season and not have any major issues and still win. Fortunately, we were able to pull that off.

As a side note, I don’t know what the hell Fielder told his coaches at CV (other than to pound sand?)….but what a salesman Thunder was! He only missed one game for us ….I think it was a passing league deal.

Whatever he told them definitely worked! Maybe he just said he couldn’t make it to whatever was going on with CV Football because he had more important shit going on with Verdugo! 😂

So when it came down to deciding the last few spots on our roster I think availability weighed in huge. I’ve always felt that the best ability is “availability”

We needed a guy who brought that to the table as well as having a great attitude. A guy with a “can do” vibe who was ready to go at any time.

We really couldn’t have ended up with a better guy to fill this role than John Gabrielson.

GABE!!!!

Absolute CLUTCH acquisition!

I really can’t say enough about what this guy meant to us.

I’ve always felt that with a ball club you can never have too much speed, or too much pitching, or too many lefties! Gabe ticked all the right boxes.

John was 18 and this would be his only season of eligibility with Verdugo. My only real regret with Gabe is that we only had him with us for one season.

This guy would have started for most teams around the league and probably never would have come off the field. Don’t get me wrong, he started a lot of games for us. And by the time we got to the playoffs and we were facing a right handed pitcher, Gabe was in the starting lineup for Verdugo…and he had earned it.

Gabe hit .410 for us. 16 hits on the season….all singles. 2nd in stolen bases with seven. Fourth on the ball club in on-base percentage at .510.

The most staggering statistic with Gabe was his ability to SCORE once he reached base. Of the 25 times he reached base in 1992, 17 times he scored! A .680 percentage. The only other player we had close to that was Hack Workman at .593.

Sometimes Gabe would start. Sometimes he would sit for entire consecutive games. Sometimes he would come into the game and hit in the three or four-hole after somebody got launched!

It never mattered….Gabe was always ready to go.

I led him off. I’d hit him in the nine hole. It never mattered. Gabe was always ready.

We pinch ran him….we used him as a late-inning defensive replacement. We DH’d him. He never bitched about anything. Every home game we played Gabe was always a part of the field prep crew. Before AND after the game.

He never won at flip. But he was always out there battling!

He tried to kick Spiro out of the Verdugo dugout!

Loved to slide and dive! Made some great acrobatic plays for us defensively! Always fun to watch!

Played all the outfield spots for us. Saw significant time at first base. Had two CLUTCH appearances on the mound for us the final weekend of the season. It was Gabe who was on the mound and got the final three outs against Sun Valley when we clinched our first playoff spot ever.

He picked up a win in the season final against Newhall-Saugus….our 20th win of the season.

Gabe went 4-12 for us in the playoffs as well. Finishing his summer for us with a combined regular season/playoff batting average of .392.

Gabe also FLEW to the Verdugo reunion back in 2011. From Austin, Texas!!! He told me he wouldn’t miss it for anything. And I’ll tell ya….it wouldn’t have been a true reunion if Gabe hadn’t been there.

Gabe was quirky. After all, he’s a lefty. Religious. Gabe represented all good things on earth….Mom, apple-pie….and….uhhhh….Verdugo!!!! Yes-sir-ree indeed he did!!

In terms of having some game and always being there for us, Gabe fit right in. But going into ‘92 we all wondered for sure just how this guy would REALLY fit in with us. Personality-wise…..

I will tell you how he did that right now…..

PERFECTLY!!!!

In his own way….Gabe fit in perfectly for Verdugo!

You’ve all heard me say “Verdugo had the greatest players who played in the greatest games”….

I remember at the reunion in 2011 things were winding down and it was getting late and everyone was starting to realize the night was over and saying goodbyes to one another. Gabe pulled me aside and said something to me.

He said “hey coach….you know something? Even though we didn’t win it all….we actually DID….you know what I mean?”

Maybe that was Gabe’s way of saying the same thing.

I remember just standing there and smiling after he said that. There was no reason to talk about “coulda-shoulda-woulda’s”….

There was just an understanding between us. The understanding between us as we stood there and smiled for a few seconds was “annnnnnd….they’ve done it!”

Just a coach and a player standing there content with the fact that once again “They’ve done it!”

I don’t know of too many Legion Teams that have held reunions. Probably most teams that DID win it all never did. And probably never will.

But we did. And many guys made long trips by car or by plane or whatever it took to be there. I was humbled and inspired by all of you who made an appearance at that unforgettable evening.

I don’t think anyone can understand what I felt that night. The manager of a ballclub about 20 years later in a big room surrounded by the greatest players who played in the greatest games….

Once again….the best ability was “availability”

And once again….Gabe was there. For Verdugo.

John….thank you for 1992.

Thank you.

This guy here may have been the most important piece of the Verdugo puzzle we ever had. Well….Maybe. All I know is the last two seasons we went 38-5 in the regular season. And this guy was there the entire time ….usually in our dugout….and systematically tearing the minds out of the opposition.

I had seen him before we got him. He pitched for the Glendale JV Team and my JV Team had faced him. I can’t remember who won…off the top of my head…..but I remembered this guy.

He looked like a cheap-shot artist. Like he would cheat to win. Like he would do anything under the sun to beat you. He talked some trash. Yeah, I hated him. But Lance Evans said to get him, and if a guy will cheat and talk some trash, well c’mon!?!?!? That’s ticking a couple of major boxes when you’re you’re going through your recruiting depth charts right?

I was an open-minded guy. You gotta remember, before we got Henry Fernandez on Verdugo….I had coached some games against him. And I fucking hated him too!!!!

I had enough seasons under my belt as a manager to be honest and ask myself if I just hated this guy for the sake of hating him? or did I really want this guy playing for me? Like was the case with Henry….

I remember asking Evans “so what does this guy bring to the table?

Lance had never even played for Verdugo but via his communications through the years with Canale and Turner, he knew what was going on at Verdugo. Lance hadn’t even played an inning in a Verdugo uniform and his answer to me was this:

“He’s totally Verdugo”

Here’s a guy who had never played for us telling me that this guy we’re considering will fit right in to a ballclub neither of them had ever even played for.

The absurdity of Evans’ answer made me realize that maybe there’s a reason that all of this was even being considered and I decided to not mess with fate or destiny and sat there for a minute or two and then weakly said….

“Okay”

That’s how we got “The Wiley Jackson”

What an acquisition. I’ll say it again…what an acquisition.

The dirtiest, cheating-est, lying-est, stealing-est, foul-mouthed and diabolical guy we may have ever had. And I say that about him in the absolute very best of ways.

What he did for Verdugo was this: he made it fun being on the bench. He made the Verdugo dugout the greatest dugout on earth.

He loved fucking with people. The opposition for the most part.

And nobody did it better.

He didn’t play much. But when he did play he was another perfect piece….even with his .150 batting average in 1992. I loved every minute of it.

He was also a little like Henry Fernandez. I always used to say about Henry “he can’t hit, he can’t throw, he can’t field and he can’t run ….all he knows how to do is beat ya”

Wiley pitched one inning of relief in our win in game 2 against Lancaster South.

He didn’t pitch again until the last week of the season. He threw two complete game victories over a total of four days for us that final week. Arms were tired. Guys needed a break. What this guy did over those four days was this:

Two wins…

Two complete game victories…

15 innings.

12 hits.

One walk.

13 strikeouts.

4 earned runs.

ERA 2.13

Absolutely FUCKING CLUTCH.

The train we were riding in ’92 sputtered at times and somebody had to get off that train and push it through some tough spots.

The magic of our ball club was that we never knew who that was going to be or when it was going to happen. But at some point in 1992….there was a different guy pushing that train for us.

Everybody was involved. Including “The Wiley Jackson”

This guy was to Verdugo Hills what “Eddie Haskell” was to “Leave it to Beaver”….

Wiley also played errorless defense for us on the field in ’92. And he didn’t care if he played or not. But make no mistake about it….he was a factor in every game.

From the Verdugo Bench….this guy was our cleanup hitter.

He wore people down with words.

He was a demoralizing factor to the opposition.

There wasn’t anyone he couldn’t defeat in a battle of the wits.

He literally broke Jody Breeden.

He took great pleasure in it too. And he didn’t just go after opposing players. Coaches, umpires, parents….anybody who was trying to stop us was a target of his.

And I loved every minute of it!!!!

He made the Verdugo Dugout off-limits to any and all.

I remember saying “I love this guy ….he’s Wiley!!!!”

Then guys started calling him “Wiley Jackson”

I wondered if he liked this new moniker we had for him or not.

Then he showed up at a game and sat down next to me. He took his Verdugo Cap off and showed me a perfect masterpiece (in color as well) rendition of “Wile E. Coyote”….under the bill of his cap.

I think he liked it, yeah.

I loved our Verdugo Caps….but I remember actually thinking and seriously considering after the ’93 season that maybe we should go with a new cap. Same colors….but instead of the VH….a diabolical and menacing looking shot of Wile E. Coyote’s head might be kinda cool ….right in the center of our caps!

If I decided to do that….I gotta say it would of been because of ‘Old Wiley himself.

’93 was his last season with us. He left enough of a mark as to what a dugout should be like and how a guy who doesn’t play much should go about his business when he does get out on the field.

I started him in the outfield sometimes. I pinch-ran him. I DH’d him for Vo two or three times. He got ejected arguing with the home plate umpire in our 6-2 Victory against Burbank in game 18 of the season.

He could bunt, he could slap it around a little at the plate, he drew walks and he could play defense. And he had that “tough knuckler” too….

I’ve already written a feature here on the blog about Wiley many years ago…. check it out here: https://verdugo288.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/the-wiley-jacksons-tough-knuckler/

Wiley? Your contributions to The Great Verdugo Hills will never be forgotten….by myself, by your teammates, and most importantly….by the opposition!!!!

Absolutely brilliant acquisition.

Lance Evans was right….Wiley Jackson? Totally Verdugo!!!!

I was sitting here for about ten minutes looking at a blank screen where all it said at the top was “The Calf” and spent the next ten minutes kinda smiling and laughing to myself before I started writing this.

We had a guy on the Team here at Verdugo we nicknamed (originally) “The Bull”….and we changed it later to “The Bull Oxen”….

Bull Oxen had a little brother. I met his little brother when he was twelve. We knew he would play for us one day. In fact, we had already nicknamed this guy “The Calf” before he ever even wore a Verdugo Uniform!

I’ve already written a short story here on the blog about how he “came to be” a member of Verdugo at the ripe-old age of 14….

This guy hadn’t even stepped foot on a high school campus yet nor had he played an inning of high school ball yet and he was playing for Verdugo!

Josh and Robb Turner and Lance Evans had talked me into the short Roster for 1992. We had 13 guys and could have stopped there.

Nancy Canale had told me all of 1990 and 1991 how she always wished Josh and Kasey could have played one season together but that their age difference had prevented it.

The last time she brought it up was sometime back in the ’91 season. As ’92 closed-in she never even mentioned it. She knew it would never happen. She wasn’t telling me to put him on the Team nor was she even suggesting it.

But I never forgot what she wished for….

When we needed that one last absolutely crucial guy to add to the Roster I made sure I let her know in person.

She had tears in her eyes when I told her. I kinda did too….

This wasn’t just a warm body we stuck on the Roster. This guy was a perfect fit. He understood what we had going on here. And he could play….

And yeah….he was a CANALE….

What a great acquisition.

Verdugo was a fun ball club to play for. But this kid made the dugout and the field even more fun.

He wasn’t just there to fill a spot on the roster either. He played. And he produced. We’re gonna talk about that. He started and played entire games that we won against some strong teams…

Notre Dame, Glendale, Crespi, and Sun Valley…..

He didn’t just appear in those games he played entire games that we won against those Teams. A 14-year old.

I still smile and chuckle out loud and shake my head when I think about yet another rookie we had ….this guy named Kasey Canale….and how he rose to the occasion for Verdugo ’92.

This was part of the magic of the summer of ’92. We had all the right guys who fit in with what we were trying to do. Yeah even Vo…with his quirkiness….and Gabe…with his religious affiliations. And Kasey …with his youth…They fit right in. Bir with his “professionalism”….Jackson with his…his….his….Wiley-ness.

…..somehow….each guy we had played a pivotal role for us.

I mean ….Gabe was to Verdugo Hills what that religious kid named “Strap Purl” meant to Hickory High in the movie “Hoosiers”…

Right?

Somehow we had all the right pieces. It didn’t matter about their personality or their accomplishments or their resume or their age or their size or whatever.

A lotta people would look back on our Roster in ’92 and say “what?” when they looked at it on paper.

But as I go through writing about each guy here before I start in on the playoffs a pattern is emerging here.

Every single player we had contributed to us dominating…….in a major way. Everybody was clutch at some point.

That’s why every player we had in ’92 was an absolutely perfect piece to the puzzle.

And this guy was yet another one of those perfect pieces….just like the rest of you.

Yeah he played and yeah he contributed in a major way in ’92.

But he was just as big a part of it all when he wasn’t playing but was there in the Verdugo Dugout. Imagine playing for the opposition and having this guy….plus Bir…and plus WILEY in your fucking ear and eventually in your head by the time the game was over.

He was a presence both on the field….and in the dugout….and he fucking loved Wearing that RALLY WIG!!!!

I didn’t waste any time getting him on the field either. We led Agoura 4-1 on opening day and it was still a ballgame and I put him at second base in the 7th inning.

His first plate appearance for Verdugo he singles, driving in a run giving us a 5-1 lead…and then steals second base.

Game two of the season I started him and led him off. He was hitless in three at-bats but he hit the ball sharply and played great D until he came out of the game after five innings.

He played a couple of innings defensively against Sunland-Tujunga and made a couple of plays in the 6-1 win.

He started and drove in a run in our 7-0 win against Valley South.

He started and played the entire game in our 10-1 ass-kicking of Crespi at Stengel. He reached base three times and scored a run and drove in one as well.

He started and played the entire game against Woodland-Hills West when we ruined Ron Cey’s Father’s Day in an 8-3 win.

He did miss some games throughout the season due to basketball commitments but generally when he was there he saw action for us.

He started and played the entire second game of the double header against Glendale. Played great defense and picked up another-base hit in that win. STELLAR.

He started and played the entire game in our 5-1 victory against Notre Dame. Picking up yet another base hit. Fucking HUGE. This was a HUGE GAME.

He started and played the entire road game against Lancaster South as we came down the stretch. Singling twice in our 6-3 win. MASSIVE.

He started and played the entire game in our playoff clinching win against sun Valley…..hitting an absolute SHOT for a single (I remember it vividly it was deep enough for a double) FUCKING CLUTCH.

We hit a lotta SHOTS off fat-bitch that night….and the one he hit was as HARD as any of ’em.

He picked up yet another hit in the 11-1 win against Panorama City the day after we clinched. ARE WE SEEING A PATTERN HERE?

And to top it all off….the final regular game of the season against NewHall-Saugus I put him behind the plate for the last four innings of our nail-biting 4-3 win.

I put him back there because I felt it was ROOKIE SHOWCASE TIME.

When the dust had settled at the end of the season The Calf was 8 for 28 (.286) for Verdugo as a 14-year old. He went 2-4 in the playoffs (.500) and finished the season at .313.

What a season. Loved having him in a Verdugo Uniform. There were a couple of times during the season I remember when Kasey would do something HUGE for us and his nervous mom who was watching both her sons play ….Nancy ….her and I would make brief eye contact and I’ll tell ya….the happy look on her face was worth just about as much to see as anything else I witnessed in 1992.

Verdugo….once assembled …..was the perfect puzzle. And this guy was yet another one of our perfect pieces.

Calf? I’m still shaking my head in amazement…..almost 30 years later!!!!

All right everybody let’s get to Vo here and keep moving down the line I got a lotta work to do yet on this blog.

Here’s yet another Verdugo rookie from ’92 that had a major impact on what we were trying to do. Here’s a guy who rose. And he kept rising. And he kept rising….

But let’s not get all caught up in where he ended up. I’m talking 1992 right here.

Nothing more….nothing less.

So let’s take our minds back to 1992. Here was a guy that I knew would be on our Roster. As to what capacity or impact he would have on the field ….let’s be honest….that was still a question mark.

I had him on my JV Team at CV in ’91. Another good kid. Kinda like Bir in that we needed to corrupt this guy a little bit too. I was asked to return back to CV in ’92 and declined.

But as the ’92 season drew nigh, Vo and I were talking again. He wasn’t real happy that during his sophomore year he wasn’t being given the ball enough. He wanted starts. And for whatever reason, he wasn’t getting enough of that at the high school.

How can you not love that he was pissed? Frustrated?

Right?

So really….coming into Legion in ’92 he was an unproven high school Varsity pitcher….at least in the capacity he wanted to prove himself ….(as a starter and as a guy who would be given the ball against anybody)……and an as-yet unproven Legion pitcher….but …..think about it …..he really hadn’t had the opportunity to fully prove himself had he?

He wanted that opportunity!!!!

I don’t know who said this but I’ve quoted it often in my life and it’s true “Success is a chemical reaction that takes place when preparation meets opportunity.”

Well ….we had an opportunity for Jim.

I had him on my JV Team and this guy could pitch. He wasn’t gonna be mowing guys down left and right. But he could pitch.

You guys also have heard me comment on this blog starting wayyy back with the 1990 Team how I loved “seeing a lotta bodies flying around out there defensively….guys picking each other up.”

As a coach….that’s another aspect of the game I absolutely lived for. Seeing my guys out there flying around and making some things happen defensively. Guys making routine plays with authority….occasionally pulling off a spectacular one….getting dirty….taking some chances….back-picking….improvising….handling run-downs like men.

I absolutely lived to see that.

As far as I’m concerned it’s the one thing you gotta have with your ball club. There’s really no excuse not to have that.

We had that going on at Verdugo big time.

That helped him. It helps all your pitchers. the psychological effect it has on your chuckers is paramount. All of a sudden they’re out there just throwing strikes. Not trying to be too fine. And no reason to be if guys are swarming to the ball and making plays.

We had that going on.

One thing you could never accuse Jim of is being physically or mentally unprepared to play. This guy took his job seriously. Hell….he took it so seriously you’d think this guy was planning on pitching in the Major Leagues someday…..

Right?

I had it all planned out for him. Keep him in the shallow end…..let him build off that and maybe by the end of the season he would be peaking.

Then Evans got hurt…..

Okay fuck it….it’s time to throw his ass into the deep end. So much for those plans Gee….

“Success is a chemical reaction that takes place when preparation meets opportunity.”

Mentally and physically he was prepared. All he had to do was pitch.

And that he did.

Absolutely fucking CLUTCH.

Let’s face it….nobody would have predicted this….even myself. I believed in Jim….but he far exceeded my expectations that I had for him in 1992.

He made it happen. He made the pitches.

But I think we all had a hand in how far he rose….and helping turn him into somewhat of a thug. We expanded on that in ’93 when I took out a couple of bounties on a couple of hitters and I made him drill those guys. He needed to be corrupted a little bit….and I’m proud to say we all contributed to that.

He got a relief appearance in the second game of the year up in Lancaster and he picked up the win. He threw well.

I gave him his first start against a weak team (Valley South) about a week later. I knew we would win that game….but I didn’t think he would shut them out like he did and throw a complete game like he did.

We won 7-0….

His next start was against one of our most bitter rivals….Woodland Hills East. The only team that ever dogpiled on us in four years. At their yard no less. With Gabe Kapler in that lineup no less.

This game was coming right after our first loss of the season. We were 5-1 coming in and anything could have happened at this point. We could have even imploded…..

I was hoping he’d give us five….maybe six good innings. I didn’t think he would go all the way in a nine-inning game….dominating them…..Giving up only one earned run in a 7-2 victory like he did.

CLUTCH.

He took his only loss of the year in the 2nd game of the twin bill against Lancaster North. The Team I suspected had ringers. They were 0-8 coming into that double-header and scored 22 runs on us in 14 innings. That was the hardest anyone hit us all year. I still call bullshit on whoever they put on the field against us that day.

Then Evans gets hurt….

“Ok Jim….you’re getting the ball against Sun Valley….oh….and one more thing Jim….we gotta win this game.”

Another swim in the deep end.

Sun Valley was an incredibly dangerous Team. He gave us 5 and a third innings that night.

Yeah, they touched him up a little bit but he kept us in it….and we won.

We finally catch and surpass Jody. We’re in sole possession of first place. We’ve got the best record in The District at 15-2.

We now gotta play Burbank again. At their yard. They already beat us once and would be throwing the guy that beat us before at us again.

We only got four hits. We won 6-2.

I needed five or six innings out of him this game. I didn’t think he would go all the way in another nine-inning game again like he did…..surrendering only five hits….like he did.

That kept us atop the Division. Kept us with the best record at 16-2. We were deep into the season at this point….

The Burbank coach was quoted in the papers the next day as saying “he was the best pitcher we’ve faced all season.”

“Success is a chemical rea…….”

Right?

CLUTCH.

I gave him the ball again against Sun Valley. Really….in my mind….the only legal team that had hit him hard the whole season. Great team….legal roster….no ringers.

Huge game. Playoffs on the line. Going up against fat bitch from Sun Valley. That guy had been waking up every morning for two weeks thinking about one thing and one thing only…..revenge against Verdugo.

I have to say going into this one I felt pretty good about him doing well. I was coming around and starting to ….well….totally believe.

And what does Vo do? He pitches us into the playoffs. He beats them 7-3 and we clinch.

Fucking CLUTCH.

On the year he was 6-1 during the regular season.

Led Verdugo in innings pitched with 46.

Gave up only 33 hits.

Walked 23 and struck out 33. Gave up only 19 earned runs on the year.

His ERA (I always tallied ERA for 8 innings because we had a mix of either seven or nine inning games) was 3.30

“Success is a chemical reac……”

Right?

He took the opportunity we gave him and ran with it.

He was no longer an unproven High School Pitcher anymore….again at least in the capacity that he wanted to prove what he could do.

He proved he could start and go deep into the games and he proved he could beat anybody.

There weren’t any question marks attached to his name anymore.

The question marks that were attached to his name had been replaced by the end of the 1992 season….with exclamation points!!!!

And let’s face it….having a lotta bodies out there flying around and guys picking each other up” (the shit I live for) didn’t hurt him either.

But again….he made the pitches we needed him to make.

He made those pitches for us.

But think about it too….if you’re five foot five and weigh 110 pounds and you got guys like Bull Oxen and Turner and Evans and Haggs and Thunder and Cowsill out there yelling at ya “let’s go!!!! get this fucking guy out!” As they kinda frown at ya as they bark at ya…..

Wouldn’t it be easier just making the pitch you gotta make than to have to deal with those guys if you don’t?

I’m just sayin’ 😉

Verdugo may not have been the perfect place for Jim Parque to play. But we gave him the perfect opportunity.

We can’t pick our family in this world and there’s a lotta other stuff we can’t pick either.

But pretty much all summer long we had a defense that could pick-it all day long!!!!

That’s why I say in the summer of 1992?….Jim Parque was exactly where he was supposed to be.

That’s right. Playing for Verdugo. Playing for Gee. And playing alongside all you other guys. A bunch of gamers and battlers all looking to carve out a name for Verdugo and themselves.

Playing for Verdugo was exactly where he was supposed to be….

And I would venture to say that wherever he ended up…..he took a little piece of all of us….and the great Verdugo Name…..everywhere he went.

Vo? Thank you for your clever design on the T-Shirt the JV Team gave me at the end of the ’91 season at the banquet that said two things:

“Let’s Go!!!” And “Mix-in!!!”

And thank you for all the times in ’92 you “mixed-in” for Verdugo!!!!

Absolutely FUCKING CLUTCH!!!!

As much as we were hated…..

How could anybody NOT love Verdugo?

I gotta say there’s truth to that old saying “if you build it they will come”

The last several weeks we’ve been getting a lotta looks here on our blog. It spiked yesterday we had almost 50 unique visitors checking this shit out.

And these people reading this shit are hanging out, too. They’re going deep into the archives and reading all kinds of shit.

Starting to remind me of 2010 again when I first got this thing going.

Whoever is out there watching this unfold we thank you! If you’re a former player who is “lurking” and not commenting….make your presence known!

If you’re a coach or player from another team out there do the same!

If you’re a fan and have no affiliation with any of this and just like reading it all….

More power to ya!

But I do have some advice as well if you’re some random “fan” of ours….

I gotta borrow a line used by William Shatner (Captain Kirk) from Star Trek when Saturday Night Live did a spoof on the “Star Trek Reunions” where everybody was dressed up in “Starship Enterprise” outfits and Klingon outfits….

Shatner told all his fans when he went up to the podium “GET A LIFE!”

Another great acquisition in maybe the greatest rookie class ever(?) in 20th District history. Dan Bir.

I didn’t know much about Dan Bir prior to 1992. In fact, I didn’t know anything about him. But I had one of the greatest GM’s working behind the scenes for me by the name of Josh Canale.

Canale had got Ivan Moreno on the roster for us in 1991. After we finished the ’91 campaign and started gearing up for ’92 sometime in February we usually started throwing names around as to who would be the next heirs to the Verdugo throne.

The new guys we would get who would be given “the keys to the kingdom”

Right?

We turned away a lot of guys. Playing for Verdugo is like walking on hallowed grounds…let’s face it…not just anybody is worthy.

Right?

Canale told me five words. “We gotta get Dan Bir”

Done.

I did go to a couple of Saint Francis games just to get a look at him. I already knew Haggs was a player and would contribute but I had never even seen this guy named Dan Bir and he was already on our roster!

Big kid. Could play some defense. We had a boatload of first basemen already with Turner, Moreno, Canale, Gabe….but I liked what I saw. All the aforementioned names were in their final year of eligibility. He was going to inherit that job for us.

And when I first met him…very quiet kid. Very respectful. After I first met him my thoughts were “we gotta find a way to corrupt this guy!”

Again, I don’t expect much offensive production from rookies. Robb Turner struggled a little bit at the plate his rookie year but he paid off fucking HUGE with what he did behind the plate for us that season. We were 9-3 with him behind the plate. Turner was also in the top 4 or 5 guys that rookie season of his in on-base-percentage.

Good things can happen for anybody if you keep suiting up and showing up and you believe in yourself. Turner was a force in ’91. By the time ’92 came around Turner was an absolute animal.

It didn’t take long for Bir to be corrupted into the Verdugo way of life on a baseball diamond. He saw how we rolled at Verdugo. He fit right in. Fucking perfect!

Birsy spent some time on the bench alongside Wiley Jackson and learned from one of the best how to get inside somebody’s head. He had some all-time-great role models to see up close and personal on the field as to “just how we roll” here at Verdugo!!!!

Bir struggled a little bit early in the season adjusting to the pitching at this level. But let me tell you something here…he not only figured it out…but he figured it out in ’92. This guy was instrumental in some huge games he filled in coming down the stretch. HUGE.

But don’t kid yourself. He still saw a lot of time on the field. He played a lot of innings that first season ….and you know what?

He made only one error the entire season.

And you know what? That’s what I expect from the rookies. Defense. They will find their way at the plate eventually. But Bir played some D for Verdugo!!!!

He made clutch plays defensively in huge games we had to win. And just kept getting better and better and better at the plate.

He kept coming back to the barn like all the good horses do when you let ’em run wild. He got a lot of looks at the plate and when we came down the stretch he was there. He was ready. And he was ready to deliver.

The last week of the season when we were backed up in games and Cowsill and Moreno couldn’t be there he hit .308 for us (4-13). I hit him in the five hole behind Canale twice.

I hit him in the five-hole when we clinched the playoff spot and he played the entire game. That’s how much confidence I had in him. He lit-up fat bitch from Sun Valley in the first inning with a line shot single that put us up 1-0….then lined out to center against him his second plate appearance against him before we knocked him out of the game. Both balls hit HARD.

I started him and hit him in the five-hole in the game in Lancaster the final week of the season that we won 6-3 with Wiley on the mound. Bir went 2-3 with two RBI in that ball game.

The last week of the season Bir had figured it out and was starting to drive the ball up the gaps. He rocked a deep gapper into right-center against Panorama City the day after we clinched that drove in two.

I said to Canale my General Manager “Bir’s on fire!”

Canale told me exactly the same thing he’d told me from the beginning “Bir’s a damn-good ballplayer”

Yeah….by the end of the season Bir was not only hitting the ball well for us….but he was hitting it with authority.

Rookies are rookies. It’s not easy in Legion ball. But I will say this. Dan Bir is the one player we had in all four years that had the greatest transformation of any player from one season to the next.

Let’s not forget that in 1993….he almost hit .500 for us.

In ’93 he was hitting bullets all over the yard. Who knows what Bir would have done in ’94 had the team stayed together.

He hit a titanic Home Run at Stengel in ’93 that was about as far as you can hit it. A game that we trailed 7-0. A huge game. Bir’s three-run shot got us back in it and made it 7-6.

I still get pumped up every time I replay that absolute SHOT in my mind. I still say that was the greatest game Verdugo ever played. And you know what? We lost that game.

We’ll get to that when we start writing about ’93 and how that game led to what I can only call “The Call”

“The Call” defined us. That was the greatest moment a coach could ever dream up. You’ll all get to read about that night. It was pretty amazing what happened after that game.

At some point (with all you guys) I got to see those “coming of age” moments. For some guys it happened sooner than it did for others.

With Bir…it was the SHOT he hit off fat bitch in the first inning the night we clinched. And the subsequent stare-down Birsy gave him as he stood on first after we drew first blood and made it 1-0.

The stare-down he gave fat-bitch after that bullet said a LOT. I stood in the third base coaching box and saw that coming-of-age moment. The stare-down he gave that guy said “I can play …I belong….you challenge me again with that cheese bitch and I’ll rip your fucking head off”

Those are the moments you live for to see as a coach. Thats not a typo either. I lived to see the moments when I could see you guys were taking shit to the next level. Where you guys were competing. Where you guys were playing. And playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Backing down to no one. Ever.

Not cocky….but unwavering confidence. Not aggression….but assertive. Humble….yet proud of it.

Determined to make your mark on the field as a player.

Another Verdugo rookie had delivered. I give this kid a vote of confidence hitting him behind Canale in the biggest game of the season with the playoffs on the line and what does he do? He hits an absolute seed off arguably one of the toughest pitchers in the District to put us on the board in the first-inning. God damn was I pumped!!!!

Yeah….another Verdugo rookie had delivered.

Fortunately….Birsy was corruptible. He fully adopted the Verdugo ways. He didn’t remain the shy and reserved kid I first met for more than a game or two in a Verdugo Uniform.

This was a good kid. Well, at least until we got ahold of him. This is the kind of guy that….I don’t know…..you’d want him to be like a high-powered lawyer or something some day.

Right?

You know?

A guy who is just so damn good at what he does that just being a lawyer isn’t enough. The kind of guy you’d have no choice if you owned the law firm to just pull him aside and say “look man we need to make you a partner in this endeavor”

Ya know?

At least that’s what I would have predicted where he would have ended up if you asked me back in 1992.

I don’t know where the heck he is today…but if I was to make a prediction….that would be it. Either that or maybe up for re-election for his 4th term in the US Senate or something.

Right?

Bir? If you’re out there reading this shit check-in with us here in the comments section and let us know how everything turned out for you!

I’m curious to know 😉

And Bir? Canale was right.

Thank you Josh for bringing this guy into the fold.

And Bir? It was exciting for me as a coach seeing you evolve from the wild-eyed rookie you were ….into the PURE VERDUGO DUDE you became!!!!

Absolute CLUTCH acquisition. And another member of arguably “The Greatest Rookie Class in 20th District History!!!!”