It only happened ONE TIME. 94 Games in our history. 88 in the regular season plus another six playoff games. That’s right…only ONE TIME it happened. And looking back on it all….I’ll take that. But it’s inevitable when you play that many games. Somehow, the law of averages catch up to you and it happens. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the ONE TIME another team DOGPILED on us. And let me tell you………this one HURT.
We rolled into Taft High School late in the season for a Sunday morning game against Woodland Hills East. We were 8-7, coming off an upset win over Newhall-Saugus…and WHE was leading their Division at 15-4. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was looking forward to the challenge. I had gone back and forth all week with Vic and he wasn’t going to be able to make the game because he had to study for finals. We took NINE guys to the game. There was no reason for McBride to be there after throwing 134 pitches the day before….so I thought.
So I told McBride to stay home and relax on Sunday. Little did I know how McBride ultimately would become a factor in this game…even from his home….even though he wasn’t even there with us.
I felt we had a chance because BullOxen and Hank were rested for the most part. McBride had given us a huge lift by throwing a nine-inning complete game victory against Newhall-Saugus the day before. We were gonna miss having Vic’s bat in the lineup, but I still felt pretty good about our chances. And like I said in an earlier post…there should have been a camera crew following our ballclub around that entire season because we didn’t back down, we electrified, we were emotional, we shocked our opponents, and the bottom line is you never knew what we were gonna do when we came to the yard. And this game was no exception.
BullOxen got the start on the mound. And by the time he went out to pitch we had a 2-0 lead. Frost led off the game with a base-hit. Rogers and Tex hit SHOTS that resulted in outs. Bull drove in Frost with a single, and Weapon hit a shot up the gap for a double that scored Bull.
We extended the lead to 5-0 in the the second inning with singles by Turner, Rogers, Martin, and BullOxen.
Then we made it 8-0 in the third. Hank singled, Turner singled….then Frost roped one into the left field corner for a bases-clearing double. Rogers drove in Frost with another base hit.
Twelve hits. Count-em!……Twelve hits in the first three innings. We came out that day and totally raked!!!!
And it wasn’t just the hits. It was the STINGS. I kept a statistic that year I called STINGS. A “sting” was when we hit the ball right on the screws…..and right AT someone for an out. We had six stings this game in addition to our 17 hits. We had hit the ball HARD at Quartz Hill when we pounded out 19 hits, but this game was probably the hardest we hit the ball all season.
Rogers, Turner, and Hank had three hits apiece. Frost, Bull, and Martin all had two hits. Weap doubled, and Sammy singled.
Around the third inning guess who showed up to the game? VIC.
Shit, we had an 8-0 lead….and now we got VIC.
I didn’t waste any time getting Vic into the game.
You never know in a Baseball game. We took nine guys to that game. What if a guy got hurt? What if a guy got thrown out? Well, that’s EXACTLY what happened before the game ended.
Around the fourth inning Sammy sprained one of his wrists. He couldn’t swing. So we bunted each time he came up the rest of the game. He did a great job of “faking it” and not letting the WHE team know he was hurt. Anything could have happened as well if they hit the ball to second base. And each inning he was in more pain. I asked him if he wanted out of the game and he said “no way.”
Then in the top of the sixth, Weap got thrown out for arguing a called third strike.
Here was the problem. When Vic showed up I immediately got him in the lineup, subbing him for Yoder, who had started. So if Yoder comes back into the game, he can only go into Vic’s spot. So if I enter Yoder back into the game…Vic has to come out. So when Weap got tossed, that left a hole in his spot in the lineup. I had no one on the bench I could put in Weap’s slot in the lineup, even though Yoder was sitting there on the bench watching the game. So every time Weapon would’ve come up to hit for the rest of the game there was an automatic out recorded. Around the time all of this went down….all I was thinking was MCBRIDE!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t forget…we started the game with nine guys before Vic showed up.
It wouldn’t have been perfect if McBride was there that day….but at least we would have had a warm body to help out in the outfield. We were forced to play the rest of the game with eight players.
WHE had cut our lead to 8-2 by the time Weap was ejected. All we needed was twelve outs….and we were hitting the shit out of the ball that day, so I wasn’t TOO worried. But the momentum had certainly shifted….
Before I go on let me say this. Weap getting run was not the reason we lost this game. Although Weap tried to pin the loss on himself, it wasn’t his fault we ended up losing. I spoke with Weapon on the phone about this game a month ago or so and he said it was “the worst he had ever felt” after a Baseball game.
When Weap got run, EVERYBODY was starting to get pissed on our Team. The WHE team, parents, and coaches were ALL starting to mouth off. They felt this was their chance now. But by the time we had stopped playing nine against nine…all I can say is that the score was 8-2 in our favor. Yeah, they beat us with eight guys on the field but with nine-on-nine….let’s face it……they were our BITCHES that day. Maybe that’s why they got so worked up when they beat us.
Meanwhile, on the field…the Verdugo anger was in full force! BullOxen had thrown a brilliant four and two-thirds for us. WHE had loaded the bases with one out when Hank relieved him. Hank clutched up and struck out a guy and retired another on a fly ball to end the threat. Ahh Hank!
We were playing great defense that day. We had a lotta bodies flying around out there on the field, the kind of shit I like to see. Hustling, backing shit up, everybody was picking each other up. The same stuff we had been doing all season. In fact, with only eight guys out there…we were playing defensively with a sense of heightened awareness. They did score on us in the bottom of the seventh to make it 8-3…..but even with eight guys on the field, we were in CONTROL. Hank was clearly starting to get tired, but didn’t want out of the game.
While we weren’t getting guys on base we were still hitting the ball HARD. There was quite a bit of “chirping” going on from both dugouts. We were trying to hold on and pull off what would have been the biggest upset of the season and they were getting impatient they couldn’t get anything going against our hustling and diving group of eight guys on the field (one with a sprained wrist). Vic and Tex combined to catch four fly balls when our outfield had been reduced to two. They were motoring out there and flagging shit down….it was an awesome sight to see.
Then in the bottom of the eighth, they started to “hit-’em where they ain’t.”
They started hitting these routine fly balls that we couldn’t get to. If only I had a warm body out there to help out Vic and Tex we would have beat ’em. I couldn’t go with three infielders….I HAD to go with two outfielders. All I was thinking was “MCBRIDE…………………………………..”
Hank gave up a routine fly-ball that resulted in a double and walked a guy to open the bottom of the eighth. Hank was out of gas. He fought me…but I pulled him and gave the ball to Rogers, who had already caught the whole game. I moved Hank to first base, put Canale at third and Turner went behind the plate.
Rogers got a ground-ball out, then a guy hit another “routine fly” deep into right field. The problem was….no one was in right field. Inside the park homer. It would have been a sacrifice fly for sure…but they wouldn’t have scored three fucking runs on that fly ball…that’s for sure. Now it was 8-6.
The next batter hit an absolute SHOT…..it was about four or five feet over Frost’s head at shortstop. And Frost LEAPED to meathook it! He must have put a two and a half foot vertical leap to spear that thing. We were all jacked up when he made that play! Hank even ran out to Frost at shortstop from first base to high-five him….then as Hank walked back to his position at first base……..he POINTED at their fans behind the first base dugout. He was taunting them! Ahhhh Hank!
It was REALLY getting loud. Both teams were totally pissed. Both teams wanted to win this game. We were about to play what I think was our greatest inning of the season….even though we got beat.
We hadn’t scored since the third inning. It wasn’t like they were shutting us down…we were still hitting the ball hard, and racking up a lotta STINGS. But we NEEDED A RUN. We NEEDED to somehow get on the board. Remember, we had no one in the number five hole since Weap’s ejection and an automatic out was recorded everytime he would have come up to hit for the rest of the game. This was our chance, because Turner was leading off the ninth in the number eight hole.
And what does Turner do? He RIPS a fucking base hit!
Now Vic steps in. We NEEDED to get Turner into scoring position and I didn’t like the idea of trying to steal second. I didn’t want to waste the at-bat with Vic with a sacrifice bunt, either. I figured we HAD THE LEAD, and I wanted to stay aggressive. So we tried a hit-and-run. Vic hit a groundball SHOT that somehow the pitcher caught. They threw out Vic at first but it was enough to get Turner to second.
Frost got hit by a 2-1 fastball and now we had runners at first and second.
Up came John Rogers. Rogers was ripping that day. Two hits and two stings already. And what does Rogers do? He RIPS a fucking base hit to drive in Turner! AHHHHHH!!!!!! Everybody was up in the dugout. I knew we were gonna beat these bitches!!!!!
We were unable to score Rogers or Frost…but somehow we had broken up their momentum. And while the game wasn’t out of what I like to call “grand slam reach”…we led 9-6.
WHE came up in the bottom-of-the-ninth and started hitting a few more “Routine Fly Balls.” Vic and Tex could cover a hell of a lotta ground…but they couldn’t cover THAT MUCH ground. I just remember them running full-steam trying to track those fucking fly balls. We just couldn’t get to ’em.
Next thing we knew…it was 9-8 and they had runners on second and third with NOBODY OUT. Their crowd was making a hell of a lotta noise. I went out to the mound.
I must admit…I didn’t know what I was going to do or say. I got out there and just kind of looked at everybody. Hank was out of gas. BullOxen had already thrown about 120 pitches. Canale gave me the look I was hoping someone would give me. So did Hank. So Canale went back in to pitch. It was crazy. But that’s why I loved this Team! Both my main chuckers that were at that game (Hank and Bull) were totally out of gas and they still wanted the ball. Both of “em did. I can’t tell you how proud I was.
BullOxen came in and threw the best inning he had thrown all season. Better than that inning he had thrown in relief at Quartz Hill.
He came in against their cleanup hitter…and struck that motherfucker out!
Then the five hole came up….and he struck that motherfucker out!!!!!!!
You people reading this need to understand something….he didn’t just strike these two bitches out…..he made them look like IDIOTS.
Right then…right there….was one of the proudest moments I have EVER had as a Manager. I’ll be honest with you now…there are a few tears in my eyes as I am writing this. Not because we got beat….but because I was so proud of the ballclub that day, the effort we gave. My two pitchers were both out of gas and they BOTH wanted the ball, plus I got everybody on the field out there SO READY for the ball to be hit to them that they all looked like GOALIES for a hockey team!
Canale then made the next hitter look like an idiot as well. He fooled the hitter…the guy made a check swing……….I don’t know if he hit the ball or if Canale’s pitch hit his bat but the ball the guy hit was a weak fly towards right field. If anybody was out there we win the game. I just remember seeing Sammy (sprained wrist and all) take off for that thing like he was being timed in the 40 yard dash. He came up about eight feet short. He was parallel to the ground when it fell in.
It was like a nightmare. They had about fifteen guys on the mound dogpiling. There was a huge dust cloud from all of the celebrating they were doing. I remember looking through that cloud of dust and seeing a couple of our guys helping Sammy off the ground.
It HURT. But I’ll say this….that game brought everyone together just as much if not more than all of the times WE had dogpiled that year.
I didn’t know what to say to anyone after the game. We gathered. I saw all of the faces. Disappointment. Anger. Every guy was totally fucking pissed. But we had left EVERYTHING we had out on the field that day. And like I said, I don’t think I had felt prouder of that Team as I did right then.
All I remember saying was “let’s just get the fuck outta here.”
There were no handshakes. I was just trying to get out of there. We all were. One of their parents said something to me on the way out. It took two or three guys to restrain me. He was out of line. We didn’t handshake because the emotions had run so high that day that “something’ would have happened……….we were just trying to get out of there.
Would I have gone after that guy today after what he said to me? I don’t know. But when you’re 30 years old (like I was at the time) and all full of piss and vinegar (which is a good thing) like I was….well, that’s what you do.
Both papers ran stories on this game. One of the stories you can still find on the Internet.
I went home. Did the stats. General was there. Hank, Weap, and a couple other guys stopped by. There wasn’t much talking. Long periods of silence were broken with someone saying the word “Fuck!!!”
Nobody really said much. Once in a while some guy in the room would stand up and say “God dammit”….walk outside….and just look off into the distance.
It HURT…yeah…..but we were more united than EVER after this one.
It’s no coincidence that the guys who came by “The Dome” that day ended up coaching with us. Hank, Weap, and BullOxen. And it’s no coincidence that every year we kept getting better. These guys NEVER forgot this game. And when we started dominating in ’92 it was that much sweeter for all of us. We had been through it all together that first year. And these guys were a big reason that no one EVER dogpiled on us again. They were a big reason a lot of great things happened for our Team in the future.
Again, Weap had nothing to do with the loss that day. That’s just how we roll at Verdugo. We electrify. We shock our opponents. We wear our emotions on our shirtsleeves. We don’t back down to anyone. We get caught up in the moment. It’s what we had created. It was this style of play that took us everywhere we went. And frankly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way…………
And while it happened ONLY ONE TIME in 94 games. One was too many. Even though we were down to eight guys when it happened………
AMERICAN LEGION : Winning Rally Ignites Celebration as Well as Opposing Coach’s Fuse
July 14, 1990|STEVE ELLING
Watch the open flames. This situation looks as combustible as the surrounding foothills, and Kelly Magee is playing with matches and lighting firecrackers.
Magee’s Verdugo Hills team lost to Woodland Hills East, 10-9, Sunday afternoon. Bad enough that East scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth. Doubly bad that East celebrated its win in spirited fashion.
Even worse, the game was lost when an East batter sent a two-out single into the hole in right field.
That’s right, right field.
Verdugo Hills’ Scott Anderson, the team leader in runs batted in, was ejected by the plate umpire for arguing a called third strike in the sixth inning, Magee said. No big deal, except that Verdugo Hills had already exhausted its complement of reserves.
Legion rules allow a team to continue playing with eight men, provided there had been nine players to open the game. Magee said he opted to continue playing with just two outfielders.
Verdugo Hills led, 8-0, after three innings, but the lead dwindled. Nevertheless, entering the bottom of the ninth Verdugo Hills still held a three-run lead. Eight was enough, it seemed.
But East rallied, scoring two runs on a double by Benji Belfield and then placing runners at second and third. Magee re-entered starting pitcher Josh Canale, who struck out the East’s Nos. 4 and 5 hitters, Jamie Zeichick and John Erganian. But Carey Wilbur’s base hit to right drove in the tying and winning runs, igniting a celebration by the East and near-combustion by Magee.
“They acted like they just won the damn World Series,” Magee said. “They should have beaten us. That last hit was a routine fly to right, we just didn’t get to it.”
But East got to Magee, to be sure.
“They were the loudest group of pop-offs I’ve seen all year,” Magee said. “I couldn’t believe it, they were out of control.
“We need a rivalry, and I think we just found one.”
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