verdugo288

We came into this one at 14-2 and Notre Dame was 14-1. Verdugo never wins the BIG GAMES? Well this one was about as BIG as it gets. We took them DOWN, short-handed nonetheless, at THEIR YARD….and took over sole possession of first place in the Eastern Division.

One of the proudest moments of my ten-year coaching career.

Ivan had football commitments and was unable to be at this one. They threw a lefty at us anyways so it wasn’t the end of the world….but we had to move some guys around defensively in this one.

Kasey started and played the entire game at second base.

Dan Bir started and played the entire game in right field.

Yves played the entire game at third base.

And out roaming the tundra for us in Center? Cowsill……

Brendan hauled-in back-to-back fly balls for us in the second and also the fourth innings. These were not routine plays either. To make matters worse (and I don’t know if Jody arranged for this intentionally or not) but the outfield grass was about ankle deep. That’s a nice field. They usually wouldn’t allow the outfield grass to be that neglected. The infield grass was cut nice and short.

Maybe Jody was anticipating some Verdugo gappers off the Verdugo bats that some ultra long grass out there just might slow down? Hmmmm …I wouldn’t put it past him.

But he had the home field advantage that day and he can do what he wants. It didn’t matter.

Cowsill was making some long runs with some big loping strides through that deep grass to flag down some tough plays.

Even Jody mentioned it from the third-base coaching box in the 4th after “B” had flagged down another and made a great play. A frustrated Jody turned and shook his head and fired over at me “c’mon coach what’s that guy doing out there?” Insinuating “B” was being played out of position (which he was) …..

I calmly fired back “what’s he doing out there coach? From what I can see it looks like he’s killing ya!”

Our dugout erupted as Jody kept shaking his head but I wasn’t done…

“You know what that is out there Jody? That’s just a great athlete!”

Jody didn’t have a comeback for that one…..

Again….we continued to frustrate him.

Hack Workman went all the way. He picked up his 4th win of the year. It was a little rickety …we survived eight walks….but Hack kept pitching his way out of JAM after JAM after JAM. CLUTCH!!!!

We played brilliantly defensively. We played an errorless game. Turner made an incredible DIVING catch at first base on a line drive in the 5th.

The very next play Dave Fielder made one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever seen in my life when he got out in front of the plate to get a bunt and threw the runner out at first when his body was basically horizontal to the ground.

It was everything I loved seeing defensively. A lotta bodies flying around out there. Everybody giving it up and picking each other up. Bir hauled in a fly ball in right and Calf making a clutch play to end a bases/loaded threat on a ground ball in the third inning.

QUICK!!!! – PANTHER-LIKE!!!!

Offensively, they had held us to two hits after five innings. Calf singled in the third, and Fielder with a base-hit in the 4th.

We came to the plate in the top of the 6th in a scoreless tie.

Robb Turner turned on one and doubled down the third base line and into the left field corner. Haggs singled him to third, and Bull Oxen drove in Turner with a clutch base-hit.

1-0 Verdugo.

Thunder stepped in with one out and rocked one up the gap into right center and cleared the bases.

3-0 Verdugo.

Absolutely fucking CLUTCH.

Glenn Carson tripled for them leading off the inning in the bottom-of-the-6th. He later tried to score from third on a wild pitch but Thunder retrieved….flicked to Hack covering the plate….who layed a sweep tag on Carson.

The call could have gone either way. I’m just being honest here. But the umpire wound up and rang-him up!!!!

You can bet that right around this time there were a few guys including myself barkin’ out the words “Now that’s what I’m tawkin’ bout” from the Verdugo dugout.

Right????

Carson argued….Jody argued…..and about ten seconds later Carson was launched!!!!

They eventually scored ONE run that inning but left the bases loaded as Hack again got out of the jam.

We picked it up in the top of the 7th right where we left off. Hack doubled into right center. Turner doubled into right center.

4-1 Verdugo.

Canale drills a base hit and pretty much breaks it open.

5-1 Verdugo.

It didn’t matter how long the grass was in the outfield that day…..all those gappers we hit made it all the way TO THE WALL.

They loaded the bases again in the bottom-of-the-seventh with two out.

Their shortstop Ryan Stromsberg grounded out…..Haggs to Turner on a 3-2 pitch.

Verdugo ….that’s right ….VERDUGO HILLS was now in sole possession of first-place in the Eastern Division.

Let’s take a little inventory here. We just played a brilliant weekend of baseball. Possibly the weekend that defined us. We also just lost a guy who was leading the team in Home runs and RBI. Our 14 man roster was now 13.

We were 14-2….thus far putting together what many would consider at this point of the season to be a “masterful” year….yet we were still in SECOND PLACE.

I remember writing in this blog I was kind of annoyed they moved us back into this Division before the season began. The Eastern Division is without a doubt the toughest Division in the 20th District.

So put it in perspective. Not only were we doing well…..we were doing it in a vicious Division. Our backs were going to be a little bit against the wall though as we made this final run without Evans in the lineup.

But still…there were some silver-linings to Evans’ injury.

What? Wait a minute here Gee are you saying it was good that Evans went down?

HELL NO!!!! that’s not what I’m saying.

It flat-out sucked he went down.

But hear me out….

We had two guys that I juggled around all season up to the point of Lance’s injury. And when I say I “juggled them around”….I mean defensively. I had them in the starting lineup. I wanted their bats in there.

But I was playing them out of position. And I knew it. And they knew it. Hell….everybody knew it. But no one complained. I think everybody understood why….

Kirk Hagge is a shortstop. And a damn good one. And Dave Fielder is a catcher. And a damn good one, too.

When Evans went down, Haggs went to short. And Fielder went back behind the plate. Done.

Now…I had two guys who were playing in the positions on the field they were comfortable playing. This allowed those two guys to just “do what they do”….it freed them up.

And I think in a lot of ways it solidified us….especially defensively.

Losing a bat like the bat of Lance Evans hurt. Who was gonna hit third? Well, we mixed it up down the stretch. Lots of guys stepped into that 3-hole and did a great job.

Our 14 man roster just went to 13. One of the 13 guys is 14 years old.

We easily could have fallen apart….

But as we just saw over this last weekend, we pulled together. And it seemed no matter what was thrown at us…we continued to do so.

You’re gonna see as we go down the stretch how Hack, Turner, and Canale (who were already dominating) picked it up another notch. Our rookies stepped up big time. Guys like Wiley and Gabe were instrumental. Everybody participated in this. Everybody took it up a notch.

This is what was so magical about 1992.

Evans was hurt. He continued coming to every game. Sure , we all wanted to know “when” he could play again. It was looking like “maybe” if we made the playoffs…

That was something we had never done before.

We were now going through some unchartered waters. We had a hole in the boat. We patched it up and sailed forward.

As far as I was concerned …it only made the BIG games we were about to play in …and win…just that much BIGGER.

I know in the last post I mentioned the next game coming up was against FAT JODY.

It is….

But I’m also reading a story on us in the LA Times (which I will post at some point as well) that had us at 15-2 after we beat him.

So we went into the game against Jody at 14-2…..not 13-2.

I knew that somewhere during our schedule up to this point that we did take a game from Sunland-Tujunga on a forfeit. I just didn’t know exactly when it happened….so I’m adding in the “W” now….

And if I’m not mistaken….Sunland-Tujunga didn’t even finish their season. They disbanded at some point and handed over several games to whomever was scheduled to play them from that point forward on their schedule.

So we were not the only recipients of a free victory from these guys….

I’m sure Jody, Glendale, and Sun Valley also picked up a freebie from these guys.

I am just making this correction here regarding our won-loss record going into the upcoming game with Notre Dame.

This game reminded me of one of those cowboy movies where the whole bar just ERUPTS into a brawl. Guys smashing wooden chairs over each others’ heads and then they’d get up off the floor and do it right back to the other guy.

Just beating the hell out of each other. No gunfire….just a good ‘Ol brawl…where the last man standing picks up the win. I think every guy on the field had dirt all over his uniform after this one. What a fricken’ dogfight. I’d have paid money to watch this game.

We took some shots to be sure. Up against the ropes. Had us staggering a little bit at times. I think playing this one at Stengel weighed-in huge in our victory. Sun Valley always had a damn good team. And we had never beat ’em….until tonight. And they didn’t like it at all.

Verdugo 11 Sun Valley 10

It started simple enough. The Verdugo squad hanging out at our Saloon. All our horses there. Just minding our own business like always. A peaceful group of characters just taking a little break from a long journey…..

I’ve already done a post on this game from ten years ago. It’s Funny. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post. What I wrote there is kind of the sub-plot that was going on underneath the hood as this game unfolded.

I will condense that post a little bit here…I don’t want to go too deep into it. Suffice it to say that the pitcher they threw at us today threw very hard, he was cocky, he was overweight, and he beat us TWICE back in 1990. Yeah….we hated the guy.

And we knocked the shit out of him, too!!!!

Now…..I know I always make it sound like VERDUGO hit nothing but line-shots and the opposition hit chinkers, dunkers, and seeing-eye ground-balls. Yeah …I know.

(That’s pretty much the truth anyways)….

But these dudes hit some shots …they knocked us around a little bit …I give them credit….but we kept getting back up.

Between the two teams tonight there were 10 errors, six wild pitches, five passed balls. All kinds of guys getting thrown out on the base paths. And both teams were hitting SHOTS all over the yard.

The lead changed hands FOUR times. In the end, it was Sun Valley’s greed that cost them….coupled with a couple of huge plays from Hack Workman in centerfield and Dave Fielder from behind the plate gunning down a few of their runners.

I remember how it all began. Les Riley came walking into our Saloon with all his horses. I didn’t take too kindly to that. I looked him over and said “what the fuck are you doing here bitch?”

Les Riley ran the Sun Valley Team. Old white-haired Walrus looking guy. He had that Wilford Brimley thing going on. They always had a damn good team and always made the playoffs.

1992 was probably the first time in a long time they didn’t finish in first or second place in the Division.

But I’ve never seen a guy so aggressive with his baserunners. He was ALWAYS looking for another 90 feet…..and anyway he could get it. He was like Gordon Gecko….”greed is good”…..

When I say he “ran” that team….he “ran it” in more ways than one. They ran well and he knew that….and he kept the pressure on at all times, regardless of the score.

But you live by the sword (or “the chair” in the bar room brawl) ….. well….you die by it, too. And that’s what happened to Sun Valley this ball game. One could argue they beat us this night….but I say in this ballgame? Ol Les Riley ran them right out of the game….

Riley sized me up and said “it’s real simple boy….I’m here to kick your fucking ass!!”

I squinted my eyes and said “Oh yeah?” as I got up from my chair. I slowly lumbered across the Saloon in my Sunday bests, my ten-gallon black Stetson and my snakeskin boots.

I got to him and wasted no time at all….busting him in the chops with a brutal uppercut….and knocking his sorry ass to the floor…

And after that….let’s just say “it was on”

Lance Evans was scheduled to throw this game but as we know he went down with an injury against Glendale. I gave the ball to Vo.

Vo came out and threw a scoreless first, including picking off a runner at first who had singled.

In the 2nd…..They sent nine guys to the plate against us and rolled a five. They had four hits and many of them were shots….

The guy in their two-hole doubled in two that made it 5-0. Up came Marlon McKinney. Their shortstop and (really) a great player. Marlon singled and here was the first sign of the Sun Valley greed we saw. Riley sent the guy who had just doubled and Hack Workman blew him down at the plate from centerfield to end the inning.

What had started out as a friendly little fist-fight had quickly escalated into a full-on BRAWL!!!! I couldn’t believe it when they crossed the line and started smashing a lot of our guys with chairs!!! A lotta busted wood all over the floor after that exchange ….holy shit!!!!

When I saw several of our guys reelin’….I realized it was ON!!!! I had to act quick…

I was behind the bar at the time and quickly started tossing whiskey bottles to you guys!!!!! No empties either!!!! I must have handed out at least three dozen of them as you guys got up off the floor and started slinging ’em around….busting them in the heads with ’em between the punches we were delivering!!!!

The tide kind of turned when that went down. We came up in the bottom half of the inning and answered with a five of our own ….tying the score at 5.

We sent nine guys to the plate, too. Although we only had one hit and Sun Valley made THREE errors that inning, We were still hitting the ball HARD….and getting in their chucker’s head.

Damn straight!!!! They took those shots to their collective heads with the whiskey bottles we were wielding and smashing into their noggins!!!! Knocking their asses down and yelling at ’em “GET UP BITCH!!!!”

We took the lead in the bottom-of-the-fourth when Robb Turner singled and Ivan Moreno tripled him in. Ivan later scored an another Sun Valley error.

7-5 Verdugo.

We added another run on a walk to Haggs and he got around on a stolen base, a wild pitch, and scored when their catcher made another error.

8-5 Verdugo.

They were staggering….taking shot after shot as we hit them repeatedly with chairs…bottles….pool sticks….we were hitting them with just about anything our hands could find!!!!

Vo was on a little roll. After they rolled the five on him in the second he shut them out the next three innings.

But Sun Valley is a feisty ball club. They rolled a four to take a 9-8 lead in the 6th. We were in trouble. Vo didn’t finish the inning and I gave the ball to Cowsill with one out and a runner at second.

Vo did a great job. He kept us in it and I was overall very pleased with his performance.

It was a bullshit maneuver they pulled…..I saw the whole thing!!!! one of their guys who was half knocked-out somehow struggled to his feet and he got a rope around about seven of our guys and they all started punching us!!!! A total bullshit maneuver!!!!

This shit was getting out of control….and I’d be lying to ya if I told ya I wasn’t thinking at this point “where the HELL is Rusty Fielder when you need him?!?!?!”

But “B” came in and got a ground ball out against McKinney, then struck out their clean-up hitter to end the inning. CLUTCH!!!!

Then I heard that big rope snap….two big hands had snapped it in half!!!! All our guys broke loose….and I couldn’t believe it when he emerged from the pile….both of his hands on each end of that broken rope!!!! as soon as I saw his smiling face I knew it was him….

RUSTY!!!!

I knew we had a chance now….

And you gotta remember….once this brawl had broken out we had their chucker up against a wall in the corner of the bar with about six of our guys just taking turns punching him!!!! I’m talking unanswered shots!!!! The problem was….he wouldn’t go down!!!!

In the top of the 7th Brendan struck out three more, and stranded the guy at second base who had doubled against him.

Finally we did what we had to do. About ten of our guys rolled that old bar room piano away from the wall. They all got behind it and ran full speed….sliding it across the floor full-bore and into their chucker!!!! Smashing him into the wall where he finally went down!!!!

Hot damn!!!! you should have seen the look on that dudes face when that old out-of-tune piano went into him!!!!

One of my proudest moments for sure when I saw it go into him. No doubt about it at all !!!!

Cowsill led off the bottom of the 7th with a SHOT up the gap for a double. HAGGS then ripped a base hit….knocking their fat-ass pitcher out of the game for the night. That’s’ when that piano hit him!!!!

Our dugout was all over his ass when Riley came out to the mound and pulled him. You gotta read the link at the bottom of this post to see what happened!

Dave Fielder stepped up and greeted their new pitcher with another base hit….scoring Cowsill and tying the game. Gabe grounded out to second…scoring Haggs and we were back in the lead.

Fielder eventually scored what would be the decisive run when Hack Workman struck out. You say what?

Yeah…..they got old Hack on strikes but the third strike got away from the catcher….he had the ball in time….but Hack was hustling and their catcher hurried his throw to first ….and promptly fired it into right field!!!!

11-9 Verdugo.

What a bar room brawl!!!!

You also gotta remember while you guys were out on the main bar room floor mixing it up….’Ol Les Riley and I were back behind the bar beating the absolute shit out of each other. We were both pretty bloodied-up at this point, too. But I ended up getting him!!!!

Sun Valley scored a run in the top of the eighth. A lead off walk….a passed ball….and a sacrifice bunt had their runner at third with two out.

McKinney drove one up the gap in left center making it 11-10.

Once again the greed of Sun Valley came into play. McKinney’a drive was a double. A text-book gapper. He ran well….yeah….but Les pushed the envelope a little too far and waved him towards third….trying to stretch it into a triple. Hack came up with it and fired to Hagge who then fired to Turner who laid the tag on McKinney at third TO END THE INNING.

Huge play!!

Their clean-up hitter was on-deck. McKinney was already in scoring position with the double. Bad move Les.

This was right around the time Moreno….who was halfway up a staircase fighting-off about six of their guys leaped from the staircase and down onto a well-placed chandelier where he grabbed it with both hands and swung above the main bar room floor….kicking a couple of their dudes in the head…..and knocking them out…at least temporarily. It was a gutsy move he made….risky…..one I’m not so sure I’d have tried myself…..But it was clutch and definitely turned the tide.

We threatened in the eighth…loading the bases with one out but GABE hit a line shot into a double play. Great at-bat for GABE. Hit it right on the screws. Shit happens….

We needed three outs. It’s 11-10

Sun valley’s clean-up hitter led off with a base hit. (A base hit that would have scored McKinney has Les not pushed the envelope)

The next hitter reached base on a fielders choice. He then stole second base.

First base was open and I put the next guy on. Crazy move but I did it.

Once again….the Sun Valley greed came into play. Les tried to steal third when the guy was already in scoring position.

Fielder blew him down. Thanks again Les. Two down.

That’s right around the time I finished Riley off. He had me in a chokehold …about to crack me in the head with another whiskey bottle. I was in trouble. I’m not proud of it….but I did what any man would have done in that situation. Somehow I got ahold of his jersey and pulled it over his head….rendering him sightless…I then grabbed a pool stick by the skinny end and swung for the fences. I think I may have messed up one of his eye sockets on that one….but finally ‘Ol Les Riley went down for good when it connected!!!!

The next hitter grounded out. Haggs to Moreno. 6-3 if you’re scoring. It’s over.

We swarmed the field after the final out. A lotta bad blood….a lotta words exchanged….an absolute knock-down-drag out BRAWL…..but no gunfire.

Except….you could still see if you looked closely enough on the field a few little wisps of smoke trickling away into the sky. Smoke that was still lingering from the Verdugo arms that had GUNNED down the reckless Sun Valley runners on the base paths!!!!

What a brawl. Broken shit everywhere. Finally….the knocked-out bodies of the Sun Valley posse were scattered all over the floor. The dust had finally settled, and Verdugo had all the last men standing……barely.

By Monday morning that bar had already sent me a bill asking for about $30,000 in damages. I told ’em to pound sand!!!! They’re still trying to settle this thing in court to this very day!!!!

The message to Sun Valley was clear. NOT IN OUR SALOON!!!!

So what do you do when you’ve got the last men standing and the opposition is scattered all over the floor? You calmly walk over ….give them a good swift kick to the head and sit down and finally have yourself a drink!!!!

Link: https://verdugo288.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/fat-bitch-gets-his-bra-knocked-off-twice-part-one/

Next up? FAT JODY

This is the kind of game I like to see. Some great pitching, great defense, some clutch-hitting and the BLAZING SPEED of Josh Canale.

We put it all together and sent-em packing. Shutting them out, sweeping the twin-bill, and pretty much putting them out of the playoff-picture.

Hack pitched a great game….going all the way on 90 pitches. He scattered four hits and struck out two.

Glendale only had six hits against us in the two games today.

Hack led-off for us with a base hit and stole second base. Haggs drove him in to get us on the board on a clutch base-hit with two outs.

In the third…we got to see the blazing speed of Josh Canale. I had personally been holding him back all day. We all know what he can do when we “turn him loose”… right?

At this stage of the game you could just see how loose we were. We were making it look easy. Glendale was clearly pressing and getting frustrated.

Ivan stroked a base-hit with one out in the third. Bull came up and singled him over to third.

Brendan Cowsill hit a big high chopper to third and I sent Ivan. He beat the throw to the plate making it 2-0 Verdugo.

Their catcher and everybody was arguing the call and not paying attention and Bull just kept on-a-chugging and advanced 180 feet on that play. Bull and I kinda smiled at each other when he wound up at third after that one.

Bull was a little winded…yeah….but I still needed to let Glendale know what he was capable of with his blazing speed.

They were imploding. It was time.

First and third. We needed a play to demoralize. I had Cowsill leave early from first when their pitcher was in the stretch.

Bull was bouncing down the line and I sent him while the pitcher was off the mound out towards second base not knowing what to do with Cowsill.

Bull and I timed it perfectly. Yeah…the blazing speed of Josh Canale had struck. And Bull Oxen had just stolen home plate!!

To make matters worse their pitcher in a fit of confusion FIRED the ball to their catcher as Canale slid in safely and easily beat the throw.

The only problem for Glendale was that he FIRED IT right over their catchers head all the way to the backstop.

A smiling “B” ended up on third. The damage was done. It was only 3-0 but Glendale had officially imploded.

We added another in the fourth when Dave Fielder came up and short-hopped the wall in the left-center gap for a triple. An absolute SHOT.

Calf stepped up and drove him in with a clutch base-hit that made it 4-0.

They were done. We closed it out and made it look easy.

A high-towering pop fly was hauled in by Robb Turner at first base for the final out and it was official: Verdugo had just SWEPT Glendale.

We had two special guests in our dugout before this game ended. And you know our rule at Verdugo. NOBODY GETS IN OUR DUGOUT….

The first visitor? Lance Evans. I’m guessing around the fourth or fifth inning he climbed down into our dugout from the stands at Stengel sporting a cast. He was welcomed into the dugout. We were all happy to see him but down to hear he had a small fracture in his left arm.

How can you not love that as a coach? The guy breaks his arm and returns to the field…..

The other visitor? It came right before we threw the first pitch in the top-of-the-seventh inning. He walked right into our dugout like he owned it.

Gabe ….(yeah GABE) actually stood up when this guy walked in and said in the traditional Verdugo “gravelly” voice “GET OUT OF MY DUGOUT!!!!” As he looked this guy in the eyes.

We looked over and called Gabe off him. The guy looked at me as if to say “dang you guys are mighty territorial”….

We all laughed as we called Gabe off. I think I said to the guy “sorry….never mind that man behind the curtain!”

Gabe sat back down and smiled and said “sorry I didn’t know he was allowed in here”

How can you not love that as a coach? Huh?

Anyways ….the guy?

Spiro.

Yeah….Spiro. He came in….walked over to our Gatorade cooler and grabbed one of those little paper cups and filled himself up a cool one.

He looked at me and said “you guys showed us the way today coach….congratulations…great job”

The game wasn’t over. We DID get the final three outs. And we DID celebrate.

He spent a few minutes in the dugout with us and said a lot of nice things….to everybody. He was congratulating us. He wasn’t just going through the motions either. He was sincere.

That meant a lot to me.

How can you not love that as a coach? You break an opposing coaches back (and spirit) and he comes over and congratulates you….

This day meant a lot to all of us. Officially there was a new bully on the block.

Glendale didn’t make the playoffs in ’92. Or ’93.

We ended up in control of Stengel Field. The City of Glendale Parks and Recreation guy named Bob McCay awarded us the field for ’93 because he felt we took better care of it than the Glendale Program did.

This was the beginning of the unraveling of the beach-head they had established regarding American Legion Baseball for many many years. They had the elite program in our area for a very long time.

It took us a little over two years to dismantle that. It’s kind of ironic this game was played on Independence Day.

They had great coaches. Great players. And a great program.

And to this day? There’s only one guy we ever let in our dugout.

Spiro…

We all loved him and respected him, too.

Thanks coach for “getting into our dugout” that day….and your kind words. It meant a lot to us all.

Everything that went down on July 4, 1992 was meaningful. Even at times…touching. The kind of moments where as a coach you want to wipe that proverbial little tear away from one of your eyes with one of your index fingers….

But we ain’t got time for any of that shit! Cause we got another BIG GAME coming up!

And as we all too well know….Verdugo never wins the BIG games? Right?

Sun Valley at Stengel….Sunday night.

And if you haven’t seen one hell of a bar-room brawl on a baseball field….you’re about to!

There’s territory out there everybody’s fighting for!!!! And Sun Valley was about to find out …. you better not bring a knife to a gun fight!

They’ve done it!!!!

Ever had that happen when you’re spinning the dial on your radio trying to get the station to tune-in while you drive?

You can kinda hear the song…sometimes “bam” it comes in and you’re good. Other times the song comes in crystal clear for maybe four or five seconds and then goes back to static.

That’s what the walk to the parking lot was like for me anyways between games in this double-header.

The song? Spiro

He was over there addressing his team in the left-field foul territory area as all our guys walked out into the parking lot to get some hot dogs and a coke. Jess Rogers was out there cooking ’em up….he was even wearing an apron!!!!

Anyways ….I could see he was talking to them. But I couldn’t hear “the song” you know?

Not that I cared what he was saying….but it was all static….but I could hear his voice. There was a “sweet-spot” in the reception that covered maybe 5-6 steps. As I walked through that sweet spot ….Spiro’s “song” came in chrystal-clear. All I heard him say was “I mean….you guys just lost to a guy who drank 35 beers last night!”

I caught that part of it and then I got “out of range” and it all went back to static. I never broke stride….and that was all I heard….

Hey at least I got to hear the part of the song I wanted to hear….right?

And it’s funny. Between the games and even before the games and after the games we played today one could see (if they were looking) the differences in our programs.

The Glendale Team over there taking a knee and gathering around one of their coaches after the first game.

Our guys? We were all milling around in the parking lot. Having a dog. Having a coke. We took about two minutes where we were all together and burning a fungo and laughing. Some guys toasting each other….certainly Henry doing some “play-by-play” and re-living all the heartbreaking moments that had just gone down for Glendale.

That’s just how we roll at Verdugo.

Our “between-games” ritual probably looked more like a Friday night backyard party with people milling about with those red plastic cups and a keg….right?

I was probably out in the parking lot 5-10 minutes. We burned the fungo…smiled a lot…I told Parque to “be ready” which I had to keep telling him all day….

I made my way over to Kasey and Bir and let them know they were starting in game two and that was about it….I was heading back to the dugout. Probably smoking a cig…..

I’m not saying the way we ran things was better than Glendale or how they ran things were better than what we did.

But if anyone was paying attention. The differences in how both teams roll was on full display on this 4th of July day 1992.

If I was a free-agent sitting in the stands looking to get signed by somebody and I was watching this game? Personally….I’d be thinking…”I think I’d rather play for those dudes in the first-base dugout for sure!”

I was all jacked up and both teams were as well when finally the Umpire said the words “Play Ball!”

All I know is I had my grittiest, nastiest guy throwing for us so my attitude was “come whatever may” as I walked out to the third base coaching box.

We had a long hot day ahead of us and I distinctly remember making a conscious decision to sweat it out right with you guys! I was sportin’ the Nike high tops with the laces untied….the nylon basketball warm-ups covering my skinny white legs….the Verdugo cap and a big heavy BLACK sweatshirt!

Hell yeah!!!! No regrets whatsoever either as the day wore on!!!!

With one out in the first, Robb Turner reached base on an error. Evans hit it hard….but right at their left-fielder for the second out.

Canale laced a base-hit sending Turner to third.

And here was the first sign of respect ….and maybe even FEAR we got from the Glendale Team. They had never seen this guy. At least not playing for us.

I was standing about 30 feet from their dugout and I heard someone say “whoa who the fuck is THAT dude?”

Then I heard the familiar voice of Spiro. He said to his pitcher as if to warn him “Big Cat now….Big Cat”

Yeah….Moreno.

Let’s take a second and translate what Spiro just said ….

He basically was saying “fuck look at the size of THAT DUDE”

Moreno strode up ….settled in and the first pitch he lined a base-hit that put us on the board 1-0.

That’s all we got but it sent a message.

We all know what happened in the second inning. They scored a couple of runs and smashed into Evans….breaking his arm. We didn’t know how badly he was hurt until the next inning. He actually hit again and fouled out to the catcher.

He made a couple of bad plays defensively. Not because he was blowing it but because he was hurt bad….. and finally went down and we had to take him out of the game. He ended up going to the Hospital. Gabe came in and played the rest of the ballgame for us in right field.

I was all over the umpires for not ejecting the guy who mowed Evans down. The umpire made the right call when he called both their baserunner and the hitter out for an inning-ending double play….but no ejection. I couldn’t believe it. We trailed 2-1 after two.

We shifted Haggs to short. Thunder came in from left field and caught. And we moved Ivan from right field to left.

On the mound…..Bull got on a roll. They didn’t score again until they picked-up an unearned run against him in the bottom-of-the-seventh inning to send it into extra innings.

Bull was nasty all day. He went all the way and gave up only two hits …struck out seven (including their big-gun Nate Dishington THREE times) and gave up only one earned run. And he did it with a massive hang-over.

He just kept battling. And so did our bats. We may have only scored five runs but we had some GREAT at-bats. I’m gonna mention ’em too.

Yves from the nine-hole in the second inning hitting a line SHOT base hit. It sent another message.

Robb Turner lining out HARD in the third inning. Another message sent.

We came up to hit in the top-of-the fourth. With one-out, Kirk Hagge had a great at-bat where he fouled off a couple of 3-2 pitches and drew a walk. This was a great fucking at-bat. Haggs really battled for that walk.

That set the stage.

Brendan Cowsill stepped in ….and promptly LAUNCHED the first pitch into the back-half of the wash over the left field fence at Stengel. It was one of those home runs where as soon as he hit it you knew.

You can’t hit a ball much harder than he hit that one.

That put us up 3-2.

We were competing hard. When “B” rounded third he gave a very serious look right into the eyes of their third baseman. Haggs was jogging down the line between third and home ….taking his time….jogging backwards for jusssssssst a few steps….jusssssst long enough for the Verdugo swagger to be on display ….and allow “B” to almost catch up to him…..have both of his hands slap against “B’s” hands ….and then turn back around so as not to piss anyone off before they both crossed the plate.

It was a beautiful sight. Couldn’t have choreographed it more beautifully…..

But that home run? Massive. CLUTCH.

Right after Cowsill’s homer Thunder steps in and hits a SHOT for a base-hit.

Another message sent.

Later in the same inning…..Robb Turner fouled-off three pitches with the count 2-2 before grounding out HARD to end the inning. Another great fucking at-bat. Another message sent.

We were battlin’!!!!

We didn’t score in the sixth inning but still had a great at-bat from Dave Fielder. He fouled off three pitches with the count full before being called out on strikes. Another great at-bat.

Like I said earlier ….we gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh that sent it into extra innings.

Not one look of panic from any of our guys when we came off the field. When I saw the look in everyone’s eyes….I liked our chances.

At that point in the game, Glendale had three runs…..on one hit. And they knew it. Josh had given up a second-inning double…and that was it. He was dominating them.

We came up to hit in the top-of-the-eighth. Once again Spiro warned his pitcher.

“Big Cat now….Big Cat.

Yeah….Moreno.

Ivan ripped a base-hit.

I had Haggs bunt….yeah I was playing for a run …

Haggs lays down a beauty. Hustling and battling down the line to put enough pressure on the pitcher to make a hurried throw to pull the first baseman off the bag. Haggs is safe at first!!!

Yeah….we were battlin’!!!!

Up steps Cowsill. He rips a line-shot base-hit to left…

Yeah I’m waving Moreno home…..

Frank Taormina overruns the base-hit….it goes under his glove and Cowsill’s base hit goes all the way to the wall!!!!

I’m windmilling everybody. Haggs made it home and scored…..after a horrific collision with their catcher….but still hadn’t touched the plate. Haggs…..half-knocked out somehow rolls over and gets his hand on the plate ahead of the tag!!!!

Yeah we were battlin’!!!!

It’s 5-3 Verdugo.

I have no idea what happened but somehow “B” was still at first base after all this. Maybe he went down making the turn from first to second and had to retreat back. I don’t know…..

It didn’t matter because Fielder stepped up and hit a seed into the left-field corner for a double that WOULD HAVE cleared the bases even if Cowsill’s base hit hadn’t gotten past Taormina.

Another message sent.

They finally stopped us with the bases loaded but we still led 5-3.

Glendale picked up a lead-off single in the bottom-of-the-eighth.

Tying run at the plate.

Dishington….

Canale blows him down for the third time swinging on a 2-2 pitch!

Next hitter reaches base on a fielder’s choice.

Our dugout is on our feet. Calm….but we were all standing.

The count goes to 3-1….

The batter hits a routine fly to right. Gabe is under it…..

The dugout emptied as it hovered…..hovered….and hovered…all of us jogging towards Gabe out in right as it came down….

We stayed in foul territory and went into a full sprint straight at him at the exact moment he hauled it in!!!!

This was the weekend that was about to define us. A Saturday twin-bill against Glendale at Stengel, a nine-inning Sunday night game against Sun Valley, and Fat Jody on Wednesday.

We had juggled the pitchers so we had Bull in game one against Glendale. My plan was to go with Hack in game two regardless of what happened in game one. I felt that the hitters from Glendale/Hoover may have seen Hack in some Babe Ruth Tournament games in the past (?) but apart from that they probably hadn’t seen much of him since he was at Saint Francis.

I didn’t want to give Spiro the opportunity to get in Lance’s head either while he pitched for us. Not that anyone could get in his head….but if anyone could….it would be Spiro. Spiro had a way with words didn’t he?

Evans would get the ball Sunday night against Sun Valley….and the Fat Jody game could have been a committee or Cowsill or even Vo….who knows? It’s one of those bridges you cross when you get there.

What mattered now is Glendale. Coming into this one Glendale was 9-3 and we were 10-2.

And the build-up to this one was pretty heavy….at least until everybody finally got to the field. Many players from both teams ran into one another at a party the night before this game. Some “good-natured” trash-talk exchanged from what I heard.

Hopefully you guys out there reading this will pitch-in on your recollections of this weekend….

Both teams seemed confident that they were going to ruin the other teams’ Fourth-of-July….

Canale and Turner arrived in style. Turner getting out of the car bare-footed and wearing only a pair of Levi’s.

A beer can fell out of the car landing near Turner’s feet.

Just looking at these two guys …. I could FEEL their hangovers. I didn’t have to say anything.

They both started saying as they smiled “Don’t worry Gee ….we got this”

Whew….

But ya know around this time some guys from Glendale were arriving as well. They weren’t moving too quick either.

I was like….”okay they’ve been partying too”

I got out on the field and who is gonna do the field prep? I saw Spiro and Marcel standing around and we just kinda all pitched in. Players, coaches.

I remember standing around the mound for a bit while somebody was raking it.

Not much was said. Spiro was chattering away…..doing some comedy radio play-by-play calling a horse race he had recently seen that had a few people chuckling.

I didn’t wait for anyone to tell us what dugout was for who. We just laid our stuff down on the first base side. I actually WANTED that dugout. I honestly didn’t give a shit.

Slowly but surely….one-by-one ….everyone from both sides arrived. No trash talking …pretty laid back. We went through our rituals and they went through theirs.

We had all FOURTEEN of our guys there. One of our guys was 14 years old! I was counting the Glendale bodies….they had all Eighteen there.

BIG GAME? you better believe it! Nice crowd on hand too for this one.

But remember ….Verdugo? Yeah ….they’re good….but they never won the BIG GAMES…..

Right?

The umpires arrived….Marcel and I swapped our line-up cards….made a couple of small jokes and said our “good-lucks” to one-another, and before we knew it….it was time to play ball.

The North Hollywood game was really the last complete game Lance played for us.

I’m looking at the scorebook and his last six games with us he was 12-23 at the plate with four home runs and 15 RBI.

He was on an absolute TEAR.

Rightfully he made the All-Star Team. Even though he missed the last 11 games of the regular season for us…..he still led the team in RBI with 21, and in home runs…with four.

Even with his cast on…..after his injury against Glendale…..He was at every game. We all awaited his return. It almost happened. And “kinda did” in the playoff game against Chatsworth.

We all just wanted to see him back again without the cast…..

There were many “moving” events in this season. As a coach you see them. Younger guys coming of age….guys you never thought would see step-up who step up. This season was absolutely FILLED with them. I try to point out as many as I can.

I witnessed maybe more things like that just in this one season that many coaches witness in their entire career(s)….

I can’t pick any one that was “the greatest” because there were so many. And it wouldn’t be fair. All those moments are special.

But I’ll never forget Lance Evans. He pitched in a playoff game with a cast wrapped around his left arm. Bare-handing the return throw from our catcher.

It was National League rules in the playoffs. He had to hit for himself.

It was a little rickety at first. Swinging with one arm….he grounded into a fielders choice….

He came up a second time and drew a walk….

His final at-bat for Verdugo….this guy stroked a line drive base-hit to right field IN A PLAYOFF GAME AGAINST A VERY GOOD PITCHER while holding the bat in only his right hand.

If that doesn’t get the hairs on the back of your neck standing up….I don’t know what else could….

To Lance?

Thank you for what you did for us in a Verdugo Uniform. On the field…and on the sidelines.

Most of the bad blood I was worried about was gone by the time we met on the field. I went over to their side before the game and greeted a happy and smiling Mel as we exchanged lineup cards.

“How are ya today Magee?” He asked as he shook my hand

“Guarded in my optimism coach…I’m just hoping we can get through this one without you trying something …..ILLEGAL AS HELL”

That broke the ice and we had a good laugh and I even spoke to a few of their players and swapped some smiles with them. I think everything was pretty much chilled out.

Sometimes you have to do that as a coach. Try to smooth the waters with the other side…..other times as a coach you let the water boil. It just depends on the situation.

As I said a few posts ago….I wasn’t too worried about these guys. Our team was angry enough. If we were playing Jody I would have been throwing gas on that fire. Different situation here. I actually did try to chill things down before the game with everybody from both sides.

The only thing though that still hadn’t chilled out was …..the Verdugo BATS!!!!

Workman led off with a single.

Turner doubled him to third.

Evans picked up an infield single that loaded the bases.

Canale doubled in two.

Fielder squeezed in Evans making it 3-0.

Hagge came up and went DEEEEEP….a two run shot.

It’s 5-0 Verdugo after six batters…..

It ended after six innings due to the mercy rule: Verdugo 14 North Hollywood 4

We never trailed in this one…..

Josh Canale may have Picked up an infield single with his blazing speed to end our scoreless second inning.

Maybe. I can only go by what the scorebook says. And Nancy was handling it that day. And I have always trusted her judgement. All it says is “6-3″…..but written across the top in capital letters she did add in the letters “BFC”….

I will leave it up to you, the reader of this post ….to interpret what exactly that acronym just might stand for ….

Dave Fielder walked and scored for us in the second inning. He also mowed down another guy trying to steal on him at third back in the first inning.

Lance Evans went yard again. His fourth of the season in the fourth inning.

This is the only time I’ve ever seen “ejected” in our scorebook when I just can’t remember what happened. Thunder was launched in the bottom of the fourth. We were on the field. Something went down…I can’t remember. Anybody remember ? Thunder?

All I know is this….anytime a Verdugo player or coach gets ejected …..Verdugo is always justified in their actions!!!! We really need no explanations!!!!

Vo threw a great game. Giving up three hits and only ONE earned run. 97 pitches. It was Vo’s fourth victory of the season for us.

Leading 7-3 in the top of the fifth…Brendan Cowsill led-off with a walk and eventually scored on Ivan Moreno’s base hit. Moreno eventually scored on Robb Turners groundout, making it 9-3 Verdugo.

The top of the sixth we continued to dominate. Lance Evans drove home two runs and Bull followed up with a double of his own that drove in two more.

Evans led the offense with three hits and three RBI and Bull doubled twice and drove in four.

Yves Brancheau rounded out the offense with a base hit as well.

I cannot remember either what field this game was played at. It was a very cool field. We had never played there before and never did again. Mel arranged for the field as this was their “home game” against us….but it was not played at North Hollywood High.

I will eventually remember and try to update here when I do.

We didn’t sweep Lancaster-North as I had hoped….but we swept North Hollywood as I anticipated so we came through this “four-game mini-season at 3-1.

I really wanted to go into the double-header against Glendale at 11-1….

But 10-2 ???

I was happy.

Blazing Speed!!!!