No matter how long you play this beautiful game of baseball - and the majority of the guys involved in Tuesday''s Marlins vs. Damn Yankees game in the 55s have been doing it for years - you can just never quite figure out for sure how things are going to end up. In football, basketball and those "other" sports with a clock, there are oftentimes several ticks remaining in a game when you can put a fork in it; when the game really IS over, and the fat lady can safely sing. But good ole Abner got it right with baseball by making teams play until the last out.
There was a post on this website not too long ago by Rob Currier about how his 35s Bears took a licking to the tune of 38-2 against the Indians. It stirred up the usual talk of tinkering with the mercy rules, gamesmanship, sportsmanship, and it generally livened up the bulletin board blog. But the sun did indeed come up the next day, and before long the Bears rebounded with a win over the Diamondbacks and the CDMSBL world was a better place again.
The Damn Yankees were destined for the same fate last night at Central Park in Schenectady, although they took the field more closely resembling Walter Matheau's Bad News Bears. They fell behind 7-0 to the Platinum Marlins before a single out had even been made. Bad body language took on a whole new meaning when the bell rang to end the first round of a nightmare opening inning, sending the pinstripers staggering to the bench. The Yanks were down for the count. It had all the makings of a unanimous decision, and fodder for another mercy rule discussion.
But this is a Yankees team that only has to look to one side of the dugout and see Matt Kelly gutting it out to make his way back from a personal loss last year that would break many a man, and glance to the other side to see Tom Bradley, who is presently waging a personal war with colon cancer, making the rounds to each player to pat them on the back and tell them to keep their head up. Tom doesn't have the physical strength to play, but he drags himself to the field to coach first base and to be around his teammates. His presence alone is an inspiration, and a reminder to each of us how lucky we are to still be playing this game.
So the Yankees start making plays in the field behind their gladiator pitcher John Weber. They jab for two in the second, cross for two more in the third, land a hook for a fifth run in the 4th and go to an uppercut in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8. Neither team is able to land a punch in a cleanly-played seventh inning, but the Yankees delivered what they thought was the knockout in the top of the 8th with a three-spot for an 11-8 lead. Ahhh, but here is where Yogi looks down with the smile we've all grown to love, and you can hear him say, with a wagger of his finger, "it aint over..."
You see, these Marlins are not just your average old men playing the game of baseball. These are weathered veterans of the game who have combined for more CDMSBL individual accolades and team championships than any other group ever assembled in this league. To get a win from these warriors, Weber would have to navigate his way past no fewer than seven Hall of Famers (Girard, Caputo, Ansel, McQuade, Jackson, Reel and Treece). They scrape together two quick runs to make it 11-10. With one out, Girard and Caputo reach on errors and pull off a courageous double steal. They can smell the blood, and sense the opponent is fading. The tying run is now 60 feet away and the winning run on second base with still two outs to spare.
And here is where the game of baseball is so gloriously unpredictable.
The first 37 batters to face Weber all avoided going down via the strikeout, making contact each time to force the Yankees to make plays. So, of course, Weber notches his first strikeout of the game for out No. 2, and elects to intentionally walk Ansel (who already had three hits off him) to give the defense a force at any base. He runs the count to 3-2 on the next batter, and with darkness starting to blanket Central Park, he gets a swinging strike on a curve ball in the dirt to end the game. A friggin breaking ball! With a full count. And the bases loaded. And the game on the line. You can't make this stuff up. It's what keeps me coming back.
These two teams will go at it again on Friday. It will be a tough one to top.
-- Edited by adtimbrown on Wednesday 6th of July 2016 07:34:33 AM
good story, tim. you got it right. baseball is gloriously unpredictable and your yanks-marlins game lived up to that billing.
thank you for telling us, and reminding us, about the stout marlins, and by extension, your yanks, the talented john weber and the very brave matt kelly and tom bradley.
the presence, or simply the knowledge of each, lifts us all.
and we wouldn't have that knowledge if you didn't record it.
All that needs to be said is that is the perfect pitch to end the game on. The batter will never know it is coming and if you trust your stuff it will work out just like it need. I will throw any pitch at anytime in any situation if I think the batter is looking for something else
Well reported Tim. This one truly wasn't decided until the last pitch. Your team showed true grit, and will have this memory to talk about around the coolers for years to come. We are all truly better for playing in this game. God, I love this game!
It was a beautiful game, and we were lucky to be part of it. What an essay! Gave me chills. From the heart. Those strikeouts were fantastic, and that last pitch was beyond description. Cool under pressure, and after two plus hours of pitching in a heated contest in which Web also contributed three nice hits at the plate. Way to go, Web! Way to go, Yanks!
