Monday after work, the Dodgers played their arch rival, the Braves. The kids on both teams know each other and the Braves are coached by my friend, Pat L. A couple of Pat's players, including his son, play basketball with our boys in the fall and winter leagues. It's a definite rivalry for the boys.
Going into the game, J.P. and the Dodgers were 11-2. Their only losses had come at the hands of the Braves. Most recently, the Braves shut them out, 12-0, in what was by far the Dodgers' worst performance of the season. In my view, that game was indicative of the fact that the boys are slightly intimidated by the Braves and beat themselves before the game begins.
Early on Monday evening, it looked like it would be more of the same. The Dodgers went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning, then kicked the ball around the infield in the bottom of the first. After two innings, the Braves were on top 5-0 and even I was feeling a little discouraged. In the third inning, the Dodgers pushed across a couple of runs to make it 5-2, but things still weren't looking promising. Their defense had definitely improved, though.
Suddenly, in the to of the fourth inning, the Dodgers erupted for six runs. The highlight of the inning occurred when Wes T. hit a triple to right field that turned into a home run, when the ball got away from an infielder and I sent him scampering home. From my vantage point coaching third base, I looked into our dugout on the first base side of the infield. As Wes trotted in, the boys were screaming and yelling, hugging each other. They pounded Wes on the back and chest bumped him as he smiled bemusedly. That's just Wes.
The lowlight of the same inning was when one of our players - Aidan - was hit with the baseball square in the ribs off a relay throw as he hustled into third base with a legitimate triple. As Aidan rolled around on the ground crying, clutching his side, Pat yelled in from his coaches' spot in the field, "Tag him! Tag him!" Pissed, I yelled back, "Pat, you're the only coach in the league who would yell 'tag him!' when a player is on the ground injured."
By the end of the inning, the Dodgers had taken an 8-5 lead and the boys were jacked. In the bottom of the fourth inning, I had J.P. at second base, Aidan at pitcher, Benton at first base, Henry at catcher, Cooper at third base and Wes at catcher. My strongest infield or close to it, I figured. With two outs and runners on first and second, the batter hit a shot to third base. Cooper ranged to his left, fielded the ball cleanly and scampered back to step on third base for the third out of the inning. I looked at Cooper's dad (and my good friend), Russ, leaning over the fence on the third base line. He was proud and damn, I was, too.
I trotted across the infield and told the boys to listen up as I addressed them through the dugout fence. "Listen up," I said. "You're beating your friends' team by 3 runs in the last game of the season and you get to bat one more time! Let's get a couple of runs and finish these guys off!" George C. Patton I'm not, but the boys erupted in cheers. I walked back out to coach third base.
The first two players made outs, then Cyrus stepped in to hit. A little about my guy, Cyrus. He's the youngest player on the team at 7 years of age. He's also the quietest boy on the team, by far. He's also the most athletic, for my money, but he doesn't know it yet. His father, Isaac, played Division 1 basketball and Cyrus clearly inherited his natural athletic ability. Cyrus is also one of my all-time favorite boys.
Cyrus, a lefty who normally hits the ball the opposite way but not with authority, took a couple of practice swings, then leaned back in the box, ready to hit. He swung at the first pitch he saw and absolutely crushed the baseball. I mean, it actually sounded different coming off his red bat (which, by the way, is almost as big as Cyrus is). The ball sailed between the right and right center fielders, over their heads and rolled to the fence. Cyrus motored into the third base with a stand up triple. And the crowd went wild, as they say. I turned around, stunned, and looked at Isaac and Russ, and they were high fiving each other. I think I even got a little smile out of Cyrus when I slapped him on the helmet.
Davis got a single, knocked Cyrus in and the Dodgers were up 9-3 headed into the bottom of the fifth and last inning. I decided to play the infield the same as in the fourth inning. Why mess up a good thing?
As the inning was about to start and I stood in the first base dugout with my friends and fellow coaches, Randy and Will, I looked at them and said, "I know this won't sound right, but I want our boys to beat those bastards and go to school for the next week and a half (until school is out) with their chests puffed out, chins up, knowing they beat the best team in the league when no one thought they could do it."
The leadoff batter hit a shot to J.P. at second, just to his left. He moved over, calmly played a wicked hop and threw the runner out at first. Solid, solid play. They've got this thing, I thought. The Braves got a batter on base thanks to a short dribbler, then a hard hit ball got by Benton at first base. With men on first and third, the next batter struck out. Two outs. My heart pounding, I said to myself, "just get one more out. Now!"
The next batter hit a ball back to Aidan at pitcher. He bobble the ball for a critical split second, then threw it to Benton at first. It was a close play, but the ball beat the runner to the bag by a step, after which Benton tagged the runner, as well. Ballgame! As we all began to celebrate, Reynolds, the 18 year old umpire, came out from behind home plate quietly - almost ashamedly - signaled the runner safe at first.
Our fans erupted, shouting in dismay. Russ stormed down the left field line along the fence toward the outfield, afraid of what he might say. In the dugout, Randy, Will and I immediately began raising hell. I walked out on the field, still stunned but getting really, really angry, and said to Reynolds, "What was the call? What did you see?" He replied, without even looking at me, "The runner beat the ball." "That's the wrong call, Reynolds," I said. "You know that." "That's my call," he said. I turned around and walked back to the dugout, shaking my head in disgust.
Of course, the Braves rallied and tied it up 9-9 before the Dodgers were able to get the last out. After the game was over and the boys and coaches had shaken hands with each other, I walked up to Reynolds and said, quietly so no one else could hear, "You know I like you, Reynolds, but my boys worked too hard to have you blow a call like that at that point in the game." He looked directly at me and said, earnestly, "Phil, I'm an 18 year old umpire doing the best I can." I immediately felt like a complete asshole. "I know," I said.
The boys ran into left field, as they always do after games (and as they have been doing after games in which I've coached them for 3 or 4 years, in fall and spring). It's quite the ritual. 2 or 3 of them were crying as I got down on one knee and talked to them about the game. As always, there were lessons to be learned. Everyone makes mistakes was an obvious lesson, in terms of Reynolds' blown call. The biggest of the lessons, thought, was that they can compete with anybody at any time, on the baseball field or in life.
I was devastated and couldn't stop thinking about the game.
Still, the Zen moment for me was right before we put J.P. to bed, when he was in the bathroom and I said, "J.P., I really wanted to win that game for you guys tonight." He looked at me and said, nonchalantly, "that's funny, dad, because we wanted to win it for you."
I'll remember that stolen moment for as long as I live. Of course, I'll remember that game for as long as I live, too.
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