ah, those one-run losses. i don't know how many the peppers have this year, but memory says it's about 5 or 6.
quick petition to kevin jackson: for the playoffs, we want to add one more player, if we may: his name is mariano rivera. (wonder if he'll work for free red peppers?)
like jimmy p., i'm bushed - we've played about six games in seven days, a major league schedule for slightly fewer coins than the big leaguers pocket - so some quick highlights.
wednesday, at cba, the yankees and peppers played a tight game, with roughly similar line scores over six innings. the peppers took advantage of some walks and timely hits to bring their runs in, while the top half of the yankees order - smith, bailey, keegan, walter and mcquade each got a hit when needed for the yankee runs.
two defensive plays worth noting: darryl hunt, playing center field for the peppers, covered a lot of grass chasing a long fly to left center and dove, catching the ball in the air, parallel to the ground. an espn worthy play - as was brian mussella's to end the game. our batter hit a shot that was deflected off another infielder's glove. brian had been going with the ball, quickly shifted to another direction, charged, caught the ball bare-handed and flung it sidearm to first, beating the runner by half a step. gerry solomon started for the yankees, and was followed by scott card, jimmy keegan and dave booker, all of whom pitched well. mike hart went six for the peppers.
on thursday, in our final game of the year, the peppers were down to nine players - four others had commitments for this make-up game.
so with a thinned pitching staff, ken boudreau, a good-glove first baseman-third baseman, started for the first time ever (he has pitched his sons' team's batting practice, both of whom are or were fine players at la salle) and allowed 5 runs through 5 innings - which was, to our eyes, terrific considering the newness of it all (he was learning the curve as he went) and the fact that the fordians have some fine hitters in mccann, perry, smith and others.
again the line score was roughly the same. the game was decided in the bottom of the seventh, when a pepper reliever walked the leadoff man and then, after the runner made his way around to third, scored with one out on what was supposed to be a suicide squeeze. i say "supposed to be" because the runner crossed the plate over the objections (howls?) of the peppers who contended that the batter had stepped out of the box and across the plate to bunt and in the process had blocked the catcher's view of the ball. the objections were dismissed on the grounds that the box no longer existed and the regular season ended for both teams.
dan perry and (john?) house, who uses a 42-ounce homemade bat with which he thrashes the ball, both went 3-for-4 for the foridans, each with a double, while joe sarrubi and rodger coryell were 2-for-3, also with a double each, for the peppers.jim dalton got the win for fordians, changing angles and speeds well, on a shoulder that a year ago this day endured a several-hour operation and reconstruction. a sweet comeback for him.
