The Dodgers got our first taste of the A Diamond on Wednesday against the top-tier Damn Yankees. The weather was perfect for baseball and Central Park was filled with the sound of Polka music and the fragrance of a vegetarian BBQ.
The Dodgers scored one in the top of the 1st on a single and stolen base by Marc Trinchillo and an RBI single by Ray Coletta. The Yankees answered in their half of the inning after a lead-off single by Herlett, an E5 and a two-out, two RBI single by Joe Careccia.
The second and 3rd innings were quiet as John Weber held his former teammates in check and Yankee hurler Lex Herlett enjoyed consecutive 1-2-3 innings. The 4th inning was the difference maker. The Dodgers #12 batter, Steve Jiampeti got the rally started with an opposite field double. Harvey Staulters walked then Trinchillo, Coletta, Alston, Lane and Ball provided some OOMPAH music of their own driving in a total of 7 runs.
Quick side note. In my 16 years of playing in the CDMSBL, my team has never beaten an opponent with Lex on the mound - including this past Sunday when he pitched 7 shutout innings against my Shaskys in the 45s. I'm not sure if my team has ever even been in the lead against him. Having a six run lead was new territory. I was hoping I wouldn't channel my inner-Aaron Boone and f%#k things up!
Sure enough, the Yankees mounted a comeback. Joe Careccia walked to start the bottom of the 4th and promptly stole 2nd and 3rd. Joe scored on a groundout to close the gap. The Dodgers used a double by Steve Schaefer and a pair of E6's to bring the score to 9 - 3. Steve Van Gelder ripped a single to start the bottom of the 5th. Herlett reached on an E4 and Hicks reached on a FC. A single by the Yankees #3 hitter ( I don't think his name is scribble) scored Van Gelder and Hicks. Dennis Lane came on in relief and on his first pitch induced a 6-4-3 double play. Rally ended.
The Dodgers added an insurance run in the 6th on a single by Coletta, a walk to Alston and an RBI groundout to Lane. Some heads-up defense by the Dodgers took the air out of a 7th inning comeback. Van Gelder hit a two-strike pitch into left field for a lead-off single. Lex followed with a hard line drive to straight away center. Coletta collected the hit on one hop and threw a bullet to beat the runner to 2B. That was the Montefiore Turning Point of the Game! Jimmy Hicks lined out to right but the next two Yankees walked to load the bases. A check-swing groundout to Alston at 1B ended the threat.
Final score: Dodgers 10 Damn Yankees 5
Ray Coletta lead the offense with a 3 for 3 night and nine other Dodgers had at least one hit. Harvey Staulters was rock solid at SS recording 8 assists, including the start of the inning ending 6-4-3 DP in the 5th.
The Damn Yankees are a perennial powerhouse and truly a top-tier team in the 55+ division. Even though some of their players were not at the game, it was rewarding for the Dodgers to put together that type of effort. The Yankees were as classy in defeat as they have been in victory. Following the game, we all went to our cars, cranked some Neil Diamond and fit right in!
Congrats on the nice win, Donnie! I was telling all that would listen that the Dodgers were a much improved club, and with Weber on the mound, would be very dangerous. Thanks for providing me with some "I told you so's."
I especially liked the three musical references, twice to the polka and once to Neil Diamond, to go.
I'm with you on Lex: one of the craftiest pitchers I've ever faced, along with, say, John Weber.
And it's a pleasure to see that two of the league's better story tellers, you and Mike, are back-to-back here.
I really like game write-ups ("gamers" as we called them at the Times Union), and you both do them well, finding material that fits everywhere from the diamond to the parking lot and back. (That was the late Roger Angell's approach too: write what the fans might see.)
There are some other good gamer practitioners in our league, Jim Edelman and Jim Dalton come to mind, which is great.
But for those of us who like our baseball for the game itself and for the stories afterward, I would hope more members of each team would spend a half hour or so after a game, writing, for your teammates and for the rest of us, what happened.
