This is the third year running that I've opened with this song. Its an old tune, Kenny Rogers I think. Its my reminder that at the end of the day its simply a child's game. We can have fun and try and think we're great, but this song and this league is for the 10 year old in all of us.
Little boy, in a baseball hat,
Stands in a field, with his ball and bat,
says "I am the greatest, player of them all"
puts his bat on his shoulder, and tosses up his ball.
says "I am the greatest, player of them all"
puts his bat on his shoulder, and tosses up his ball.
And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,
he swings his bat all the way around,
and the worlds so still you can hear the sound
as the baseball falls, to the ground.
Now the little boy, doesn't say a word,
picks up his ball, he is undeterred,
Says "I am the greatest, there has ever been,"
and he grits his teeth, and tries it again.
And the ball goes up, and the ball comes down,
he swings his bat all the way around,
and the worlds so still you can hear the sound
as the baseball falls, to the ground.
He makes no excuses, He shows no fear,
He just closes his eyes, and listens to the cheers.
Little boy, he adjusts his hat
picks up his ball, stares at his bat,
says "I am the greatest, the game is on the line,"
and he gives his all, one last time.
And the ball goes up, like the moon so bright,
Swings his bat, with all his might,
and the worlds as still, as still as can be,
and the baseball falls, and that's strike three.
Now its supper time, and his Mama calls,
little boy starts home, with his bat and ball,
says "I am the greatest, that is a fact,
but even I didn't know, I could pitch like that."
THE GAME
The Dusty Cleats came into this game as overwhelming favourites and justifiably so. The had a 22 - 2 regular season record. They had 4 guys hitting over .700. They had 4 guys with a 100 ABs. They had the league batting champ. They had the league batting champ from 2 years ago. They were 6 - 0 to this point in the playoffs and had beaten the Grisslies during the regular season. They had been held under 10 runs only three times all year and had won all of those games. They had scored more than 20 runs ten times and won all those games. They could win blow outs. They could win tight games. They would win with the bats or the gloves. Their only two loses were by a combined 2 runs.
In the robin robin, the Cleats weren't threatened. They went through the other four teams in their pool outscoring them 73 - 39. In the quarters they knocked off the Dog Catchers 20 - 3 and then dispatched The Wild 12 - 5 in the semis.
The Cleats are good .... no doubt about it.
The Grisslies. I think most people forgot we finished second in the league. We were in a pack with the Dog Catchers, The Wild, Lucky Stiffs, Brew Jays and Hot Tub Woody's. With two weeks left in the season everyone could have finished between 2nd and 7th. We finished 2nd despite having an abysmal record against the league's best teams. We held very few tie breakers, but we lucked into the right combination of teams winning and losing in the last couple of weeks and woke up to find ourselves in second.
The round robin section wasn't easy for the Grisslies. Like the other 4 teams in Pool "B", the Grisslies went 2-2 and good fortune continued to smile on them as their plus minus was enough to earn top spot in the Pool and a bye to Sunday.
In the quarters, the Grisslies had to fight back from 9 - 1 deficit and were smiled on by lady luck again when the Brew Jays offered the noble gesture of overruling the umpire on a grand slam home run by Rob Hayward. In the semis there were a lot of hereos, but none bigger than Jim "Mannell" Mannell who had 4 hits and drove in 5 or 6 runs. Good fortune? Lady Luck? Fluke? It didn't matter, we made the final!
We were the underdogs for sure.
The game pitted the league's best defense against the league's best offense. The Grisslies were the only team to allow an average of less than 10 runs a game and the Dusty Cleats were the only team to score more than 400 runs on the year.
Before the game we had a brief pregame speech and it was more yelled than spoken, but...it went something like this:
"I believe in the soul, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe we can win this game so kick ass and leave it on the field".
Sure, it was a little over the top, but I had to come up with something before Farah started singing "we are the Grisslies" again! Besides....if you been following along this year, "over the top" is what we do best!
The real truth was that I just didn't want to be embarrassed. I didn't want us to be be one of those "happy to be there" teams. We came this far, no harm in continuing to try. With 100+ spectators representing all the teams in the league, I wanted them to be able to say "that was a good game", reagardless of who won.
I got my wish.
1st Inning
The game started with the Grisslies as visitors for the second consecutive game. Jim Hunter worked the count deep against Chris Pulfer before grounding out to second. I came up and drew a 5 pitch walk. Dave Argue followed with a single moving me to 3rd. Rob Hayward came up and singled scoring me and moving Dave to 3rd. We had our first lead of the year against the Dusty Cleats. Gord Roberston would then double scoring both Argue and Hayward. Gord was stranded on outs by Jerry Muirhead and Dave Doucette but we had a quick 3 run lead.
We got Dane, before Scotty singled sharply up the middle. Gord reached but forced Scott at second leaving a runner at first and two out. Rob McCarron then flew out to Hayward.
After one inning it was Grisslies 3; Dusty Cleats 0.
2nd Inning
The Cleats made short working of us in the 2nd inning. Farah and Smith both flied out and Mickey Mannell lined out to short.
The second inning was crisp for the Grisslies too. Robin Dickson, Chris Pulfer and Brett Mabee were set down in order.
Grisslies 3; Dusty Cleats 0
3rd Inning
We knew the Cleats weren't going to be held down forever, and we were pressing a bit to get more runs. But the Dusty Cleats turned their second consecutive three up; three down inning as Bill Sallustio, Stephane Simard and Jim Hunter were set down in order.
Mike Ghaney started this inning with a ground out which was followed by a Craig Beatty flyout. Next up was Dave Fleming who singled. With one on and 2 out, Dane came up for his second at bat and ripped a solid single. Now with two on and two out, Scott Barton was up and I got that first feeling that this might be the inning where the Cleats take control. Scotty hit the ball about as hard you can and Rob Farah stabbed it on a hop and tossed to 1st for the 3rd out.
Grisslies 3; Dusty Cleats 0
4th Inning
The Grisslies were somewhat bouyed by the dodging the Scott bullet; however it didn't help me as I led of the inning grounding out to second base. Dave Argue was next up and he singled. Rob Hayward followed with fly out. Then Gord Robertson came up and singled moving Dave to 3rd base with two out. Jerry Muirhead singled scoring Dave with the Grisslies fourth run. The inning ended on a Dave Doucette fly out.
The Grisslies have had a regular rotation of sitting people out through games. We were in the finals and it didn't seem like the right time to make a change. However while I was standing at short stop in place of Bob Smith and turned around to see Bill Sallustio behind me in center field in play of Rob Hayward, I started to second guess the strategy. Gord Robinson led off with a single that was followed by a McCarron single. Robin made an out that advanced the runners and Pulfer scored them with a single. The Cleats were on the board and had 2 in, one on and one out. It was looking like the game was starting to fray a bit. Neither Bill nor I were involved in a plays, but I still felt guilty with Hayward and Smith on the bench. The next batter was Brett Mabee and he hit a routine ground ball to me. I funnelled quickly to Agrue who smoked one to Gord Robertson for the double play. We escaped the inning.
Grisslies 4; Dusty Cleats 2
5th Inning
The 5th inning began with Farah being thrown out at first followed by a Bob Smith single. Mickey Mannell struck out and Bill Sallustio singled Bob over to third. Steph then hit into a fielders choice ending the inning without scoring a run.
With the Grisslies regular defense back on the field we got Mike Ghaney for the first out, before Craig Beatty singled hard past third. However, Craig never advanced as Dave Fleming and Dane both made outs.
Grisslies 4; Dusty Cleats 2
6th Inning
Jim Hunter started the 6th with a ringing double. I came up and hit a crappy ball to 2nd that was briefly bobbled, but I was still thrown out in a bang-bang play at 1st. Dave Argue flew out advancing Jim to third and bringing Rob Hayward to the plate with two out and a runner on third. The Cleats made the strategic decision to walk Hayward and face Gord Robertson who already had two hits on the day. It was a smart move, but it didn't work out for the Cleats. Gord smashed his second double scoring Hunter and Argue. The ball Gord hit was a liner between left and left-center and had both outfielders charging hard for it. Mabee and Fleming made valiant stabs at it but it fell to the ground. Jerry Muirhead then doubled home Gord before Dave flew out to end the inning.
Scott Barton led off the 6th with a single up the middle. He was thrown at 2nd on a force out on a hit by Gord Robertson. Rob McCarron then walked putting runners at 1st and 2nd. Robin Dickson hit a ground ball forcing McCarron at 2nd base but the relay to 1st was off line which allowed Gord to score. Mabee then hit into a fielders choice ending the inning.
Grisslies 7; Dusty Cleats 3
7th Inning
Farah grounded out to start the inning, then Bob Smith hit a double. Jim Mannell grounded out before Bill Sallustio got his second hit of the day moving Bob to 3rd. Steph ended the inning on a line out.
3 outs to go.
The Cleats 7th inning began with Mike Ghaney singling. Craig Beaty followed with his second single on the day putting runners at 1st and second with nobody out. Dave Fleming flied out to right but not deep enough for the runners to advance.
2 outs to go.
Dane flew out to Jim Hunter leaving the runners at 1st and 2nd.
1 out to go.
Scott Barton. Scott singled right past me at 3rd on a ball I should have at least knocked down. Gord Robinson followed with a double resulting in two runs and base runners on 2nd and 3rd. The runner on second was the tying run. I was starting to feel goat horns as McCarron came up. Rob hit a sharp ground ball, and had it been a foot to the right, we would have been in a tie game. Instead it went to the sure glove of Bob Smith who went to a knee to get it and then made a perfect throw to 1st. Game over.
Grisslies 7; Dusty Cleats 5
EPILOGUE
The Dusty Cleats had a truly remarkable year. They were 28 - 3 in the regular season and playoffs. Their three loses were by a combined 4 runs. The season they had was statistically staggering. Making it all the more remarkable is that they had the season they did without swagger and down playing their own accomplishments.
I subbed for the Cleats against the Dog Catchers. They lost that game. They invited me back to the clubhouse after and I went for a beer. I was a little worried that they be upset with the loss, but they were about as loose as any team I've played with. They had a great year, but more importantly I'm convinced that they enjoyed their year.
The way it ended might not have been completely 'fair'. I get that. But the baseball gods can be funny. Maybe it was the Grisslie banner. Maybe it was the pre-game Bull Durham speech. Maybe it was Fan Appreciation night or the knighting of Sir Rob Hayward. Maybe it was the shouts from the bench of "Mickey", "Popeye", "Freddy", "Lumiere Rouge", "Catfish" or "Don't Call Me". Maybe it was 12 guys yelling "Tabernac" in unison or going Hawaiian on Mickey Mannell night. Maybe it was the red shirt. Maybe it was the thong. Maybe it was the lucky charms. Maybe it was the lucky Jays hat. Maybe it was that we didn't change from game to game.
Or maybe, as Rob and I have said countless times on Saturday and Sunday and again on Monday....Maybe it was just the perfect storm.
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