Our 2009 team came into today's tournament (Chicago Advertising Federation) with a 1-4 record and not much hope for doing much. A quick trip down history lane, in 2006 we shocked the world and won the tournament, a bright spot in an otherwise not so great season. In 2007, we lost the first game but won the next 2 in the consolation bracket to go home a sort-of winner. In both of those tournaments, I was awarded the game ball, which I proudly display on my desk. Last year, I was taking a sabbatical and our team lost their 2 first games and hit the bar early.
So how would we do in 2009?
There were only 8 teams this year, so it's 3 games to lift the trophy.
Game One - Quarterfinals
I wish I would have been keeping track of my stats, because I played pretty well. We were the visiting team and we started off the game by rattling off 5 runs. We did really well on making smart throws and committing errors. I got up probably 3 times, and I think I made it safely all 3, or at least 2 of 3. I know there was one time where I screwed up by getting picked off first on a line drive, as I was running to 2nd and couldn't get back in time after it was caught. But we won handly and even envoked the slaughter rule, ending the game in five innings.
Game One: 14-3 (F/5)
Game Two - Semifinals
So now we made it into the final four, and our reward was a rematch against the team that we just played on Thursday--the team that beat us 14-8. And they hit the ground running. We were the home team, and they scored 5 runs in the top of the first. It looked to be a repeat of Thursday's game. But we responded scoring 5 as well in the bottom of the first. I got moved up to 2nd in the lineup based on my strong hitting in the first game. After the first inning we clamped down on defense. And kept our good bats going. I think we were up 7-5 after three innings, and 11-6 after about five. We held on and didn't need to bat in the bottom of the 7th.
Game Two: 14-6
Game Three - Finals
We had an hour to celebrate the fact that we made the finals. Our team was grilling burgers and dogs in the park and reveling in our success. I brought up how in '07, we won the consolation bracket (going 2-1 that day). We all agreed that it's better to just make the finals in the actual winner's bracket, than winning the loser's bracket.
1st Inning
As the home team we took the field first and promptly gave up 4 runs. They had a bunch of big hitters and I think we might have made an error or two. They also had guys fast enough to beat a throw to 2nd on a ground ball. In the bottom of the first, I got a hit but the leadoff guy in front of me got caught in a pickle. At any rate we didn't score. End 1st: 0-4
2nd Inning
In the semis, we stormed back after giving up a bunch of runs in the top of the first. When we couldn't get our bats going I started to accept that we were outmatched. However, the bottom of their lineup wasn't as strong and we held them scoreless. In the bottom of the second, I think I drove in the first run. But that's all we could manage. End 2nd: 1-4
3rd Inning
Somehow we held them scoreless again and got our bats going. We started our batting by saying "we're only down three" and by the end of the inning we were within one. End 3rd: 3-4
4th Inning
As soon as we got close, they responded with two more of their own. But we held our own, getting two back in the bottom of the inning. End 4th: 5-6
5th Inning
As soon as we got close, they kept pulling ahead. They scored two in the top and we couldn't do anything in our half. End 5th: 5-8.
6th Inning
At this point, our defense needed to tighten up. Down 3 with only two innings to go, we were running out of time. Amazingly, we held them scoreless. In the bottom of the sixth, we had an amazing rally. We tied it up for the first time since the game started. We scored three runs, including a home run from a guy who's been struggling. We also got a run awarded when their third baseman boxed out one of runners who was heading to third. Without the interference I think he would have just ended at third, but the ump awarded the run to us. End 6th: 8-8
Top 7th
As the home team, all we had to do was keep them to no runs and then get one on the board. With two outs, one of their big hitters came up. I think there was a guy on first and a girl behind him in the lineup. In this tournament, there is no "intentional walk" penalty for walking a guy with a girl following him. So I decided to make sure not to give him anything to hit. I wasn't going to intentionally walk him, but I would have been fine with a walk as I think we could have gotten the girl out behind him to end the inning. I pitched a spinning ball low and inside and he swung for it and pulled it foul to left field. I did the same thing again and this time he kept it fair, a long fly ball to left. And our guy was there to catch it. Mid 7th: 8-8
Bottom 7th
All we needed was one run to get the championship. To start us off was the bottom of the order and she got out. The leadoff guy in front of me got safely to first. So now I'm up. Tie game, bottom of the 7th, one out, and the winning run is there on first. All I have to do is get a big hit and get him in. Or even if I can hit safely, the girl in the 3-spot still has an out to spare, and our cleanup hitter could knock in the winning run. So what happens? I take a crack and it's a low fly/blooper to right field. When it came off the bat it felt pretty good. But it was short lived. The right fielder came charging in and caught it. And then he threw it to first and got our leadoff hitter before he could get back. Basically, I had a chance to be a hero, and it was the worst possible scenario. Now we're headed to extras, and we're going to be starting with the girl in the 3-spot. At least if we only got one out on my at-bat she could have gotten through the inning. Oh and their whole team got so excited when the inning ended, I thought that they thought that they won. But they were just excited to get to extras. End 7th: 8-8
Top 8th
Free Softball! In the Championship! After holding them on 8 for the last two innings, it was not meant to last. We gave up two runs. I don't even remember how it happenned, probably an error, perhaps they beat a throw or two out. But they put the pressure on us. Mid-8th: 8-10
Bottom 8th
I'm going to take this play-by-play as best I can remember, identifying players by their lineup spot.
We need two, and the girl in the 3-spot starts us off with an out.
The guy in the 4-spot makes it safely to first.
The guy in the 5-spot flies out. The runner stays on first. Down two, two outs, runner on first, girl up to bat.
The girl in the 6-spot hits a grounder to the left side of the infield. And the third baseman THROWS THE BALL OVER FIRST BASE. Runner from first gets to go to 3rd. Batter now on 2nd.
Our captain comes up in the 7-spot with the tying runs in scoring position. Earlier in the game he had a home run and I all I can think about is him getting another dinger. He hits it safely, I belive hard up the middle, and he gets the run in from 3rd, but the girl who was on 2nd has to stop at 3rd. Down one, two outs, runners on the corners and another girl coming up.
It was at this point that I was sure we were out of magic. I thought that we had our chances, specifically I had my chance in the bottom of the 7th, and this was the end of our run, with a girl coming up in the 8-spot. And I don't even remember where she hit it, but she hit it and got on base, driving in the tying run. I couldn't believe it. So now the game is tied, still two outs and we've got runners on first and second.
A guy is up in the 9-spot and hits a ground ball to short. Our captain has no choice but to run to third. At about 5 feet away from the bag he goes to apply the tag, our captain jumps to his left and sort of slides around to third base. From my vantage point I didn't think there was any way that he could avoid the tag. The ump comes in calling him safe at third. The shortstop starts yelling about he was out of the baseline. Which I suppose you could have called, but not at this point in the game.
So here we are: tie game, bottom of the 8th, bases loaded, two outs. And we got a guy coming up in the 10-spot. He's been known to have some deep hits, but also known for popping up or flying out. Doesn't hit a lot of grounders. It's all on his shoulders. And he hits it--deep and high to centerfield. Two outfielders are running towards it. All that son of a bitch ball has to do is land and we win the championship game on a walkoff hit in extra innings. After what seems like 30 seconds, wouldn't you know, the ball lands in the grass a couple feet between the two outfielders. Our captain stamps his feet on home plate as the winning run, and for the first time in the entire game, we had the lead.
Game Three: 11-10 (F/8)
When that ball landed in the outfield, me and everyone else on the bench stormed the field and started screaming and jumping up and down. I was so happy for the guy who just had the winning hit as it would have been so easy for him to pop up or fly out. I made sure to collect the game ball right away from one of the opposing players, and confer with the captain while we're screaming that we should give it to the guy with the clutch hit. We did and he immediately threw it into the air and it almost landed on our opponents. Oops. He got it back.
So there you have it. With two outs and down two runs, we had five batters get on base safely, including that costly error when it was still 8-10.
And now even though our team is 1-4 in the regular season and generally don't have great odds for winning on any given day...since I've joined the team in 2006, we've won this tournament 2 out of 4 years. More than any other team.
When we won in '06 we were up by 8 runs or so in the last inning. This was a walkoff 3-run rally. I think this is the best championship moment of my athletic career.
and THAT'S why we love sports
ReplyDelete