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 Games | îùç÷éí |
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Lowell's Write-Up
Down from the north, twixt the sea coast to the west and the Galilean hills to the east, tempest touched by the gusty, chilly winter winds that blow from three directions, came the intrepid Shomrat squad.
The Dawgs, trickling in to the field at Baptist Village not far from the source of the mighty Yarkon River and the ancient site of Antipatris with ghosts of Greek hoplites and Roman legions hovering nearby in the night sky, greeted each other fraternally, then began their warm-ups, their stretching, their throwing, and their batting practice. Occasional barks and canine howls filled the nippy night air and echoed in the distance.
Not to be outdone, the Shomrat nine also put on an impressive display during their practice. A tight squad, they have been together for eons and know the game and each other's moves well. Pitcher Bill, sans handlebar moustache and Randy Johnson-like cascading locks, Tim at 3rd, Rich at 1st, and Micah at short have long formed what could be deemed "The Shomrat Shoreshim" – the firmly rooted trees around which they have cultivated a grove of other younger players.
With the Shomrat nine still on the field, plate umpire Adriana hollered, "Play ball" the ever-welcome starting signal that filled the air and echoed throughout the field. Field ump, Climmy, took up his position between first and second.
The Dawgs were out of the kennel - salivating, slobbering, barking, growling, yowling.
They didn't wait long in the top of the first as Danny "Doc" Epstein reached first on a rarely seen Tim Shomrat error at third. A fielder's choice and another error at short put Dawgs at 2nd and 3rd, but they couldn't get the run in.
The Shomratniks, up at bat in the bottom half of the inning, chipped away at the Dawgs with a string of hits, errors, bad throws and overthrows, capped off by one astonishingly poor call against the Dawgs by an otherwise rock solid ump. By inning's end, three were up on the board for the Shomries.
The Dawgs, in their top half of the next inning saw Nathan off to first on a free pass, only later to be erased from the base paths by a grandmother-fielder's choice, followed thereafter by a misplayed pop to center by Dani "Ansel Adams" Machlis that put the Photoman on base. Eli also reached base, but the Dawgs went down and stranded two in the pound.
Shomrat squeaked in a run in the bottom of the inning. Interestingly, as a phenomenon that would not go unnoticed for the rest of the game, all put-outs in the inning were on the right side of the field: Against Shmuel's pitching, it appeared that the Shomratniks were not "getting-aroundniks"- and the Dawgs had to be extra alert on the Likudnik side of the field.
The top half of the 3rd inning found the Dawgs hungry and howling. Danny lined a rocket over 3rd, tearing the cover off the game ball. A passed ball sent him scurrying to second. Yoav K'ed but on the dropped third strike streaked off to first while Danny raced to third and later home. Yoav made second on an Avi "Cruella" Davilla hard-hit FC, placing him in scoring position. Yossi "Happyman" lined a shot to pitcher Bill who presently spun around and fired a pick-off throw to second to double up Yoav – but – hello! – the coverage was poor, and the throw wound up in the outfield allowing the fleet-footed youngster to race home with the Dawgs' second bark of the evening.
The Shomries went up and down quietly in the third, heartening the Dawgs when they came to bat. Eli turned his lead-off ticket to first into extra cash with a stolen base. A Dani grounder to 2nd followed, but without coverage at 1st base, the Beersheva Barker made it handily to first while Eli went to third. Michael "Yod-Aleph" M came in to run for Dani, after the latter had stretched the spectacularly misplayed ball into an extra base. A David FC allowed the Russian Racer to come all the way from second to score, tying the game at four. Dani later conceded that none of this would have been possible had he not broken up with the enticing and seductive Miss Tobacco. Duly noted.
In the bottom of the fourth, things happened to the Dawgs. A lead-off "triple" just past the outstretched glove of RF Nathan and a WP put another run up on the big board for the Northmen. Hurler Bill, sometimes known as Chef Guillaume de Shomrat, Maître de Cuisine, sent a rising line drive over the head of Michael in left field, but the lead-footed veteran squeezed it into a three bagger. A few hits and hard shots later and a looper that just dropped in fair along the line in short RF inflated the damage to four runs.
The Dawgs' at bat witnessed an Avi BB and a subsequent sloppy pick-off that sent the Dawg rookie to 3rd and then home on an Albert two-bagger. Nine-five, Northmen.
Field changes in the bottom of the fifth saw among others, Lowell at first. The vet felt loose and good – as the inning was later to prove. A Shomrat hit put a man on, but a grounder to second and a throw to first – one out – allowed the Northman to advance. Another grounder to short and a throw to first notched up two outs, moving the runner to third. Unfortunately, a WP allowed the Shomratman to score but hard throwing Shmuel then got the batter to ground one again to David at second who tossed to Lowell at first for his third put-out of the inning.
Undaunted, the Dawgs did not throw in the towel so easily. Trailing 9-5 in the top of the sixth, the Ruffers felt they could make a comeback. Some were immediately reminded of the Boston Red Sox come-back in the 2004 American League playoffs when trailing three games to none against the hard-hitting New York Yankees, the seemingly hapless Bostonians astounded, awed, and shocked the nation and the world with their four victory rebound that sent Bronx Bombers back to showers in the House that Ruth Built. Another, older player, was also reminded of the 1902 Brooklyn Dodgers – Chicago Cubs playoff game, when trailing 17-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Dodgers' manager Hansie "Dutch" van Haakenspeyers suddenly and inexplicably jumbled the entire lineup, changed the team's batting strategy, and mixed up the fielding configuration - completely confounding the Cubbie opposition. Having never seen such a radical and revolutionary managerial move, the Cubs defense and offense became dazed and confused – and even, as one of them, Francis Xavier Fitzdonahue, admitted years later when interviewed at the age of 92 – terrified! They committed error after error and strikeout after strikeout, and ultimately succumbed to the Brooklynites who pulled out a squeaker of a win, 18-17, in extra innings.
Seeing the slender 11th grader up at the plate, the Shomries played in, but Michael tagged the ball, driving it over the center fielder's head for a lead-off three bagger. The Dawgs' own Israel national teamer, Yehezkiel “the Goose” Ganz, freshly arrived from the bustling port city of Ashkelon, where he has begun his academic studies, promptly followed with a single that scored Michael. The "Y-Man" parlayed his hit into an extra base, and another, in the wake of a wild Shomrie-throwaway. Mr. Reliable, Danny E., reached base and eventually moved over to third on a Yoav hit. With Danny 60 feet away from home, a rusty Lowell stepped up to the plate with one down. He let the first go by, checked the second, and swung at the third, chopping one between third and the pitcher, sending Danny home and almost beating it out but for about two feet. With two down, the score, 9-8, and the tying run at third, the final Dawg batter tagged one solidly sending Yoav home. Unfortunately, the inexperienced youngster failed to slide and instead ran home to cross the plate standing up – and right into the awaiting tag of the Shomrat catcher, effectively ending the game and handing the Dawgs one of the most heart-breaking losses in their history.
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride", used to quip Gertrude Blackman, but if the Dawgs had indeed pulled this one out, the MVP would have most assuredly been Mr. Goldstein - the Dawgs own pitcher, Shmuel. With masterful control almost all of the time, his speed and accuracy prevented most Shomratniks from getting around on the ball, sending foul slices, pop-ups, and grounders largely to the right side of the field. Enough can't be said about his Dawgedness and his uncomplaining workhorse attitude.
Post-mortem number two: The Dawgs performed well, showed spunk, spirit, determination, and a great defensive display on the field. So another round of kudos goes to the rest of the Dawgs. And to Danny, and, of course, to coach-player David, whose innovative line-up shook up the opposition. Finally, thanks also go to Eliahu, David's co-coach in baseball, for his support and encouragement sitting and watching from the bench. His cheer, "Get hot, Dawgs" will now officially join the rich repertoire of our other Dawg cheer as we wage a never-ending psychological battle against our opponents both on and off the field.
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