09/13/2013
"Boys, when I was your age, we didn't whine. No, when I was your age, we simply played baseball. Drills, running, sliding, hustling...none of that 'it's too hot' nonsense I hear now, or the 'I'm thirsty' stuff I hear out of today's generation. You know, when I was six, way back in 2013, we rounded up a squad of boys, went to work, and played some ole-fashioned, hard-nosed, rub-some-mud-on-that-gash-on-your-knee-and-get-back-to-your-position baseball." The three boys, ages two, three, and six, hopped off of their grandfather's lap, shaking their heads in disbelief. The oldest, Omar III, whispered to the younger two as they walked down the hall, "Don't listen to PawPaw Omar, he's just talking crazy. He never played no serious ball back when he was six. That's just PawPaw making up stories."....................
Those boys, 50 or 60 years from now, won't believe the battles waged by the Shetland Cardinals in the Fall of 2013. Omar Balogun, retired from a successful career as an Engineer and professor at Georgia Tech, will try to convince them, but they won't believe it. He'll call up Dorian Broom on the phone, and they'll talk about Dorian's chain of restaurants for a few minutes, and then they'll talk about kids, and grandkids, and then the Cardinals.
They'll have to first talk about the opening week of the season. Specifically, that opening night, when the Cardinals were matched up against the Braves. Before the year started, the odds makers in Vegas had pegged these two teams as the favorites to contend for the championship. The Cardinals were loaded with a group of experienced sluggers and young speedsters, while the Braves carried a strong lineup of hitters along with two of the top defenders in the league.
September 9, 2013 was huge. The two favorites were scheduled to face off in the first game of the year. The Cardinals arrived in sparking red uniforms and, to the chagrin of some of the female fans, white pants. The team wore crisp red belts and the classic red Cardinals hat. But, the proverbial icing on the cake was a dab of eye black under each eye, and matching white wristbands. The Braves stared in disbelief as the Cardinals took a systematic round of grounders and threw lasers to the coaches.
The game started with a bang, as Lexi Waters stroked a double. Next up, Garrett "Call Me Maybe" Coffee drilled a double to left. Landon Wendlandt reached base, and Brady Matthews drove in the third run of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Cards surrendered three runs but it could have been worse had Brody Waters not gunned down two runners. In the second, the Cards made the Braves' speakers go boom-boom, as Omar "Candy Crush" Balogun ripped a two-bagger, Dorian "Sweep 'Em Up" Broom reached base, and Liam Miekle reached base. When the dust settled, the Cards were up 7-3. The Good Guys held the Braves scoreless in the bottom of the inning, and in the third, they inflicted a little Good, Bad, and Ugly on the Braves. The good: Sekai Pegues got the party started with a solid single. The bad (for the Braves): The four-man team of destruction, Brady Matthews, Harley Hallford, Omar Balogun, and Dorian Broom, all reached base. The ugly: Liam Miekle got really disrespectful by driving in runners without asking for permission. After 3, the Cards led their rivals 12-7. In the fourth, Zade Dunlap pulled a salt packet from his back pocket and poured it in the Braves' wound with a rocket down the third base line for a double. Zade later scored, along with Garrett Coffee, Brody "Uncle Si Drinks Sweet Tea, I Drink Line Drives To The Gap" Waters, Landon Wendlandt, and Brady Matthews. The final: 17-7 Cards. Hustle Awards were handed out to Sekai Pegues for his focus in left center and Landon Wendlandt for his heads up baserunning. The "Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection" Game Ball went to Zade Dunlap for a great play on second base and the teeth rattling double he hit in the fourth inning.
Three nights later, the Cards faced a young but hungry Orioles squad. Perfect weather on the mid-September night had the crowd excited and content. The Cards were without the eye black, and also some of the focus from the battle against the Braves. Warm ups were sloppy, and an outbreak of the Lolligags had infested the dugout. But, in the top of the first, it looked as if it wouldn’t matter. Lexi Waters accepted her invitation to the hit party with a solid single, and Garrett Coffee decided to attend as well. Brody Waters kept the hits a comin’, and Brady Matthews, Landon Wendlandt, Sekai Pegues, and Omar Balogun all reached base. 5-0 after half an inning. But, in the bottom of the first, the Cards’ defense got messy for the first time in the young season. Three Orioles scored, thanks in part to several errors by the Good Guys. The rather careless play did not include one Drake Richey, who deftly scooped a hit in center field and quickly got the ball back to the infield. The Cards hit like Super Heroes in the second. Aiden Kaplen shot an Iron-Man style hit to get it started, and then Dorian Broom went Hulk on the ball to reach base. Lexi “Cat Woman” Waters scratched her way on base, and the real Bat Man, Garrett Coffee, reached for the second time in two innings. Brody Waters flew around the bases Super Man style for the fifth run of the inning. In the bottom of the second, Brody Waters went into a phone booth as Super Man, and came out as Super Defense Catcher Thrower Guy, as he made all three outs. 10-3 after 2. But, the Orioles found the Cardinals kryptonite in the third, and for the first time all year, the team didn’t score. After the Orioles scored four in the bottom of the inning, the nail-biting began. But, the game finally got broke open in the fourth. Aiden Kaplan rapped his second hit of the night, Liam “That’s Not a Baseball Under My Sleeve, That’s My Left Bicep” Miekle reached base, and Lexi Waters, Garrett Coffee, Brody Waters, and Zade Dunlap all reached to make it 15-7. Time was called, and the Cards lined up to shake hands, knowing that the first two orders of business for the year were taken care of. Hustle Awards were given to Dorian Broom for his motor on the bases and Brady Matthews for his heads up play in covering second base. The “Icy Hot Pain Relieving Cream” Game Ball went to Garrett Coffee for his all-around great effort. Garrett has started the season 6 for 6 with 4 ribbies, 5 runs scored, and heads up defense in left field.
Diane “Heart of Stone” Richey was clutch post-game with cookies for the players, and Dave “Medium Roast” Coffee removed the throttle in the first base box after the first and had the speedy Cardinals zooming to second.
