With a 12 inning marathon under our belts from game one, and a big win, we headed into game two with Danny on the bump. It was really nice to sit down for a half an hour and get some food and rest, although I was cautious not to get to relaxed. We needed to win game two in oder to occupy first place in the standings with Solingen, who after Saturdays loss to the Dohren from UC Davis was now 10-2.
I had a very nice push bunt hit in the first inning. With nobody on base and the first baseman playing deep in the infield I told myself it would be an easy hit. With a lefty on the mound he would fall off to the third base side giving me an extra step or two towards first base. With the first baseman so far back it makes it hard for anyone to pick up the ball and beat me to the bag, even if I am slow catcher. So, as the pitch came I squared to bunt and laid the pitched ball right down the first base line and the race began. The first basemen came running in for it, the pitcher went running after it, and as the first basemen picked it up, I was two steps ahead of the pitcher who was racing me to first at this point. Safe, with a hit. Just like my dad used to tell me all the time. "It's a line drive in the score book and the newspaper." I scored that inning with two outs and we grabbed and early lead, just as we had done in game 1.
As the game went on Danny was pitching really well into the 4th inning, when he hit a wall and lost his energy. To be honest, I was fighting the same thing. It is so easy to get fatigued after playing 12 innings at third and then being asked to pitch game two, or catching both ends of a double header. 15 innings of baseball in one day is a lot, but we still had at least 6 more. He gave up one hit and four walks in a row made it 4-2. We got out of the inning and grabbed some coffee and candy bars. The perfect solution.
We got through the rest of the next few innings without any problems. Danny actually hit his stride and progressively got better later in the game. It was his game and he gathered his energy and took control after his walkathon in the 4th. As a teammate, I was really impressed with his focus, and getting back to square one. It is really easy to fall apart after walking four in a row, yet he got better.
The funniest part of the situation was hearing the fans "trying to" give him a hard time. I laugh when I hear the things that come out of their mouth. Nobody, and I mean nobody knows how to heckle. Imagine grown German men trying to give a hard time to a guy who throws 90+ with statements such as "Yeah, vhy don't you go back to ze mound und throw a zittle harder on ze next pitch, maybe you culd sthrow anuder ball, yeah!?" (In a German accent of course) I laughed because nobody could think of anything better to say and we have both heard so much worse.
The rest of the day was a total crap-shoot. I had to remind myself before every single pitch to stay focused and call a good game. At this point I wasn't even thinking about hitting. I was hurting from getting drilled twice while I was batting, as well as getting nailed by pitches off my wrist and inner thigh. I was beat up pretty good.
In my second to last at-bat in the 6th inning I came to the plate and asked the Bonn catcher how he was doing. "I am hanging in there, this is a really long day though, how are you?"
I replied "Fine, although I am literally wearing it all over today. I have been nailed more times today than I can ever remember." He laughed and said "Yea, I noticed, I can see your wrist."
The conversation led me to a 1 ball, 2 strike count (1-2) with their American lefty still on the mound, and as I have done my entire life with 2 strikes, I move closer on the plate and a few inches up to the pitcher in order take his breaking ball and chageup away. The only pitch I give up is the inside fastball because it becomes harder to get the barrel out front and hit solidly. The lefty came set and threw a pitch up and in on my hands. I turned to avoid getting hit in the arm, but it was too late. I got drilled with a fastball on my right elbow, my throwing arm, and I have no protection like so many guys do. "God dammit," I said out loud and smiled a little bit because of the irony in getting hit, yet again. My elbow swelled a little and as the feeling returned, I realized I needed to stop complaining because I was fine. My energy, my approach, and my focus was fine. I just needed to suck it up an play hard. Plus, getting beat up a little makes you feel more alive, and we only play once a week at this point so it was not a big deal. I have time to recover, but I feel like a Monday morning Quarterback.
The 9th inning got interesting as we still had a 2 run lead. Danny got the first hitter out, walked a guy, and gave up a hit, then got another out. This put runners on the corners with 2 outs and the tying run on 1st. Danny worked into a 3-0 count, and we were trying to keep the tying run out of scoring position. With 2 BIG fastballs for strikes we got back to a full count. (3-2) This was a big pitch coming up and all I could think to myself was, 'this is the guy we want.' I stalled for a second and threw down three fingers indicating a slider. Danny took and extra second and without as much as a nod or a shake he started his windup. I had no doubt what he was going to do. The pitch was perfect, right down the middle and the hitter watched it right into my glove. I held it, waited in anticipation as I heard the umpire say "Dri!" (three in German) GAME OVER! Danny threw 160 pitches and earned every out he got. We won 4-2 and got a huge sweep over the first place team on the road. We now occupied first with Solingen, whom we split with last week.
The Untouchables, Danny, and myself had a terrific day on the field. Danny was rewarded player of the week for his efforts on the mound, and at the plate with his game winning homer in the 1st game. What a week.
As for me, I had done something that I had never done before. I caught 21 innings in one day. Being from good old Nevada and appreciating the victory I thought to myself....... "BLACKJACK!"
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