Yankees of Germany

After our weekend victories against Cologne we played the following Saturday evening in Dortmund. It was the first time that we had to play in the heat of the summer, and with a 6p.m. start nearing summer solstice the evening sun was low and beating down on us in the Northern sky. After we won the first game we started game two about 20 minutes later than we should have thanks to the umpires not showing up on time. Danny was ready, the other pitcher was ready, and all we did was wait in the heat.

The most interesting part of our day came in the 5th inning when the umpires left the field and told both teams that the game would be delayed for at least twenty minutes because the sun was setting in center field and the home plate umpire could no longer see. " A Sun Delay!"

Now, I have seen some crazy weather delays on a baseball field. Snow delays in the middle of May, rain delays when the weather was beautiful ten minutes before; I have even heard of fog delays in the Cape Cod league, but a SUN delay!?!?
Sure enough, after a forty five minute delay of waiting for the sun to set beyond the horizon were back in action. It was insane! I later researched that it has happened a few times in the Alaska Baseball League in towns like Fairbanks, or Anchorage due to their extreme northern hemisphere and the sun basically stays along the horizon for a longer period of time. Combine that with a field built in the direction of the setting sun and you have an impossible background to see a ball coming toward you. We are nowhere near the latitude of Anchorage or Fairbanks, but we would be at about the same latitude of central Canada (lets say Calgary, Canada) and since the sun sets late during the middle of June, it also sets low alongside the horizon. 

So after forty five minutes we were back at it. It seemed to me that the heat and the wait took a little energy out of our team because we couldn't produce anything after that. We had jumped out early with a 3-0 lead, and although Dortmund only got one run in the 3rd we had felt pretty comfortable up to the "sun delay." Danny must have felt the delays and heat, because by the 7th inning I could see him getting tired not only on the mound, but at the plate as well.
When the 8th inning came around the wheels came off and we surrendered 3 runs, none of which were from hits or a decent rally, but all walks. Danny walked a few guys and our reliever walked a few guys which gave them a one run cushion in the 9th. 

Now for the history of this league, there are a few things to consider. One is that the Untouchables have more German Championships than anyone (Consider us the Yankees of Germany) and anytime we play, you can be sure we have a target on our back. That target is not exclusive to the teams we are playing either. I learned this the hard way on this particular night, and although I have never blamed bad officiating on the outcome of a game, it was really hard to do on this particular night. In my humble opinion the umpire behind the plate had missed about 15 pitches that were literally down the middle of the plate and about 3 inched above the belt. "Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball".....BLAH!" I told myself, "At least he is consistently bad and not giving anyone that pitch," as I myself had walked during two at-bats that night and some of the pitches were boarder line. However, in my final at-bat of the night in the ninth inning, and a runner on first I took a big swing on the first pitch because I told myself, "drive this ball into the gap and tie the game." On the next pitch Jendrick Speer got a great jump and stole second base. The pitch was a change-up about a foot outside and high and as I dug back into the box with a runner on second and 1 out I heard the umpire say "Nul und zwei" (0-2). I quickly called time and said, "You called that last pitch a strike?!?! It was a foot outside!" I quickly realized he missed the pitch because the runner was going and the catcher may not have given him a good look. He simply missed the location of the pitch. I was down 0-2 and the next pitch was a slider which broke under my hands and as I took the pitch I thought to myself, "good take, but that was too close." I didn't turn around and look at the umpire, I just looked out to the pitcher because I didn't hear a strike call. As I began to get ready for the next pitch I heard the American catcher say "Hey man, that was strike three, you're out." I looked at the umpire for the second time and said "Really? I didn't hear you say a thing and that hasn't been a strike all night!" It didn't matter, I wasn't going to change anything so I walked away as mad as I have ever been.
Our next batter was the pitcher hitting for Danny, who had been taken out of the game completely. On a 0-2 count be hit a swinging bunt to the shortstop. As Jendrick rounded third to score, the shortstop made a barehanded play, threw the ball in the dirt to first as our pitcher slide FEET FIRST into the base. He appeared to be safe as the opposing first baseman bobbled the ball, however, the German umpires struck one last time and stole the glory by yelling "ousen."(out) Our entire bench exploded off the bench except for two guys, Danny and myself. I looked down the bench as neither one of us moved, the rest of our team attacked the umpire to dispute the call, and the Dortmund Wanders celebrated like they had just won the last game of the World Series. It was as interesting a moment as I had seen on a baseball field. To top it all off our manager got thrown out of the game....... after the game was over. He was suspended for the next two games. "Only in Germany," I thought to myself.
It took a long time to get everyone to settle down from the loss, but like anything that happens in baseball we learned from it. However we could not help feel a little cheated by all the bad calls we received.
From the late start to the game, the sun delay and all the bad calls, it was an uncontrollable night that will only make us better.