Win "Two" Play Another Day

It has been a very long seven days. Sitting at home being down 0-2 in the playoff series to Mannheim has not been easy to think about. As a matter of fact, I am not sure how I am supposed to feel about it.  So much of me wants to be ok with it because if we lose, then I go home. As much as I don't want to lose, I miss everything about home. It is a strange feeling. After  over five months of being away from everything and everyone I know, Paderborn has become a second home and the Untouchables are my family. Just like any family we have our moments, and last week was a perfect example. We did not play to our capabilities and we suffered all week because of it. As the days went by, Danny and I went over every detail of how we could win and stay. "We need to win to get paid," I reminded Danny. As if the extrinsic benefit of money would entice us to play harder or help us focus more. "It would be nice to sleep in my own bed however, wherever that is in Portland," I also said. The mixed feelings never went away.

We knew that we could win as a team. We could beat "Shorty" in game three and since Danny had such an off-week last Saturday we all knew game four could definitely be ours. Game five would be a total crap-shoot, but at least it would be at our park. We all believed we had a good chance still. Also was the fact that Saturday's games would be a double header again. If we won the first one we could win the second, just as Mannheim did to us a week earlier. Anyone in baseball knows that a momentum shift can come from winning the first game of a double header. In many cases, whoever wins game one, will win game two of a double header. It is vital to get the first one. Yet for us, it was the only option or the season was over.

We woke up on Saturday with a dismal sky which has followed us around for the past few weeks. The last few weeks have been really wet, and we were expecting more of the same today. It was going to be sloppy!

The funniest part of our day was getting to the park. Mitch had to leave for the park early in the morning and as Danny and I slept in we woke up and realized we did not have a ride to the field. Normally we would have a to ride our bikes to practice, but on game days we get a ride. So on this particular day Danny and I weren't sure how we were going to get to the field. Since Shorty is our "roommate," he stayed at the house last night which I thought was weird.  The starting pitcher for the opposing team was staying at our place because he lives here from time to time. Where am I!?!
So when Danny and I needed to head to the park, Shorty was our ride. we all kind of laughed about how lucky Shorty was that he had a bed and an easy commute to the ballpark because the rest of his team had to get up at 6a.m. and drive from Mannheim to Paderborn. What is worse was the fact that none of them had a place to stay that night if they lost two games. The club didn't have money for a hotel and they would have to drive back and come back in the morning. It is a 4 1/2-5 hour drive from Mannheim to Paderborn. Same on the way back.

As the first game began Eugene looked good. He gave up a few hits and a few runs in the first couple of innings, but he kept us in the game. We scored first, but we were down 3-1 in the 7th until a two run single from our 7 hitter tied it up once again. It was 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning and it was a big deal and as I sat on deck with runners on all bases. I couldn't help but think about being the hero. But as I waited for my chance, out stud shortstop, Jendrick Speer, laced a line drive to left center to win the game. It was awesome. We finally jumped out of the cellar and into the win column and the momentum had all of a sudden shifted our direction. We knew we could win game two! Danny was not going to let the same thing happen two weeks in a row, and that is something that we counted on.

As pumped as we were to get to another game, our patience was tested. With an already wet field, the rain started to fall hard and it made us a little nervous about not getting to play the second game. I did think about the fact that it would be nice to play two on Sunday, and allow Danny to rest for an entire day before we played again, but it didn't work that way. What was supposed to be a half hour between games turned into an hour and a half. Danny did a really good job of staying ready and staying warm. I rested for a while as well. Closing my eyes on the bench, staying relaxed and patient, I could not help but calm my nerves and think of winning and playing another day. Anything could happen in the final game of the series if we made it to Sunday.

Game two started on a wet surface and a somewhat wounded Mannheim team, and Danny did not help them feel better. He was on! His fastball was on, his slider was on, and his changeup was on! Not to mention was the fact that he was throwing a LOT harder than last week, and they could not make the adjustment against him. We scored early and often and a couple of big innings put us up by a score of 8-0 going into the 7th inning. In the 7th I hit a double to lead off the inning and Danny followed with the same, scoring me from second. Out big first basemen Bjorn then came up and laced a ball deep to right and the right fielder didn't even have a chance to catch it. Once he knew it was over his head he stopped and started running back in because he knew that we had just ten-runned them. We won the fourth game of the series by a score of 10-0 and we lived to see another day.

After beating Mannheim twice in our park, we knew they were going to have a hard time coming out and beating us in the final. Especially since they didn't have a place to stay and they were not sure whether they were going back or staying in Paderborn. "Not our problem," I though to myself. Game five was going to be a crap-shoot. We had "Aulga," (Eugene) even though he had thrown six innings the day before. We also had Daniel Hinz who threw three strong inning of relief in the first game of the weekend, as well as a few other wild cards. Danny was not allowed to throw because he was a forigner and those are the rules. Mannheim was most likely going to go back to "Shorty" in the last game and he was staying with us that night. I still thought it was weird, but hey, this is Germany!