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Monday, Jun. 02, 2003 - 8:51 p.m. Yes, the classless folks from Flowertown eliminated Mac from the state baseball playoff tonight. The final score was 14-4 in a mercy rule final, but it wasn�t really that close. Hell, the other team scored their final run by STEALING HOME WITH A 9-RUN LEAD! Very classy, Flowertown! Not that I expected anything less from them, but still�.. The setting for the game was as dreary as this entire season has been for the Roadiepig household: the game started with drizzle in the air, and was played for the last two innings in a downpour that would have sent a major league team headed for the warmth of their richly-appointed clubhouse to dry off. Things went exactly like I figured they would. He started all 4 of his prize sophomores, and left 4 of his seniors on the bench (Codeman included). After he gave them all the credit for the win on Saturday (even though they only played a small part in the victory. He even slighted K.B. in the post game interview, and they wouldn�t have won without his gutsy performance on the mound. Typical for Weebles), I knew they would be out there to start this game. They were the main reason why we lost, too. One of the pets dropped two fly balls hit right at him (rain or not, the ball has to be caught. I don�t remember anyone on the other team dropping anything today), allowing 4 runs to score in one inning. He also whiffed on another suicide squeeze, causing the runner headed to the plate to be caught dead (I guess that�s why it�s called a �suicide squeeze�. It IS suicide, with our coach calling the play). The �batboy� let a single get by him in right field, allowing two runs to score and the hitter to end up on third base. Errors all around, like it has been with these very young players all season. Did I mention that Codeman ended the season with 0 errors in the field, with a fielding percentage of 1.000? I should have�. I don�t think much of the coach for the other team (he encourages their J.V. team�s players to sit behind the backstop at home games, heckling our players. I think I mentioned this when it happened last month), but he did at least get ALL OF HIS PLAYERS INTO THE GAME. One of the parents near me said �A good coach does that�, in a stab at Weebles, who was standing a few feet away. I doubt he got it, though�.. Not Weebles. In another show of respect for the kids who worked hard for him for four year, 3 of the seniors were still on the bench when the game ended. For those keeping score, that means Codeman didn�t get to the plate once in our last 5 games, and only played the field once in that same timeframe. His batting average for the season ended up in the low .300�s. That means he ended up 3rd or 4th on the squad, at least .100 points ahead of all but one of the sophomores. If, by some miracle Mac could have won today (HA!), Codeman wouldn�t have been to the next game. He is going back to work full time starting on Wednesday, and wasn�t going to ask his boss for another day off. Especially considering all he would have been doing is watching the sophomores playing in his positions, dropping balls and striking out left and right. One last observation on Weebles� coaching genius: Mac was down 12-4 in the 5th inning, runners on second and third base. Weebles gets his ass up off of his 5-gallon bucket and calls for his infielders to �Play in�. This is to hold the runner at third base on a ground ball. Supposedly. I can�t recall it ever working (not even once) with this ball club. One problem, though: THERE WERE ALREADY TWO OUTS! For those who love the game of baseball, the follow sentence explains all you need to know about this coach. You only pull the infielders �IN� with less than 2 outs, and the game on the line. All they needed was a force-out at first base to end the inning! His mind is too atrophied to even keep track of how many outs there were in the inning! In one last bit of �bench coaching�, Codeman then called to Weebles �Coach- two outs!� Weebles then yelled at the infielders � Play normal depth�. The base runner on third scored on a wild pitch, and then the game ended on the steal of home plate by the other runner. The pitcher for Mac at this point was Weebles� favorite junior, who will have to be the ace of the staff next spring. He takes way too long delivering the ball to the plate, and the other team�s coach noticed it right away. The runner slid into home plate about the time Jordan stood up to catch the pitch and attempt a tag. The runner was already safe! A fitting end to a disappointing season���.. I hope that this entry doesn�t make me sound like a whining, bitter parent. I�m not. When Weebles pulled his promise to Codeman of him starting in right field a few days before the season began (he just couldn�t keep those talented underclassmen off of the field!), I told him he had two choices: Tell this worthless school administrator go fuck himself, or take the demotion, stay with the team because you love the game, and prove him wrong every chance you got to play. He chose to do the latter. He did it quite well. He hit the ball hard in almost every game he played in, and hit for power, too. He only struck out 5 times (that was what Weebles complained about when I asked him what he thought Codeman should work on , after the last game last season), and his on-base percentage was near .500, which is pretty damn good. He made (as I said above) no errors in the field, and made several good plays at first base in the few games he put him there. He was, for better or worse, an extra coach for the team. He coached first base in most of the games, and did a great job of moving the runners around. He constantly reminded Weebles of small things that slipped past Weebles (mistakes on the ball/strike counts, runners leaving base early for the other team on sacrifice flies, things like that), and never lost his enjoyment of the game while in the dugout. He was the player who kept the other players loose, cracking jokes about the other team�s pitcher or whatever. He gained the respect of the other parents, and had them pulling for him to get more playing time all season. Whenever he stepped to the plate, the crowd always grew louder, urging him to get a hit. That is one memory from this sad season that will stay with me in the future. He deserved better. He deserved a coach who rewarded him for his hard work and his ability, not a worn-out, never-was coach who played his favorites instead of the best players. He will be a better person down the road from this experience. I can promise you this much: if he does coach sports teams later in his life (his goal, btw), he won�t play the mind games Weebles did to him and his teammates. Sometimes you have to see the worst to know how to be your best. He received a good example of that, this baseball season���..
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