Michelangelo and da Vinci were
known to be rivals.
The painter of The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, da Vinci was the elder master. On the other side was Michelangelo, the young
newcomer, and sculptor of David and
painter of the Sistine Chapel.
It is not known precisely
when this tension between two of the finest artists of all time began. Some estimate it was around the time Michelangelo's
David was placed in Florence.
It was David that solidified Michelangelo's place in history.
Over the years in our rivalry against Chicken Shack, we have been the upstart Michelangelo trying to equal the master da Vinci Shackers.
Like Michelangelo, it was our David that secured our place in history.
Our games are not always masterpieces. In fact, the end result sometimes looks like fingerpainting.
Last night we faced the Shackers in the first round of the playoffs on the grass and dirt canvas.
The Cougars put one on the
board in the top of the first inning.
Boom led off with a hit and sped around the bases on Fort’s rip to
center. The Shackers tripled up our
tally in their frame with triples by OB and Spinner along with hits by Jimmy and
Pekar. Shack up 3-1.
In the second inning only
Presch reached base on a hit, and it was not the base that counts. Chicken Shack increased their lead by one
with hits by Hanson and Todd. Shack 4-1.
In the third inning, we went
down quickly 1-2-3. We held them
scoreless as Jimmy and Pekar were left on base.
Shack still up 4-1.
In the fourth inning, both
teams must have been feeling the impact of the heat because we each went down
1-2-3. Shackers winning 4-1.
In the fifth, JD and Joker
led us off with hits. A nice play on
Philthy’s crushed shot forced out JD at third.
Then Bobi and Presch came through to get Joker across the plate. Shack 4, Cougars 2.
In the sixth, other than a
hit by Flandog, we made no noise. In the
bottom of the sixth, the Shacker bats were loud. OB led off with a hit and a fly out by Jimmy
brought Pekar to the plate. Given his
power, we called time out and moved Presch from short center to the outfield so
that we would have four outfielders. We
would happily concede a single up the middle rather than a ball to the right
center fence. Pekar still went to center
and in the spirit of Joker, Stabber, and Boom before him, Fort made an over the
shoulder catch to save what would have most likely been a four bagger. With two outs and OB still on first, we
stayed with our four star outfield.
Spinner got a hit to score a sliding OB (headfirst!!). Flynner then clobbered a left center triple
to score Spinner. Brendan and JK
followed with hits to score Flynner. Big
inning for the Shack scoring three runs to make it a total of seven. Rough inning for the Cougars still hanging on
to two runs.
Down by five runs in the top
of the seventh inning, our last at bats, we had some catching up to do. The Cougars have never had a come from behind
win, so a victory was improbable. Fort and
Rads got solid hits, JD ripped a bobbled smash scoring Fort. 7-3, no outs.
Joker and Philthy got hits scoring Rads and JD. 7-5, no outs.
Bobi pummeled the ball up the middle moving Joker and Philthy to second
and third. Still 7-5, one out. Presch creamed a double just past the
fingertips of the left fielder for two RBIs.
All tied up. With one out and
Presch on second, the Shack intentionally walked Li’l Rads to create force outs
on the bases. Pastor Ted was next at the
dish and punched the ball to the right side advancing Presch to third base and
Li’l Rads to second base. Still all tied
up and two outs and runners on second and third, Shack called time out and made the
decision to intentionally walk Flandog to load the bases.
That brought our 12th hitter
of the inning, Diamond Dave, to the plate.
In his previous two at bats, Diamond told his teammates in the dugout
that he was a bit frustrated with his hitting.
We kept telling him to focus on pitching his high arcs on the mound, and
he would get another crack at the bat.
As David stepped to the plate, Fort, who was coaching third base, called
time out to have a chat with him.
Because the infield was pulled in and shifted on the left side and the
left fielder was playing shallow, Fort told Diamond to try to hit it just over
shortstop. Diamond Dave did not have
much ground to work with because the defense was crowding him. There was really only one spot for him to hit
the ball. David stepped into the batter’s
box. The pitch was lofted into the air
and as it dropped from the sky, he tomahawked the ball and it dropped on the
edge of the outfield green grass scoring Presch for the go ahead run. Cougars up 8-7.
Bottom seven. The Shackers had last bats. After leading our offense, Diamond Dave
walked to the mound to lead our defense.
He got the first batter to hit a grounder for a Bobi to JD force
out. Second batter hit a shot to Rads at
SS who fired it to JD for the second out.
Crafty pitching by David got the last batter on a fouled third strike to
seal the deal.
In baseball, crafty pitchers
are said to pitch a masterpiece, or they are called a Rembrandt. Our David is truly a Seurat, the master of
Pointillism. Like Seurat, Diamond Dave hit
the points all night. Instead of using
paint, though, Dave used a 16” softball and a metal bat.
David’s Tuesday in the Park rivals Seurat’s Sunday in the Park. The work
Diamond Dave created was just as beautiful and will be remembered just as long,
at least by Cougar Nation.
Truly a masterpiece.
