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I was making my next start on just three days rest. But, I hadn't lasted long in my last start and I was 100% fully rested.
Our opponent was the Vero Beach Dodgers.
Have I mentioned that I hate the Dodgers?
It was a home game so hopefully I wouldn't embarrass myself this time.
The Dodgers got a run on two hits in the top of the first.
We got the run back in the bottom of the first.
They didn't score in the top of the second. After five consecutive innings of giving up at least one run, I had finally gotten a goose egg.
In te top of the third, they got a runner on third with two out. Their cleanup hitter, Manny Francois, stepped to the plate. The first pitch was a 90 mph fastball low in the strike zone right over the middle of the plate. Francois hit the ball but right on the ground at me. I snagged it with my bare hand!
That stings!
Then threw to first to retire the side.
I was feeling like I was getting into a groove again.
Then the bats got going. Three straight hits to start the bottom of the third and we were up 2-1 after three.
They went scoreless again in the top of the fourth. I still couldn't get a three up three down as each inning, they would get one hit.
In the bottom of the fourth, poor Manuel DelRossario, who was hitting just .138 got an RBI single and we were up 3-1.
Then, in the top of the fifth, they got runners on the corners with one out and the heart of the order coming up. Austin Gibbs was up.
The count was 2-2.
He liked the high outside stuff. He had fouled off a fast ball that was a little high and outside. But he didn't expect the curveball to go there.
Swing and a miss!
Strike three!
There were two away.
Francois was up again.
Francois was 0 for 2.
He fouled off the first pitch but laid off the next three as I kept the pitches low. I had thought the next pitch, a low changeup, was a strike but the ump disagreed.
Sandy, who can outspoked at times, then disagreed with the ump. But that is a battle you can never win.
Down 3-1 and seeing the umpire was not giving me anything low, I came hard inside with a 93 mph fastball right at the numbers.
Francois may have swung at ball four. It just tipped off his bat and rolled forward a bit and Sandy grabbed it and fired it to first for the third out.
Another jam. Another escape.
In the bottom of the fifth, Greg Sparks got an RBI single and Sandy got an RBI on a sacrifice fly. The heart of our order had come through where there's had not.
We were now up 5-1.
The Dodgers would not get a hit in the sixth but they did get a leadoff walk so I still didn't have a one two three inning.
I thought it would happen in the seventh when I struck out the first two batters. But a walk and a single followed and here came Francois again.
Francois swings at the first pitch constantly so I put a curveballover the plate and he grounded it to second.
Making him 0 for 4 for the game. With runners on base every time he had come to the plate.
Greg Sparks got another RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. And we had a 6-1 lead with two innings to go.
Then it finally happened.
The top of the eight.
One!
Two!
Three!
Punctuated with a strikeout to retire the side!
In the bottom of the eighth, a double by Rodney McCray brought two runs home. Roberts added two more with a triple. David Dunlop then got a run-scoring single.
I came out to pitch the ninth with an 11-1 lead. I was at 121 pitches but I could pitch more.
The first batter grounded it right back to me and then our manager signaled the bullpen for the lefty and I was replaced by Mitch Williams.
I ended up with 8.1 innings pitched, one run on seven hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
But the player of the game was Norman Roberts.
4 for 5. A double. A triple. 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.
And Scott Thompson went 4 for 4 with a double, triple and a walk and had scored four times.
They were named the numbers two and three performers of the day in the Florida State League.
For myself, my ERA in Florida was down to 3.98 and I was now the ace of the staff.
After the game, Chris Hammond's fan girl came up to me outside thhe stadium.
"I thought you said you were the batboy," she scolded me.
"I am. But they let me pitch once every five days or so."
"Oh...."
Oh, brother.
Thenext day was Fourth of July. We had a 1:05 start to a holiday game. I went to the stadium in uniform to attend the Fourth of July festivities. One of the events included an American Flag Bikini Contest.
And wouldn't you know it.
That same girl was there once again.
Oh brother.
I'm not sure who won. It wasn't her. She got cut in the semifinals.
I may be biased but I think if Beth would have walked onto that field in an American flag bikini, they would have cancelled the contest and awarded her the prize right then and there.
$250. Not a bad prize for doing nothing more that looking good in a bikini.
We were playing the Vero Beach Dodgers again. It was one of the things I really liked about the Florida State League much better than the California League.
The Dodgers suck here!
Vero Beach is last in our division with a 29-40 record.
It's a good thing they held the bikini contest during pregame ceremonies because the game itself was marred by rain.
It ended up being called in the seventh inning was us ahead 4-2.
Chris Jones got the win, going six innings, allowing two runs on fuve hits, walking five and striking out four.
We went back to the hotel and sat out the thunderstorm in our rooms. Thankfully, the weather chased the groupie girls away.
I called Beth and we talked a few minutes before she went to a fireworks show.
Plans were being made for her to come with my family to Florida at the end of July.
I was looking forwards to that!
The storm continued on through the next day, causing the game to be cancelled. It would be rescheduled as a double header on September 13.
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