smokeminside posted:I was the starting pitcher in the second game of a dbl header (two 7-inning games) for the very poor college baseball team I was on against the always powerful Lewis-Clark State. Was down 4-0 in the first inning before I'd even warmed up. L-C State had scored 10 (!) runs in the top of the 7th in the first game, so they were probably exhausted. Anyway, we scratched our way back into the game and tied it in the bottom of the 6th. I go out in the top of the seventh and the first guy up hits this towering fly ball to left. Our Left fielder goes back to the fence (one of those chicken wire deals with dark green balsa wood slats. We unrolled it out in the spring, and then rolled it right back up again in May.) reaches high as he can and leans back as far as he can and snags the ball. One out. Next guy up hits this screaming line drive to left center that our centerfielder, who was freaky fast, catches at the fence at full speed and then literally breaks THROUGH the fence, sprawling to the ground. The ball stayed in his mitt! It took a few minutes to patch up the fence and then I turned to face this Paul Bunyan-esque guy. He smacks a double to right center. Three pitches, three rockets. Coach comes out and says, "You've about had it, haven't you?" "Nah, I can get this guy. No problem." "Really?" "Yeah. I'm keeping the ball." All the while I'm thinking, "Take the FREAKING BALL. Get me outta here!" But he couldn't read my mind, and he left me in. I needed just one more out to give us a fighting chance to win in the bottom of the 7th. I decide to throw the guy nothing but changeups. Catcher comes out after the third one got me to a 2-1 count. "What the hell are you doing?" "I'm not gonna throw a fastball. You saw what happened to the last three fastballs?" "Ok, well, you got nothing to lose except the damn game." "No fastballs."
Next pitch was the slowest I could throw and still have the ball reach the plate. Guy took this swing like he was trying to chop down a tree and completely missed it. Now he was very unhappy and all thirty people in the crowd were going wild. Then I did throw a fastball and miraculously tied up his swing. He poppled out to first for the third out. We got up, our leadoff guy hit a triple, and the next guy hit a sac fly walk off. It's the only game I won in college that I really remember. Remember the losses much more clearly.
Love that story, Smoke, but it needs to be in the "strangest, funniest things that happened.." thread. As a LHP, there were a couple guys in Legion ball that just had my number every time. Didn't matter where I threw it, what kind of pitch, they CRUSHED me. I was a competitive SOB and HATED getting beat or getting hit hard. But these two...
One of them hit a ball that looked like it was still climbing when it went over the full-height light tower beyond the fence in left center. I can still see that hit clear as day almost 40 years later. It was so impressive, I couldn't even get myself to be mad. It was a first for me. Not the "getting crushed" part but the "couldn't get mad" part. BTW, if you are waiting for the story to finish with my redemption, sorry. That never happened. If you're waiting for the ending where they ended up making it in the bigs... nope. That didn't happen either. They were just put on this earth to completely P!$$ me off. But I'm not bitter....