On a chilly and wet September evening, in which nothing was at stake except for survival in a trivial end-of-season tournament, the boys of AWA Enterprises played what was arguably one of the greatest games in team history.
The final tournament of the 1982 season was troubled from the outset. An early winter storm had been dumping water on Cupertino's Memorial Park for several days leading up to the weekend, and by Friday evening, when the tournament got underway, the infield had been reduced to a muddy mess. A ground ball was as likely to find a puddle than an infielder's glove, and the outfield was even worse. The grass had not been mowed because of the week-long storm, and the swamp-like conditions made for some treacherous play.
The sun poked out from time to time, allowing the tournament to get underway, but the rains continued to fall periodically, creating delays. A couple of the games scheduled for Friday got pushed into Saturday. AWA was originally scheduled for a 9:00 AM first pitch, but we were delayed five hours before the team could finally take the field. The result, a 15-13 loss, was followed by another downpour that delayed action for several more hours. By Saturday evening, we would have happily accepted a cancellation of the event.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that we were able to play our second game, in which the team eked out a narrow 5-4 victory. But this win was not accepted happily. Being put on hold throughout the weekend with no certainty as to when would play again, the team had checked out emotionally. It was the end of a long season, and by late Sunday, bored, tired, and frustrated, nobody cared.
News that AWA’s 3rd game would be played Sunday night wasn’t received very well. The guys toyed with the idea of just walking away. The temperature dropped considerably once the sun went down, and it was still drizzling. Nobody really wanted to play, but the guys who were still hanging around decided to give it a go. What spectators we had remained huddled under blankets, hoping that, win or lose, this one would end quickly.
Our opponents were a team called Curtis Machines, who were no happier about the situation and the conditions than we were. But they jumped out quickly scoring three times in the first. AWA manufactured a single run in the bottom of the inning on an error, a walk, and two flyouts.
The quagmire in the infield hampered AWA in the second, as a pair of errors gave that run right back. A home run in the third inning increased the score to 5-1. Tom Sukup ended the inning with a terrific throw to pick off a baserunner who had rounded first base too aggressively. It would be the first of a team-record three outfield assists for Tom this night.
Curtis Machines kept their offense going in the fourth, as another AWA miscue and four hits brought in three runs, giving Curtis Machines an 8-1 lead. Tom again ended the carnage with his arm, gunning down a runner at third to end the inning. In the fifth, Curtis had scored a run, and was poised for more when, on an apparent sacrifice fly, the runner on third was called out on appeal for leaving the base too soon. But AWA was still dying a slow death, and as AWA came to bat in the bottom of the fifth, the team trailed 9-1. Only Tom’s arm and their foolish base running prevented the score from being much worse.
The situation was clearly hopeless. Everyone in the dugout was wet, freezing, and beyond miserable. We not only trailed by eight runs to this point, but the offense was still looking for its first hit! Losing by the ten-run rule couldn’t come quickly enough. The team’s collective body language said it all. We were done.
One of the officials running the tournament was seated in a booth next to the AWA dugout, and he had been annoyingly cheerful throughout the game. As we shuffled into the dugout for the bottom of the fifth, he poked his head into the dugout and chirped, “This isn’t over! You guys just need to go mental!” We weren’t interested.
Joe Sammut batted first in the inning, and broke up the no-hitter by lining a drive to left-center that one hopped the fence for a triple. Mike Applegate stung a hit to right, and a run was across. Tom then blooped a hit to a hit into a pond in left-center. The outfielder had trouble picking the ball out, and runners ended up at second and third. After an out, Earl Yagi walked to load the bases. Sherman Applegate then lined a hit over second base to score another run.
Gary Matsushita then rolled one to short. The force was made at second, but the speedy Gary beat the relay to first by an eyelash, allowing Tom to score. More importantly, it kept the inning alive. Neil Christie walked, loading the bases again, and then Steve Barrett picked on the first pitch he saw, lining a single to right, scoring two runs and sending Neil to third. The score was now 9-6 and the frozen attitudes in the dugout were certainly warming up.
The sparse and uninvolved support we had in the stands were still huddled under blankets when Greg Brown stepped in. Someone from the stands yelled for the AWA slugger to get ahold of one. Greg took a strike, and then tore into the next pitch, sending it high into the night in right center field. The screams said it all as the ball cleared the fence for a three-run homer. The game was tied!
Greg was still being congratulated in the dugout when Joe stepped up for the second time in the inning. On the first pitch, Joe drove one deep to right field. The ball crashed off the fence as the AWA catcher raced to third with a triple. When the relay from the outfield was mishandled, Joe alertly sprinted home with the go-ahead run. Mike smashed one over third, legging it into second for a double. Tom followed with a walk, as the Curtis Machines pitcher raged at the umpire over the ball four call. Dave then rolled one wide of first. The first baseman made a diving stop of the ball, but had no play on Dave at first. Instead, he jumped to his feet and fired the ball to third in an attempt to pick off Mike, who had made an aggressive turn around the bag. A good throw would have had him, but the ball sailed high and wide. Mike scampered home while Tom and Dave moved up to second and third. Earl then followed with a clutch rope to right for a hit, scoring both runners. A 12-run inning! We had definitely gone mental.
But the players from Curtis Machines were also fired up. And now they were also angry, as the shouts and exchanges from the visitor’s dugout clearly indicated. AWA had a 13-9 lead, but Curtis Machines was not dead, not by a long shot, and they took their wrath out on Earl in the top of the sixth. When the inning was finally over, seven runs had crossed the plate. Only another great relay from Tom to Gary to Joe at the plate kept the tally from being higher. Joe practically tackled the runner from scoring for the final out of the inning, but the damage was done. Curtis Machines was back out in front 16-13.
AWA went out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth. And it started raining again. It was fun for a short while, but in these frigid conditions, we just needed this game to be over. As Curtis Machines failed to score in the top of the seventh, the end was in sight.
The hopes of the team sagged further as Greg led off the seventh by flying out. But Joe roped a liner off the glove of the diving second baseman, who deflected it enough into short right field for the hustling catcher to leg it into second for a double. Mike then followed with a short fly that dropped between three converging fielders in the sloppy outfield. The ball fell with a splash and Joe, waiting to see if the ball would be caught, only advanced as far as third, while Mike hustled into second with a double. Tom followed that sliced a double into right-center field, scoring both runners. The tying run was at second!
Dave, in the midst of a terrible slump and who was not playing particularly well this weekend, stepped to the plate. With wife Terry hiding her eyes under her blanket, and everyone else roaring for him to do something, Dave popped out. We were down to our last out.
Up next was Earl, the unimposing lefty with a limp. He carefully picked out his pitch and rifled it over the first baseman’s head for a hit. Tom raced home with the tying run. We had extra innings! Tired? Wet? Cold? Not now! We had gone mental!.
Up to this point the AWA defense had been fairly shaky. The damp conditions didn’t help, but the team had committed five errors and had made some other poor decisions. But in extra innings, the defense was brilliant. In the eighth, Greg made two outstanding plays against the left field fence, the second one a well-timed snag over the fence to prevent a home run. In the ninth, Gary made a sensational dive and throw from shortstop for the first out, and then later, Steve’s sliding catch in the wet grass of right field ended the ninth and prevented Curtis Machines from scoring.
Joe led off the home half of the ninth but was robbed of a hit on diving catch by the left fielder. But Mike made sure no one could make a play on his ball as he scorched a hit over second base. Tom then stepped in and lined one off the pitcher’s leg, which ricocheted to first. Tom was out on a close play, while Mike moved into scoring position at second as the potential winning run. The Curtis Machines infield huddled around the pitcher to decide the next move. The slumping Dave was now up with first base open, and the clutch-hitting Earl, who delivered the tying run in the seventh, was on deck. They decided they wanted no piece of Earl, electing to pitch to Dave.
Terry again hid her eyes in her blanket, not bearing to look, and each player in the dugout was on his feet. Dave wasted no time, lining the first pitch over the shortstop’s head. Mike broke from second and never hesitated rounding third. As the ball got caught up in the wet grass, Mike was able to score standing up.
Dave was mobbed by his teammates. AWA had pulled out the incredible 17-16 win. We were freezing. We were soaked. But we had won this amazing game. And despite the late hour and the fact that it was Sunday night, the team ended up at Ken Morse’s house for a terrific team party that stretched into the early hours. Which was fitting for one of AWA’s Greatest Games.
