Of all of AWA's championships, this one, in our very first season, was in many minds the most improbable and the most special. The team was woefully inconsistent throughout the regular season, as games that showed off the team's raw talent were followed by efforts of comical ineptness. That the team would even find itself in the title game at the end of the year was really beyond anyone's expectations. There was, after all, Mohawk Packing.
Mighty Mohawk Packing blew through the Spring half of the 1975 season like they owned it, routinely scoring in the 20's and 30s while finishing the half with a perfect 6-0 record. Interestingly, the Mohawks' most difficult victory was a 13-8 win over AWA, a game in which we held an early lead, but which we ultimately threw away with critical errors late in the game. With their spot in the '75 championship game secured, Mohawk Packing was moved up to a higher division for the second half, while AWA, which had split its six-game schedule, remained in the C-2 division for the Summer half. Whoever won the 2nd half earned the right to meet Mohawk Packing in the league finals on September.
The second half started well enough for AWA, as we avenged our Opening Day loss with an impressive 10-6 win over Alaskan Club. But that was followed up by a sloppy error-filled disaster a week later. AWA just could not get out of its own way. But that all changed in our next game against rival P&J Air Conditioning. Facing yet another defeat, trailing 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh, AWA rallied for six runs after two were out to pull off the thrilling 9-8 victory. From there the team would not lose another game.
Pitcher Earl Yagi was as unhittable as a slow pitch hurler can be, and the team found the solid defense that had been missing all season. AWA easily won the next three regular season games to finish the second half with a 5-1 record, good enough for a share of first place with good old P&J Air Conditioning, whose only loss was our seventh inning thriller weeks before. To solve the tie, the league scheduled a playoff doubleheader at Calabazas Park. AWA and P&J would play the opener for the for the Summer season title, with the winner advancing to meet Mohawk Packing for the overall league championship.
This September evening was a particularly muggy Indian Summer night, and the combination of sweat and dirt proved to be a grimy combination. The playoff game against P&J proved to be a grueling and highly-charged effort, with AWA finally pulling out a 10-7 extra inning victory. The guys were physically and emotionally drained as they gulped down water and tried to cool off before the second game, the much-anticipated meeting with the powerful Mohawks, who had been doing some cooling off of their own in the stands watching AWA grind out its win.
There was an impressive turnout of AWA fans this night, and the Mohawks had their supporters out in force as well, giving this game the added element of raucous cheering on both sides, aided by a fair amount of alcohol present in the Mohawk Packing stands.
The game started auspiciously for AWA as Earl retired the Mohawks in order in the top of the first. Then, in the bottom of the inning, after Gary Matsushita and Neil Christie each hit singles, Steve Barrett kept up his second half hitting tear by blasting a three-run homer to left. The guys were all fired up. This game was ON!
But then things quickly turned bad for AWA, as miscues in the field opened the gates for the Mohawks, a team that didn't need much help to do what they did best, which was scoring runs in bunches. They pushed across four runs in the second, added two more in the third, and then posted four more in a mistake-filled fourth to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Steve provided a couple of highlights, throwing out a runner at the plate to put an end to the second inning, and then squashing the rally in the fourth when he picked off a runner who had rounded the bag too aggressively at first. Both were really nice defensive plays, but these only kept the game from becoming even more of a rout than it already was.
As the game stretched into the middle innings, the AWA players were slowly succumbing to the withering humidity. Though Mohawk failed to score in the fifth inning, they were totally in command, and the boys of AWA were gassed, frustrated, and demoralized. The rowdy Mohawk fans serenaded every AWA miscue with laughter and mock cheers. Okay, so AWA wasn't expected to win against these guys, but the realization that such a good stretch run could end so dismally was really disheartening. What the team needed now was a miracle. Or a couple of heroes.
Enter Steve Barrett and John Koeplin. Steve had already been AWA's sole highlight to this point, and with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, the AWA slugger gave AWA life by drilling a two-run triple to center, cutting the score to 10-5. Mike Applegate then reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, which got Steve home to make it 10-6. After Dave Jackson lined out, Pat Koeplin stroked a single to left. putting runners at first and second. John, who had entered the game as a replacement in the fourth, then stepped up and drove a towering fly deep down the left field line. The ball landed just inches inside the foul line and just beyond the reach of the left fielder, rolling into the distant night for a three-run homer. AWA had cut the deficit to 10-9.
The suddenly rattled Mohawks tried to get something going in the sixth, but they failed to score, and AWA roared ahead in the bottom of the inning. Tom Sukup started it with a one-out single through the middle. Steve then roped a hit to center that skipped through the charging outfielder. Tom came all the way around to score on the error as Steve raced into third. One out later, Dave smacked a hit to center. AWA had the lead!
The wildly vocal Mohawk fans, who had been having a raucous time in the stands, now began to fight amongst each other and argue with the Mohawk players, who, in their frustration, began yelling back. Meanwhile the AWA stands were roaring with every hit and everyone in the dugout was on his feet.
Pat slapped a single to left. Dave, running hard, made an ill-advised dash for third, and got himself hung up between the bases. He was a dead duck, but the relay man threw the ball away. Dave pulled safely into third as Pat scooted into second. John then stepped up and drove the AWA side into a frenzy with a line drive single into center field. Both runners crossed the plate, giving AWA a 13-10 lead. It was a madhouse. Players and fans alike were in a frenzy. A fight broke out in the Mohawk stands. The whole scene was surreal.
As AWA fans cheered with every pitch, Earl finished off the bewildered Mohawks in the seventh. With the final out, a Tony Franklin to Gary force play at second, the players erupted in celebration, mobbing each other like we had never won anything before. This championship was the game AWA couldn't possible win, but did!
After the game, the Mohawk manager came over and offered his reluctant congratulations. "You know," he said, "if we played you guys ten times, we'd win nine of those."
Maybe. But not this night. Not this unbelievable dream of a night.
