BLASTERS WIN SIXTH JAM IN A ROW
Licht, McShanes lead Blasters assault
Of course, it's not as if the Patches didn't pull out all the stops to thwart their arch-rival's plans. Hoping to change the fortunes of his struggling team, Patches captain Chris Spellman began the afternoon by making a bold but desparate managerial decision: He made up an excuse to miss the pre-game player draft, handing the responsibilities to long-time assistant Mike Fornabaio. Although he intended to give his team a fresh start, Spellman's strategy ultimately failed, as the indecisive Fornabaio constructed a roster similar to the teams Spellman had assembled in the past.
"I (messed) up your team," Fornabaio told Spellman when the captain made his grand entrance with three picks to go. Not grasping the significance of the situation, Spellman expressed confidence in the team that Fornabaio had assembled.
"That's when I knew we were in trouble," Fornabaio lamented after the game.
Despite Fornabaio's bleak premonitions, the Patches got off to a hot start, as Keith Emmer launched George McShane's second pitch of the game over the short porch in left field to put the Patches ahead. A pair of hits by Tom Dever and Geoff Bowler put runners on second and third with one out, and Dever scored on a fielder's choice by rookie Ghost Dever to stretch the lead to 2-0.
Undaunted by the early deficit and inspired by Chris Crowley's decision to stack his best hitters at the top of his lineup, the Blasters unleashed a power surge that quashed the Patches' momentum and nearly broke their spirit. George McShane led things off with a double and, two batters later, scored when R.T. McShane blasted a game-tying home run to left field. Rookie of the Year Kevin Gourdine then roped a single, and he scored when fellow rookie Tony Gerrits smacked a majestic home run to left. Mike Campoli and Chris Blakely kept things going with a pair of singles, with Campoli scoring on a Joe Uzzi double.
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| JAMmers marvel at Tony Gerrits' 400-foot fly-ball out in this picture from The JAM satellite (or from Google Maps, maybe; it's hard to tell). |
The Blasters increased their lead to 9-2 with another offensive barrage in the third inning. Joe Rosen and Mike Varenne got things started with a pair of singles. George McShane then singled to drive in Rosen, and Most Valuable JAMmer John Licht smacked a triple to plate Varenne and McShane. Not one to let an RBI opportunity go to waste, R.T. McShane drove in Licht by lofting a sacrifice fly to right.
The resilient Patches, bloodied but not broken by the big bats of the Blasters, finally responded in the top of the fifth. Emmer began the inning with a single and scored on a home run by Tom Dever. A Bowler double, Ghost Dever triple and McDowell double led to another two runs, closing the gap to 9-6.
Sensing a potential momentum shift, the Blasters again turned on the offense, scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth to up their lead to 14-6. Rosen doubled and Varenne singled to put two runners on for George McShane, who smacked a three-run homer to right. Licht then belted his second triple of the game to deep center field and scored when Alex Nalencz' throw sailed over the head of McDowell at third base. R.T. MSshane roped a double and scored on a single by Gourdine.
The two key hits to ignite Blaster rallies by 10-time JAMmer Mike Varenne were a revelation to everyone -- well, everyone other than Blasters captain Chris Crowley, who cast his MVJ vote for Varenne.
"I've been drafting Varenne every year because I knew he was gonna blossom, and I was finally proven right," Crowley said.
With the Blasters sensing the victory, the Patches mounted one last comeback attempt. A trio of singles by Jag Bath, Jason Carpenter and Fornabaio loaded the bases for Emmer, who delivered a two-run double to left. Tom Dever then drove in Emmer with a single, as the Patches closed the deficit to 14-9.
The Patches failed to capitalize on their momentum in the eighth, when the heart of their lineup went down in order. Bowler recorded the loudest out of this group, smashing a deep drive to center that was hauled in by Gourdine. Gourdine, easily the smoothest centerfielder in JAM history, left promptly after the game so that he could take his usual spot in the Brooklyn Cyclones' lineup for their game that evening.
When the Patches came up to bat in the top of the ninth with the bottom half of their lineup scheduled to hit, their prospects looked bleak. To everyone's amazement, this did not present any problems. A pair of singles by Mike Ozga and Spellman and a fielder's choice by Trevor Wiessman put runners on the corners with two outs. The slow-footed Kelvin Cabrera then legged out an infield single on which Ozga scored, at which point unconfirmed reports of Hell freezing over arrived at the field.
But then things got really weird. Following the insertion of Rick Biggs as a pinch runner for the winded Cabrera, Jag Bath, a British kick-boxing champion and Lower East Side bar legend who has played all of two softball games in his life, launched a McShane pitch deep to left field. Everyone watched in amazement as the ball cleared the fence, hit a tree, and bounced back onto the field. Momentarily stunned by Bath's unexpected power and confused as to whether he would be called out for hitting the ball over the left field fence in violation of the rule enacted after the first inning, the Blasters hesitated. Capitalizing on this situation, Wiessmann and Biggs raced home to close the deficit to 14-12, and Carpenter dug in against McShane representing the tying run.
Fortunately for the Blasters, Carpenter did not have Bath's magic in his bat, as he grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.
Although all of the Blasters felt an understandable sense of pride and accomplishment as a result of the historic victory, John Licht found it most satisfying.
Stung by receiving the infamous Testa Award at the 2006 TaliJAM, Licht showed up determined to prove that the softness he had demonstrated last year was an aberration. At one point during the offseason he was so distraught that he called Crowley from an undisclosed drinking establishment in West Yonkers (perhaps the Tyrone House, possibly the Amackassan Club, though probably Nugent's) to complain about his unjust treatment. Licht responded with a sensational game, ripping a pair of triples, while recording five assists and a putout at third base, en route to his second Most Valuable JAMmer honor. Licht also won the award at the 2002 DecathaJAM.
While Licht and the Blasters celebrated, Spellman's calm pre-game disposition took a rapid turn for the worse. Finally, at the post-game press conference, his frustration boiled to the surface and he launched into a profanity-laced tirade.
"The Blasters are who we thought they were," Spellman said. "That's why we took the damn field! If you wanna crown 'em, then crown their ass!"
Well-placed sources have indicated that Spellman's tirade -- combined with the long losing streak, his failure to attend the pre-game draft in violation of JAM rules, and declining revenues generated by the Patches franchise -- are not sitting well with the JAM hierarchy. This has led to speculation that major changes may soon occur.
JAM Commissioner Mike Campoli did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment. However, when asked if he felt confident that his Blasters could knock off the Patches a seventh straight time in 2008, Crowley fueled the speculation by responding, "I feel confident that we'll beat whoever steps on the field against us."
This situation will certainly continue to develop over the coming months. But for now, the Blasters will enjoy their momentous accomplishment, while the future of the Patches hangs in the balance.