Bad Gnus Roar Back!

What a thrilling victory last night to start off the regular season! Old time Gnus have seen it many times before… the Gnus seem lifeless and hopelessly beaten, only to rise up and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Some of the newer Gnus have seen a few of our other trademarks… blowing large, seemingly safe leads… scoring 3 runs in a game… losing to teams we have no business losing too... drinking to excess in a public park. But they were surprised to hear this type of effort was also a Bad Gnus hallmark.

After a horrid preseason which I have blacked out to such an extent that I only remember about three games, I really wanted the summer season to get off to a rousing start. I was so pumped up, I even went and bought beer for what was sure to be a post-game victory celebration. The Bad Gnus came out of the gate pretty well against the Long Islanders. After only allowing one run in the top of the first, the first three Bad Gnus reached base. It began with Howard Hughes getting around the bases as if he did not have a wrenched back and stretching a single into a triple. Unfortunately, that was all the Gnus could muster and was all of their offense for the first 4 innings. Low lights included several very weak infield pop ups, a swing-and-a-miss and a called strike three that hit the middle of the mat. Names have been withheld to protect the guilty.

Defensively, the Bad Gnus had a couple of rough stretches, but overall played pretty well. Highlights in the early innings were provided by Kevin and Peter. Kevin had 4 put outs in the first 3 innings at home, setting an modern day Arden Park record, including showing off some cat-like reflexes on a pop up. Pete was blazing all over the outfield. He was charging balls and showing off a canon of an arm that intimidated the Long Islanders for the rest of the night. Pete threw out a runner at second who was on first on a single and nailed Mark Schwan at the plate, cutting down a run. The Long Islanders witnessed the arm power that hobbled the infamous One-Nut McGee at the Softball Complex oh so long ago.

Trailing 9-1 going into the bottom of the fifth put a lot of long faces on the Bad Gnus. Many thoughts went from the field to drowning our sorrows in that ice chest. But the sleeping giant arose. The Bad Gnus rallied for 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth, capped by Kevin’s bases-clearing, hard hit double off the second baseman. With the lead cut to 9-6 the Gnus felt they were back in the ball game. They turned three Islander batters into three outs and took a lot of momentum into the bottom of the sixth. All that enthusiasm quickly dropped with a thud as the Bad Gnus went 1-2-3 in their half of the inning.

The last inning did not start off well for the Bad Gnus as the top of the Long Islanders line up produced consecutive hits to lead off the inning. With no outs and runners at first and second, it was time for the Pyramid Defensive Play of the Game. A hard hit ball down the third base line was snared by the outstretched glove of a diving Mike Maves. Mike got up, stepped on the bag at third and fired to Clayton at first for a momentum grabbing double play. The blood on both my knees was well worth the result. (I’ll let you make up your own joke about me having scabs on my knees cuz I’m not going to do it for you.) The next batter flied out leading to a fateful bottom of the seventh.

Doug Hart led off with a solid single to get the bench fired up and John finished with a bloop, infield single to put the first two guys on and the top of the order up. After a couple of outs sandwiched Pete’s single, Mike singled and moved to second as Pete hustled into third. This all set up Kirk to be the hero of night. With the tying run on third and the winning run on second, Mr. Giberson did not disappoint. He singled to left, scoring Pete and Mike just ahead of the throw.

The comeback was complete; 10-9 Bad Gnus! The Bad Gnus sit in first place as of this post. The beer tasted a little better after game, the crowd lasted a little longer. It was good to be back on top for at least a night. The Bad Gnus will continue their march to the most unlikeliest of championship seasons on Monday, July 2 at 7:00. The opponent will be the hated beer rival, The Silver Bullets. Don’t bring that watery crap up in here!