In the final bit of coaching before arriving in Jakarta, Coach G was able to get the much appreciated 1:30 start time on Friday.  The A team landed at 6pm on Thurs, the B team dropped anchor at 10pm and the Turkey Gas experiment opened up on the local bar scene.  Oh yeah!!  The gas were turkeys of another feather, but there were quite a few likenesses off the field nonetheless.  By lunchtime on Thursday early signs of a successful merger were peeking out, and that my friends would not be good for anyone staring across the Turkey Gas from the other dugout….  Or so we thought.

 

With Elk in the air, the last Turkey Gas in transit, we saddled up one man short.  First up, the Riiiiver Rats, who were beginning their 20th Jakarta anniversary celebration against the newly formed Turkey Gas.  Neither the Gas nor the Turks roll over against our Singaporean friends, but together, we did more than that.  We rolled over, we sat, we stayed, we barked, we heeled and then we curled up for an afternoon nap to watch the Rats begin their 20th anniversary tour with a 7-1 win over the Turkey Gas.  We had a few hits, but we didn't string them together and only one guy had 2 hits…  The gloves were a bit erratic, but the reality was without getting more than 2 hits in an inning were weren't going to beat the Canadian consulate's bingo team at softball.  Time for a strategy session at the pool…

 

It was nice to get a dip in and socialize a bit more, but all of us were at a loss for words.  DP may lounge around by the pool, but between the lines, we wouldn't trade him.  Hasbun, Heck, Dix, Lau, you name it, we wouldn't change one guy on this squad, we just didn't perform on the field.  Was it the bats?  Maybe we should have signed up for bp in Hong Kong as Ryno suggested.  Was it the month layoff since the HKSPSA playoffs?  Was it the bintang Thursday night?  Elk should add some speed and another stick, but we were all good with the squad.  Perhaps things were beginning to turn when the Rats were kind enough to help ease the pain and pick up the bill at the pool, which was much appreciated.

 

Next up, 6:30pm against Blok Mads.  The Indo afternoon rains pushed us back to a 9:30 start time on the big field.  A little extra rest and reflection couldn't hurt after the Rats performance.  However, confidence and execution are two separate animals indeed, and a 12-0 deficit after an inning and half was not what the Turkey Gas had in mind for the late evening start.  After clawing back with 6 runs of our own in the bottom of the 2nd, the Indo all-stars continued their hit parade and we closed out the last game of the night losers 19-7 against a 2nd very beatable team in our bracket.  More bad news surfaced for the turkey gas with our first heat related injury when Dixon pulled his hammy.

 

The softball wasn't going to plan, but luckily we had our resident expert Mr. Flynn to navigate the night life and avoid the troubled waters we found on the field.  Before we could enjoy the local scene, though, we had a little team meeting at the Atlet with our two close friends and mentors Johnny Walker and Glen Morangie.  Although these two gentlemen didn't know much about the game of softball, they knew quite a lot about psychology and the mental state of readiness needed to be successful.  We soaked in all the wisdom they could provide during our 90 minute session and it was on to Red Square to relax a bit before tomorrow's triple header leading off with the Guzzlers.

 

Normally a 10:00am start time seems a bit early but after an 0-2 start the Turkey Gas were ready to show that we belonged in this tournament and the Guzzler's were the perfect team to make a statement against.  The gloves were pretty solid and the outfield legs were in top gear chasing balls down.  We strung together 2-4 hits in an inning throughout the game, but the result was a painful and sobering 17-6 loss.  The Turkey Gas experiment had led to an 11th place standing across the 12 championship teams through the 1st 3 games, tied with our Hong Kong Brethren the Hogs, both at 0-3.  Perhaps the most memorable event from the game was when we were down lateRonzilla stepped into the box and coiled then uncoiled his frame with such violence that he fell to the ground trying to leave the plate on a shot to third.  With cat like reflexes he was up and had the motor churning to first.  Although he was easily out, he helped crystalize the no-nonsense, no quit attitude that had been developing as we were taking out lumps in the first 3 games.  Back to the pool.

 

It's funny how the pool seemed a bit more refreshing when we were 0-3 than when we were 0-1, kind of like how warm absolute is more refreshing than Chinese fire water.  After a few jokes about our play coach G stated matter of factly, "you need to learn how to lose before you learn how to win".  Well for all of us, it was fair to say we had enough loser training for the weekend.  De-facto coach Savino, who had been settling into his dugout leadership responsibilities, let the squad know that without a win against silverback at 2pm followed by a win over the Saigon Monkeys at 4pm, we would be spectators on Sunday.  In a relaxed conversation we shared notes of who's sticks were heating up, Ryno, Flynn and Heck's bats were beginning to fire bullets up the middle so they needed to move up in the order.  The D was playing solid although not spectacular so no need to change much there.  The base coaching was aggressive and smart, but there just weren't enough guys on base.  The line up adjustments were done.  The level of confidence we had in each other was unquestioned.  By 3pm, we would know if we still had a chance to play on Sunday.

 

Silverbacks had looked pretty solid when we watched them play earlier.  Of course the Guzzlers beat them, but they were very competitive against Blok Mads, lost to Saigon because of one sloppy inning and they beat the Riiiiver Rats.  In years past, they would be considered a pushover, but the 3rd best Indo team in the tourney was given more respect than you'd pass along to your elders with Sunday at stake for the Turkey Gas.  Leading off we scored 2 runs and for the first time in over 24 hours the Turkey Gas had a lead.  The locals tossed up a donut in the bottom half and we had won our first inning of the tourney.  It had taken 20 innings, but we had done it!!  Another 4 in the top of the 2nd inning was answered with 2 by the Silverbacks.  6-2 after winning back to back innings.  A pair of bullets in the third was followed by a one run top of the 4th by the Turks and a 7-2 going into the bottom half.  2 more in for the locals with 1 out and a man on first.  The momentum was quickly shifting.  A line drive was hit into the hole between Heck and Foley, Foley dove fully extended and "POP" the ball found the leather.  With the runner sprinting off first expecting to reach third on the play, Foley quickly hopped up took two steps and dove with 180lbs of mass and a double fisted tag at the silverback lunging back to the bag.  The inning was over and the Silverback momentum was snatched away in only seconds.  The O responded with a devastating 8 run inning followed by 5 more in the final two frames to toss up a 20-6 victory over the locals.  The Turkey Gas had found some consistency at the plate as they had reacquainted themselves with the composite bats.  Ryno, Flynn and Heck responded to the moves up in the line-up with ropes up the middle fueling the big innings and Eddie G produced at the bottom of the line up with 4 hits.  DP and Foley showed some signs of pop with their otherwise quiet sticks, and the rest of the boys took a little air out of their shots as balls dropped in front of outfielders and in the gaps.  It was a hitting exhibition that we hadn't seen for several tourneys by either the Gas or the Turks.  All of this makes for good bar talk but if you don't play on Sunday, then you'd rather tuck this under the rug and focus on the next tourney.

 

The Saigon Monkeys stood between the Turkey Gas and #4 seed in our bracket and a 8am game on Sunday morning.  The hit parade started early and ended early.  The bats were simply on fire.  In 5 innings of O, the Turkey Gas tossed up 21 runs.  The defense was full on 120% hustle.  Eddie G ran into the wall in left at full speed nearly making a snow cone catch that he had no right to be within 10 feet up.  Spider Monkey wouldn't let a ball land in the grass in front of him as he put the wheels in over drive to get to any flare or gapper off the Saigon bats.  Ryno motored up the line to snatch a ball just before it would have landed foul.  I had the pleasure of coaching first when Dixon stepped up with his bad hammy to pinch hit, and proceeded to hit a laser between the first baseman and the line before the first baseman could even flinch.  As Dix pulled in with a standup double, the first baseman looked over with a dead pan voice and said "I wasn't expecting your bench jockey to do that".  I offered up my cup when Dix stepped up next after advising that the bench jockey missed that pitch.  The rest of us just played our part to squeeze any ball our way and hit the cut off.  The Turkey Gas had moved from tied for last to land in the 8th and final playoff spot in the tourney. 

 

Wow!!  Things had come together nicely in the afternoon, but the boys were a bit taxed both mentally and physically after 5 games in 28 hours.  The dinner plans were pushed back an hour and the squad headed out for a little initiation for our young gun Mr. Russell.  At most spas there is a hot pool and a cold pool, well at this one there was a hot pool, a warm pool and a liquid freezer disguised as an innocent cold pool.  The veterans understood the value of the cold pool to help the muscles recover from 2 days of long toss and wind sprints, but the rookie …well there's a bit of a learning curve.  One by one the vets popped in and froze for a few seconds in the therapeutic arctic water, then hopped back into the hot pool to rejuvenate the muscles….  But that's not how Brent rolled.  He's an original and he's a tournament player through and through.  In the words of Bill Murray from Caddyshack "Cannonball commin'", and gallons of near zero degree water began flowing out as Brent landed a perfect 10 in the middle of the cold pool.  After resurfacing and before taking a breath, he slid across the tiles like a porpoise at Seaworld and into the hot pool.  Stage one of the initiation complete with flying colors by Mr. Russell.  With Flynn continuing to run point for the nocturnal activities, we landed at a quiet restaurant for a team dinner and a little celebration with our President Cup Semi-Finals run.  Great comraderie at the table with the entire squad as we watched Savino enjoy his steak while the kitchen fumbled around with the entres for the rest of us.  3 hours later dinner had ended and it was time for a quick drink or two then off to get some rest at the Atlet

 

Eddie G had been fine tuning his texting skills and was quite strong with the wake up texting in the mornings for the squad in particular.  8:00am game start with 7:30 warm ups meant a 7:15 text and like a swiss clock, there it was at 7:15 "reminder, bp at 7:30, please confirm you are awake and coming".  In our haste to depart for Brent's initiation we didn't study the brackets so when we arrived, we learned our opponent was the Jakarta Santa Fe team.  John Davis usually had his boys playing for the Championship on Sunday so we anticipated this was going to be a bunch of fresh legs zigzagging across the grass on D and slapping the ball over the Hong Kong infield on O.  Should we go with a short fielder?  Should we play them straight up?  Let's worry about that after we bat in the top of the first.  To be honest, we didn't keep a book and the balls were coming off the bats so quick, it's tough to remember who did what  ….except when DP stepped to the plate in the 7 slot with the bases juiced and 1 out.  A double play and it's a 3 run inning, a hit and the parade continues on.  DP shook off a tough couple days at the plate and early signs of the flu, and hit a shot 2/3 the way up the 30 foot net to clear the bases and we had a 6 run lead.  The sticks continued to pound John Davis' meatballs and after walking up to the plate 14 times in the first the inning, we had a 10 run lead.  Mr. Davis was shaking his head as his defense made 4-5 errors and the turkey gas rung up 8-9 hits.  Santa Fe answered with a donut and we put up another 7 runs in the top of the second with a 2nd bomb by DP off the wall keeping the defense guessing.  DP pushed the outfield back and the rest of us hit in front of the outfield for most of the game and we finished with a 21-8 beat down of a Sante Fe team that had given headaches to the Hong Kong boys in years past.  When there was a chance of a momentum shift there was a defensive play to deflate Santa Fe.  In the 3rd with plenty of time on the clock for Sante Fe to make a run Spider Monkey started the front side of a double play with a routine catch 30 feet from the wall and Ryno ended the double play with a stretch at home to catch a one hop bullet that buzzed Wayno's ear on the way in.

 

After we watched the Rats beat the other Saigon team by one, the rematch with the Rats was on.  Softball had become fun again for the Turkey Gas, but there was a little unfinished business with the Rats that needed addressed before we returned to the Kong.  The line up was set Elk, Monkey, Hasbun, Flynn, Heck, Foley, Plestad, Ryno, Eddie, Wayno.  Brent in the box at first, Dix wavin' us in at third and Ronzilla working the dugout.  I really can't overstate how each guy on the squad had used every ounce of energy and softball iq to get us out of the 0-3 hole we had dug for ourselves since the Guzzlers loss.  62 runs on offense, no walks from the chairman on the mound, lead off hits, two out hits, tight defense, and no outs running the bases in the last 3 games.  Add it up, the starting line up was a combined 400 years old and the oldest Hong Kong squad in memory playing for a championship.  The battery was 100+ years and only 3 guys were short of their 40th.  However, the fountain of youth had been found and this team was firing on all cylinders.  As the lower seed we were the visitor once again.  The pregame routine was the same, a few swings in the cage, lossen up the arms and legs, empty a bottle of sun screen, throw back a couple bottles of water and we were ready.  First inning we go down 1,2,3.  The second we go down 1,2,4.  The third 1,3,4.  This was a different team, but so were the Riiiiver Rats.  The score was tied 0-0 going into the 4th.  We strung 3 hits together and put up 2 runs to take the lead for the 4th game in a row.  The Rats answered with 1.  We added another 3 in the top of the 5th.  9 more outs till we get a bit of hardware.  The Rats got two in the bottom of the 5th following the Chairman's first 2 walks in memory before he settled in to close out the inning.  Top 6 a donut for the Turkey Gas.  Bottom 6, Rats led off with a single.  Next hitter layed into a Wayno special.  After a quick look Calvert dropped his head and started pumping his arms and legs at full speed headed for the wall.  Within 3 steps of the wall he stretched out his arm to full length and caught the bomb in the deepest part of the park.  When the spider monkey had squeezed the leather, the lead off runner was already standing on 3rd.  Chris tossed the ball into Heck who walked it over to first base for a double play.  No runs for the Rats in the 6th.  The Turkey Gas stretched the lead to 7-2 in the top of the 7th and just needed three outs to win the hardware.  The lead off batter hit a high fly to Flynn in right, one down.  2nd batter hit an absolute rocket up the middle that Wayne gloved on one hop as the ball was about to take off his shoulder and tossed lightly to first, two down.  Infield pop to the Chairman for the final out and the hardware was ours.

 

As we were congratulating each other on the mound, Coach G finally arrived to the party from his weekend home in left field with a deviant grin on his face.  The smile remained as we exchanged fist bumps, hugs and high fives, then he spoke.  "Gentlemen, great great win.  It was a pleasure to play with you.  I didn't want to say it earlier, but I made a bet with the Rats that we need to settle."  The bet was a rookie race and what would turn out to be the 2nd half of the initiation for Brent.  First rookie from either team to circle the bases with a brief 12oz pit stop at 2nd would be the winner.   After the Rats backed away from the underwear sprint, we had to settle on topless.  The rats entry was a recent grad from Nebraska who had a Div III wide receiver profile.  For the Turkey Gas, Mr. Russell walked up with the rough shave, knee brace and receding hairline.  No rookie is too old or has been under the knife too frequently for the Turkey Gas.   ….And they were off, trailing the Rat by a couple steps when rolling into second, Brent made up ground by consuming 12 oz of bintang faster than the Shangri La taps could pour 12 hours earlier.  With a 2-3 step lead on the Rat in route to home, Brent never let up and sprinted home to a half step win to give the Turkey Gas a 2-1 edge over the Riiiiiver Rats for the weekend.  Well done rookie. 

 

After a humbling 0-3 start, the Turkey Gas rose up to reach the President's cup and beat the top 2 seeds to win the third Hong Kong trophy in 5 years in Jakarta, and the first Turkey Gas championship!!  Spider Monkey was rewarded for his play in left center field with his 2nd President's Cup gold glove (2006 and 2012).  Hasbun, Heck, Spider Monkey, Flynn and Eddie G carried the offense through the 4 game win streak.  DP and Foley provided a bit of pop.  The chairman was more effective than you could ever imagine in a 6-10ft tourney with his pitch movement.  He had more balls called high or low than any other pitcher in the tourney, but kept the hitters guessing as he was consistently within 4 inches of the plate on the "legal" pitches.  The rest of the squad made timely hits, stretched singles to doubles and played solid defense.  It was truly a team effort to win in Jakarta.