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2003
Late Season Win Streak Carries Over to First Round Upset Victory
The Clips rode their streak of winning the final six regular season games into this road game on Sept. 7, 2003, at Somers High School. Yet Somers seemed to take their opponents for granted, since the Clips were appearing for the first time in the upper-division playoffs. The Orioles players engaged in cocky talk in the first-base dugout before the game, citing their 6-4 win over the Clips on Father’s Day. (See Crows Nest for details.)
The Clips let their play do the talking. Their batters cranked out 20 hits, including four extra-base hits. Two booming homers snapped a scoreless tie in the top of the 4th. Erik Anderson launched a solo shot to right field, and Darren Adler smashed a three-run dinger to right center four batters later to make the score 4-0.
Alas, the lead was short-lived. The Orioles struck back with four in the bottom of the frame. Four singles and a double were aided due to an error in center field. But left fielder Mike McGivney made a great throw to catcher Tony Cairone to nail a runner at the plate and end the bases-loaded jam and keep the score tied at 4-4.
The Clips were not to be denied on this day. Their six-run explosion in the 6th broke open the game and seemed to break the Orioles spirits. Darren knocked in the first run on a sacrifice fly after Tony doubled and Howard Parks singled to open the frame. Following a single to late-season addition George Garcia, Tom Dixon and Todd Matthias each singled in a run, and Mike knocked in the final two runs of the inning with a double.
The Clips added two more runs in both the 7th and the 8th to knock Somers pitching ace John Joyce out of the game. Tom and Scott Perlman each delivered an RBI on ground outs after Howard singled and Darren walked to open the 7th. Larry McGivney and Erik each notched an RBI single in the 8th following a single by Sean Mehegan and a walk to Jerry Ronaghan.
Meanwhile, the Clips turned four 6-4-3 double plays, all of which ended innings. George, the shortstop, and second baseman Julio Fernandez saved numerous runs with their wizardry. (See Key Moments for details.)
Scott, the starting pitcher, held the Orioles to two hits in the final three innings of the complete game win. Scott struck out the Orioles third-place and cleanup hitters to end the game. He ended up fanning four batters while walking none while scattering 13 hits.
The Clips seemed to respond to the rousing pregame pep talk of Tom, the team’s player-manager. He not only informed his teammates of the comments by the Somers players, but he reminded that there was no pressure on the Clips. “Not many people thought we could win this game. But we believed in ourselves and knew we could do it,” said Tom after the players dunked him with the contents of the Gatorade bucket. “It just goes to show how hard work and teamwork can pay off.”
The Clips got contributions from the entire lineup. In addition to the homers, Erik smacked three hits and drove in two runs while Darren had two hits, three RBI, a hit by pitch, and two runs scored. George had three hits and scored one run. George joined the Clips late in the season after the two-time defending champion Clarkstown Tigers folded.
Howard picked up two singles and one walk, and he scored three runs. Julio garnered a single, walk, and one run scored. Mike smacked the RBI double and a single, and Sean notched two singles and a sacrifice bunt. Jerry ended up with a single, walk and one run scored.
Wet and Wild: Rainy Days and Sundays Always Get Me Down
For five seasons, Mother Nature just has not wanted us to play baseball. Well, maybe our wives, girlfriends, children, friends or even our pets must have a pact with the Devil. So of course, if it’s Sunday baseball, it must be raining.
After the 2004 hurricane season socked and soaked the Clippers following a soggy 2003, things remained wet and wild during the following two seasons. In addition to one scrimmage, four regular season games were washed out in 2005, including the first round playoff game against the Westchester Mets that was called with both teams in the parking lot. At least the players showed up on time. The make-up game on Sept. 11 featured a switch from the varsity field to the junior varsity field at Horace Greeley High School and unseasonably warm temperatures. The Clips ended up losing the wild contest 7-6.
Another four games and one scrimmage were postponed in 2006. Yet the final make-up featured the Clips monumental upset of the undefeated Westchester Black Sox in the final game of the regular season. (See Clipper Classics for details.) While only one game was postponed in 2007, that reason is because the Clips dropped out of the league in June.
Two Tropical Storms wreaked havoc in 2004. Three regular season games were wiped out, including two in one weekend due to Tropical Storm Charley. The game scheduled for Aug. 14 vs. the Westchester Mets was a make-up of a rainout with the Clips leading the second game of the June 6 double-header one inning before it was official.
While a shorthanded Clips teams lost the make-up of the make-up to the Mets on Aug. 26 in a midweek game mercifully shortened due to darkness at Greeley, they rallied in dramatic fashion to win the make-up of the Aug. 15 game and qualify for the lower-division playoffs. In defeating the 18+ Bronx Royals 5-4, the winning run scored on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 9th on Aug. 29 at Greeley.
Worst of all was the waterlogged 2003 season when six regular season games and one scrimmage were wiped out, including Opening Day despite the efforts of the one-man grounds crew (Clips player-manager Tom Dixon) to cover the field with tarps the night before and the use of a wet vac to pump water off the flooded infield.
The 2003 playoffs opened two weeks late on Sept. 7. While the upper-level playoffs did end by October, the lower-division Championship Series never finished. The Mets and the New York Knights have been tied at 1-1. Will they eventually settle the final game with water pistols or snow balls?
From Aug. 15, 2004, to the end of that season, the Clips experienced three postponements in the next five scheduled weekends, not including Labor Day weekend. At the end of June 2003, the Clips had more missed games than games played (6 vs. 5) and had had more off weeks than weeks played (4 vs. 3). The rain delayed their first home game until Father's Day on June 15, 2003, against the Somers Orioles.
Not that the Clips were complaining. Interestingly, they had a 7-1 record in the make-up games in 2003. In fact, they swept the make-up double-header against the Blind Brook Warriors on Aug. 24, 2003, at the Greeley varsity baseball field the day after beating the Yankees in a make-up game at the same field — and the Clips made the upper-level playoffs for the first time in team history.
The Clippers may need to budget for a retractable dome field. Or perhaps they can get federal aid thanks to former President Clinton and his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the nearby neighbors of the field and Tom.
“Things were the worst and wettest season ever in 2003, and the next three seasons have been certainly wet and wild,” notes Clippers General Manager Frank Salary Cap. “We can’t even practice. So much for the drought. It has rained so much the last two seasons, get the Arc ready. Call me Noah. Maybe we need to switch to water sports or create an Arena Baseball league.”
There’s no truth to the rumor that every scheduled game will be rained out. “This is frustrating and depressing,” said Tom, who had 14 games wiped out by rain in 2003 and seven in 2004 for the two teams that he manages. “It was tough enough to start 0-5 in 2003 and have attendance problems in 2004, but we are mentally tough and hang in there. As long as we make sure to bring a rake, broom, diamond dry or cat litter, and be certain to put tarps on the field, we’ll be fine.”
Despite the string of winter snow storms, the dedicated Clippers hope to hold some outdoor workouts and scrimmages during the season. Weather permitting. Keep your fingers crossed for the rest of the season. Stay tuned to the Weather Channel and Accuweather.com.
While Owner Gives New Deal, Manager May Be Dead Man Walking
Despite navigating the Clippers into the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons despite injuries to key players that left the club looking like a M*A*S*H unit, team owner George Big Stein has given player-manager Tom Dixon a contract extension and the dreaded vote of confidence. Or is that the preverbal kiss of death?
In fact, several other managers, and pitching and batting coaches were dismissed just before getting public support from the Boss. But the maniacal owner claims that the new, multi-year deal is not part of some twisted strategy to motivate his famous team.
“We expect results here at this proud franchise, and I want Tom to stay here and finish the job that he started in turning this ship around,” he told a group of reporters outside the clubhouse after a meeting with the embattled manager. “Besides, I want to keep him around to torture him some more. He’s not going anywhere for a little while.”
The Boss is quick to point out that the team got off to slow starts in four seasons before making a great run at the end and in the playoffs. Besides, Big Stein says he wants a championship or his patience that is as thin as the Earth’s ozone layer will be severely tested. Despite the fact that the Clips missed the 2006 playoffs due to a rebuilding season, the first-round playoff loss in 2005 did not sit well with the Boss. Even the 3-0 start in 2007 before pulling out of the league did not appease Big Stein.
“Enough’s enough. This team needs to start playing like real Vikings. Err, Clippers. We have the highest payroll in the league,” the billionaire owner roared. “I don’t want to say that he’s gone if he does not win a championship here. But our fans pay good money to see a winner. And my sports TV network is going to have ratings lower than a test pattern if we don’t improve. And heads will roll,” he added. “But Tom will always have a place here. Maybe not just as manager. Hey. Don’t quote me on that! We can’t have Big Stein seen bad-mouthing a baseball legend.”
Tom’s status is not secure despite the fact that the Clips made the playoffs in 2005 after a season filled with more ups and downs than the stock market. Not bad, considering the team struggled amid the absence of key players due to jobs, injuries (it is a 28+ league), and vacations. Not to mention some who quit for personal reasons. (Maybe over the Boss?)
It also doesn’t matter that he also pulled off a miraculous managerial job to get the depleted 2004 team into the semifinals of the lower-level playoffs and pulled off a thrilling comeback win with a short-handed squad over the 18+ Bronx Royals on the final day of the regular season. Let’s not forget the victory over the Pleasantville Diamondbacks in the opening round of the 2004 lower-division playoffs.
Tom used every trick in the book to keep the team together — ranging from burning the stat sheet before the June 27 double-header versus the Carmel Cubs at Carmel High School, to adding talented players late in the season to replace the roster openings, to bringing beer and soda for the postgame party, or wake in some cases.
The Boss also could care less that the Clips won 12 of its last 15 games in 2003, including a seven-game win streak to end the regular season, and the huge upset of the second-seeded Somers Orioles in the first round of the playoffs on Sept. 7, 2003. The team’s sweep in the best-of-three semifinals versus the top-seeded New Rochelle-Beechmont Bombers that eventually won the title did nothing to quell the rumors of the skipper’s potential demise.
The Boss’s recent meeting with Donald Trump just added fuel to the fire. After all, the Don” ends his realty TV show, “The Apprecentice,” with that famous line, “You’re fired.” George, who has turned the firing of a slew of managers, general managers and other staff into an art form, may be looking for a surrogate to do the dirty deed. Big Stein also has been seen dining with the judges on “American Idol.” Maybe Simon will become the hatchet man.
Meanwhile, Clippers General Manager Brian Cash and Carry denied that he’s interviewing candidates for the managerial job in a search bigger than the ones for Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. But he and assistant general manager Joe Arbitration were seen having lunch with former Mets manager Bobby Balentine at Bobby Balentine’s. That’s the ex-skipper’s sports bar in Stamford, Conn.
“It was just a social gathering between two old friends,” Cash and Carry said. “So what if his lawyer was there and a contract offer was on the table. That’s standard lunch procedure around the Major Leagues these days. Don’t even get me started about the brutal negotiations over the check and tip. Tom’s future is about as secure as Alex Rodriguez. The Boss wants stability at this proud and winning franchise, not to rock the boat.”
But a longtime critic of George disagrees. Former Clippers manager Buck Show Me The Money says the Boss is of out control. “We are all tired of his macho head games,” notes Show Me The Money, who was fired or quit, or something or other. “This guy needs serious mental help. Or maybe a labotomy.”
The players are also siding with TD in his battle with the Boss. “We are totally behind Tommy,” says then Clips catcher Tony Cairone. “That’s 90% mental and 50% physical. If there were a war and we went into battle with Tommy, I would be behind him the whole way.”
Meanwhile, Tom just continues to focus on running the ball club and getting the Clippers ready for the next game. “I can’t manage scared, just angry,” he says. “Besides, we’ve had starts of 0-3 and 0-5 in 2002 and 2003 but made it to the semifinals of the playoffs. There’s no reason we can’t rip off one win in a row. The Boss gets the credit when we win. I get the blame when we lose. Well, I plan to make sure that it’s the other way around.”
TD also says he draws upon the experience of his idol, former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre. “You can’t get a better example of a manager coping with chaos and pressure than Joe,” Tom adds. “I like spend time studying the great job that he did as the player-manager of the New York Mets. Well on second thought, maybe I should stick to his four World Championships with the Yankees and not his ouster from the manager’s job.”
Tom says he and the Boss get along as well as Paula Abdul and Simon, both judges on the TV show “American Idol.” “It’s certainly not like Britney Spears and her former husband, Kevin Federline,” adds Tom.
The continuing feud and verbal sparring between Big Stein and TD should heat up in the Dog Days of summer and the fall’s hurricane season. And maybe keep the fields dry.
