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With the sweeping changes the Muckdogs had prior to the season many thought they would be a front runner for the Co-Commissions Cup. The "Triple C" is given to the team in the BLB with the worst record, and Batavia always seems to be in the running. At the end of May they were 20-33 and the fan support had already started to slow. More than once ESPN showed a far less than full home crowd with the occasional "Here We Go Again" sign or bag shrouded head in the stands.
Then the trades and cuts came. The yearly hiatus of meager talent slowly got shipped out, for minor league players or what seems like the GM's favorite new fetish...draft picks. Quickly traded away were pitchers Nathan Athey and Jeronimo DeLacy, both to Indy. Then without warning Joe Zegarra, Juan Qutnones, Roy Finbow, Joe Scott, Ferris Slocombe, Keita Uchiyama, and Wilton McLear were all cut. The running game of the Batavia organization was to hide when the GM strolled through the offices, and whoever was the most creative won the pool for the week. Players still shake their heads in awe at how CL Ken Bayer hung between two ceiling lights in the bathroom for 35 minutes while "The Boss" took care of his morning business.
With more than a few of their starters now without jobs they had to turn to the minors. Starting in late May the call-ups were fast and furious. First came C Pat May and 3B Robby Crockett. Then in June came the 1B known only as "Jesus". A short time later up came OF Shaw Barnes and OF Judd Cobb. The coaches at first were a little put off by the "new" Muckdogs bravado. The music, the haircuts, the clothes...it was so out there.
The turning point came one afternoon when 62 year old pitching coach Ruben Rios, known for his temper, walked into the locker room after another Muckdogs loss and 22 year old De Jesus was blasting his new Panasonic boom-box. De Jesus had just obtained an early release of "Sweet Child of Mine," and the opening riff was rocking when Rios turned the corner and came face to face with the kid 40 years his junior. The locker room went deathly quiet as only Slash could be heard opening up what was soon to be Guns and Roses first #1 hit. Without warning Rios exploded...into dance. In what a few Muckdogs later called a cross between "the twist and the moonwalk," Rios shuffled around to a room full of stares. When De Jesus joined in everyone knew this was a different team and pretty soon the whole locker room was out of control. They say it took the cleaning crew an extra two hours that night to pick up the mess.
But a funny thing happened after that...the Muckdogs started to win. With the youth movement in full gear Batavia put together their best two months in franchise history. Over the course of June and July they went 34-18 and were above .500 going into August, another franchise best. The pitchers were sitting people down, the batters were smacking hits all over the park, and best of all the fans were filling the seats. For several weeks in late July and early August there were actually ticket scalpers outside the stadium, something that had never been seen in Batavia before. The crowning point that finally pushed the city over the top was when the new commissioner announced that Batavia would host the 1989 BLB All-Star game.
After capping off their outstanding summer by going 13-14 in August the Muckdogs had a chance with a strong September to make it in as a wild-card team. The city was on edge, the players were on edge, and it showed. After going all out for the past three months Batavia's tank just ran empty. The pitchers were tired, De Jesus went into a slump, and the rest of the team seemed to follow. A horrendous September record of 8-20 crushed everyone's playoff hopes and put the Muckdogs back at the bottom of the Porter to finish the season off.
In the end it was the same ol' song...but it wasn't. With six of Batavia's starting fielders 26 or younger, a minor league organization that is currently ranked #3 in the BLB, and a projected budget surplus in a few years the fans in Batavia can finally see some light. They can say someday, maybe only in a few years, when the Muckdogs raise the Porter pennant, that they remember the Summer of '88, the singing of Axl Rose, and a new beginning of a franchise.
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