July. It's the dark heart of the season.
In the city, it's sticky and smoggy. The humid air presses in on you, like two gloveless hands gripping a bat. This kind of heat makes me edgy. It must make the players edgy too, having to run out there with a couple of layers on and their hats soaking through with sweat.
I missed the Maple Leafs' last game, a 19-run Canada Day thriller in London. Consequently, that night I had a wild dream. In it, the entire Maple Leafs team showed up outside my home, in uniform, like ghosts appearing out of a cornfield. I stepped outside, and stood and stared. They all stared back. No one spoke. That's some weird shit.
At the Pits, the heat does nothing to repel the crazies. They've been there for every game.
They have always been there.
How are the players holding up, when they aren't haunting my sleep? The roster deadline has passed. A couple more names have been added to the team, but that's the end of it. Any malcontents who are left have to tough it out. The glut of hitters have to find a spot in the order. The pitchers have to zero in. No more wheeling and dealing from the owner's perch up on the hill. No more shuffling of the cards - it's time to play the hand that's been dealt.
It remains to be seen: will the team drive forward and grab a prime playoff spot? Or will they stutter along, stuck in their ongoing win-lose-win pattern? Will someone inspire? Will someone blow up? Will someone pull off the hidden ball trick at first base? It remains to be seen. For now, it's off to the Pits, to watch the baseball. Barrie Baycats at the Toronto Maple Leafs.
[Several hours, 18 Barrie runs, and multiple G&Ts later.]
My hands are shaking, my fingers stab at the keys. What unfolded tonight was ghastly, nightmarish. Apocalyptic.
The image above - a Barrie Baycats runner crossing home plate - that happened 18 times tonight.
The Baycats stormed into Christie Pits like an angry mob and completely trashed the place. Tore it apart. Burned it to the ground. Wizzed on the embers. When the fires were extinguished, an 18-5 final beamed from the scoreboard to mock the survivors.
It began early, it worsened immediately, and it went on to the end.
It is left to the Toronto Maple Leafs to recover from this Apocalyptico. They have done it before, and after this defeat it falls on them to do it again.
It's the dark heart of the season. Let's meet on the other side.
Recap:
Toronto Maple Leafs starter Marc-Andre Major was swarmed by the Barrie Baycats from the get-go. He hit the first batter he faced to start the game, Barrie rightfielder Ryan Spataro. Spataro then stole second base, and scored the first run of the game on a single by Baycats catcher Kyle DeGrace. Major then walked the bases loaded, and gave up a grand slam to Baycats third baseman Kevin Atkinson. As the visiting baserunners rounded for home, angry oaths rained down from the owner's perch high above the playing field. When the inning ended, the Baycats had batted around with five hits and five runs.
In defiance of what had just happened, Maple Leafs centerfielder Glenn Jackson led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a home run. That one bright moment may have kept me from quitting baseball forever, going straight home, and setting my house on fire. I am being serious. The Leafs scored another when rightfielder Jon Waltenbury singled, moved to second on a wild pitch by Barrie starter Brad Bissell, then scored on a single by DH Sean Reilly. 5-2 Baycats after the 1st inning.
Any thought that this might be a close-scoring game evaporated in the 2nd inning. Major gave up a single and a walk, then a wild pitch to move the baserunners to second and third, then Atkinson singled to drive in another run. Another angry shout from the owner's perch sent player-manager Damon Topolie to the mound for a conference. After that, a walk loaded the bases and Adam Garner was brought in to relieve Major. Unfortunately, a sac fly and a double brought in all three baserunners and the Baycats had a 9-2 lead.
The Maple Leafs fought on. Leftfielder Rob Gillis reached first base on a fielder's choice that took out second baseman Dan Marra, who had singled ahead of Gillis. A single by Jackson moved Gillis to second, and he came home on a single by third baseman Sean Mattson, coupled with an error by Barrie shortstop Jason Coker. It was 9-3 Baycats after the 2nd inning.
Barrie added two more runs in the 4th. Coker doubled, then moved to third as leftfielder Ryan Asis advanced to first on a dropped third strike. Asis then stole second and was safe on the throw from Leafs catcher Will Richards. But while that was going on, Coker ran home from third to score. Asis then piled it on by stealing third. He came home on a 6-3 groundout by DH Brandon Dhue and it was 11-3 Barrie after the 4th.
The Leafs continued to chip away at the Barrie advantage in the 5th inning. Waltenbury singled and reached second on an error by Spataro, whose throw in from right sailed back to home plate. Sean Reilly then doubled to bring home Waltenbury. Topolie, playing first base tonight, brought Reilly home with an RBI single to right field, and it was 11-5 after the 5th inning.
From this point on, it was all Baycats (like it wasn't already). They scored seven more runs: two in the 7th, four in the 8th, and one more in the 9th.
The owner was in agony throughout the game, visibly and audibly. In the 8th, after the latest reliever had loaded the bases and walked in a run, he could be heard roaring at his charges again. He walked from his perch, halfway down the paved slope towards the field. He stopped there and leaned over the railing, as if doubled over in pain at what he was witnessing - what we were all witnessing. I wondered if he was going to continue his descent, right to the home bench. What might happen then? Accusations? Violence? I didn't hang around to find out.
By the time I got home and my Indian manservant poured the first G&T, the game had ended in an 18-5 massacre. I don't know if the owner ended up continuing his slow trek down to field level, or reversed course and vanished into the night like the rest of us. Only one thing is certain at the time of this writing: it was a night of total Apocalyptico for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs are now 10-14 and in 5th place, 11.5 games behind the Brantford Red Sox. Their next game is in the Hammer on June 5th against the Hamilton Cardinals.
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