AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : Randall’s Recall Stirs Bitter Memories for Muckey

Howard Randall, coach of Reseda’s American Legion team, called Scott Muckey to discuss the rescheduling of a game. Before the conversation was over Muckey, coach of Encino-Crespi, was muttering in disbelief.

Randall said the conversation had turned to Valley baseball in days gone by when Muckey said to the 62-year-old Randall, “Come on, you’re not that old.”

Said Randall: “Shoot, I remember lots of coaches around here from their Little League days.”

Randall then started a discourse on how he used to watch City Section baseball teams play at Balboa Park in Encino, when playoff games would be held simultaneously at each of the park’s four diamonds.

Said Muckey: “I played there.”

Randall: “What year?”

Muckey: “1970.”

Randall: “I was there.”

Randall then described his recollections of a quarterfinal game he witnessed at that site between Westchester and Cleveland.

Randall: “I remember Frank Bolling’s shot down the right-field line that won it for Cleveland.”

Muckey: “Oh, maaaaan. Frank Bolling? Frank Bolling! I see that guy in my dreams three nights a week.”

Turns out that Muckey was the Westchester first baseman who was unable to flag Bolling’s shot, which helped give Cleveland a 3-2 victory. All of which proved Randall’s claim that he does, indeed, remember a coach or two from their youth days.

K is for Canale: By the count of Verdugo Hills Coach Kelly Magee, right-hander Josh Canale had thrown 143 pitches through eight innings. Magee approached Canale, his starting pitcher. Hook was in hand.

“That’s about it, you’ve had enough,” Magee said. “You’ve thrown too many pitches as it is.”

Canale figured otherwise.

“Let me go check the book and see how many strikeouts I have,” Canale said.

Canale found his answer (18). Magee looked at Canale. Canale looked at Magee. Call it 20-20 vision. “You want to go for 20?” Magee asked.

“Let’s go,” said Canale, a junior.

It took a total of 159 pitches to finish the game, but Canale reached 20 as Verdugo Hills beat short-handed Palmdale, 7-1, at Glendale High on Saturday.

It marked quite a change for Canale, who last year “couldn’t throw a strike to save his life,” according to Magee. Canale averaged one walk an inning as a sophomore at Crescenta Valley High in 1990, Magee said.

Canale threw plenty of strikes against Palmdale.

Taking his cuts: Montclair Prep Coach Walt Steele did a double take, then read the information again. Yup, same kid.

The background: A month ago, Montclair Prep outfielder Jared Baumblatt was hospitalized because of stomach pain. During surgery, it was learned that Baumblatt had minor intestinal blockage, and he was instructed to stay out of action for four weeks.

At the time of his surgery Baumblatt, a senior, was batting .440 with a team-high 27 runs batted in. The playoffs were just around the corner. As the Mounties marched through the playoffs and into the Southern Section 1-A Division final, Baumblatt counted down the days from the bench.

“I was supposed to wait four weeks,” Baumblatt said. “The championship game was right at the end of three weeks.”

Baumblatt was inserted in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement as the Mounties hammered Orange Lutheran, 12-2, for the championship.

One day later, Steele opened a newspaper and read that Baumblatt had a key single in the 11th inning to lead Panorama City to a 14-12 victory over Encino-Crespi.

Name the player: This is the first in a regular installment wherein readers will be asked to name a former District 20 standout who went on to play in the major leagues. . . .

A talented pitcher in high school, arm problems in his senior season made him a mid-round draft choice. His right arm was anything but right.

For much of his prep career, he was just as well-known as a basketball player on a team that won a City Section 3-A Division title. That is, before his rather storied performance in a baseball playoff game, when he committed the ultimate no-no. A few years later, he was a member of baseball’s royalty. (Answer below).

The A Team: Which club looks like the team to beat in District 16? Give yourself an A if the reply was Conejo A.

Conejo A, a team composed of varsity players from Thousand Oaks High, seems to have it all.

“They’re loaded,” Camarillo Coach Gary Wagner said. “They have most of their guys back from last year and about five good pitchers.”

Toss in returning standout Brent Christenson, a freshman from Brigham Young who batted .373 with a region-high seven homers and 39 RBIs for Conejo A last summer, and Wagner’s prediction begins to take shape.

Trivia answer: Bret Saberhagen, a two-time Cy Young award winner with the Kansas City Royals, played American Legion ball for the North Hollywood West team and was a basketball and baseball player at Cleveland High. At Dodger Stadium in 1982, Saberhagen tossed the only no-hitter in City championship-game history.