Everything Goes in Vigilante Finale

There were several signs that it was the last day of the Western League baseball season for the Vigilantes, who split a doubleheader with Sonoma County Sunday at Saddleback College.

But the most obvious one came when 46-year-old catcher Duke Pullman made his professional debut by starting the second game for Mission Viejo. Pullman is normally the bullpen catcher for the Vigilantes but was activated for the final game. Mission Viejo won the first game, 6-5, but lost the second, 10-4, to end the second half with a 21-24 record. The team was 39-51 overall.

Pullman, who plays in 30-and-over and 40-and-over amateur leagues, signed a contract before the start of the doubleheader. He grounded out in his first at-bat, but hit a soft single to right with two outs in the fourth inning that brought the loudest cheers of the game from the spectators.

After the single, he was replaced by a pinch-runner and was greeted in the dugout by hugs and high fives from his teammates.

“This is a thrill,” Pullman said. “When I saw the ball sinking out there I was thinking ‘Please God, let it drop.’ I didn’t even read what I signed, so I don’t know if I was signing a contract or a waiver.”

Among the other final-day sites were:

--First baseman Corey Parker working on his bowling skills.

--Radio announcer Lou Stowers playing catch with a few of the players minutes before the second game.

--Pitching coach Brad Lesley singing “Take me out out the ballgame” over the public address system during the second game.

--Sam Taylor arguing with the umpire that he didn’t get hit by a pitch in a failed effort to remain at the plate.

--The home plate umpire for the second game jokingly saying that “he was calling balls and strikes as if he was double-parked outside the stadium, then pretty much doing it.

--Players from both teams dressing up as the Vigilante mascot.

Parker had a more impressive day at the plate than he did on the lanes. He had a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the first game that gave the Vigilantes a 6-4 lead.

But he got the idea to bowl before the second game when he spied the regulation bowling ball that was sometimes used for a between-inning promotion. He set up 10 paper cups as pins and proceeded to throw a big hook, missing all the cups.

“This is a typical final day,” said Parker, who is in his fifth season in the minors and third with an independent team. “Especially if you are out of it. But that’s what this league is all about. It’s an independent league, it’s supposed to be fun.”

Notes

Manager Buck Rodgers said he is undecided about returning to the team next season. The team has invited him back, but Rodgers is leaving Tuesday to return to Ohio be with his father, who was hurt in a June auto accident that took the life of Rodgers’ mother. “These people have been super to me,” Rodgers said. “But I’m going to have to take some time to care of some things . . . Maybe after the World Series I will make up my mind.”

Bret Barberie, who came to the Vigilantes after playing almost six seasons in the majors, set a team record for batting average. Barberie had three hits in the first game to raise his average to .347 (95 for 247). He didn’t play in the second game. The league playoffs start Tuesday with Reno at Grays Harbor and Sonoma County at Chico. Chico beat Salinas, 8-6, Sunday to clinch the last playoff spot. The best-of-three series continues Wednesday at Reno and Sonoma County. The championship series, which is best of five, starts Saturday at the home of the Southern Division winner. . . . The two games at Saddleback College Sunday had announced crowds of 1,567 and 1,518, so the team averaged 2,100 for 45 home games.