Fleas Manager Buck O’Neil looked like a proud papa in the locker room after the Fleas’ 2-0 sweep of the favored Merrimack Owls. When O’Neil was tabbed to be the Fleas manager, he vowed to put together teams that were based on consistency, good fundamentals, good patience in the batter’s box, and a scrappy attitude. With his first draft, O’Neil appears to have done just that with this Fleas squad.
“I am very pleased, not ecstatic, but genuinely proud of the way we played tonight”, said Buck with a wry grin. “That’s the same team that slapped us around last week in round robin play, so we worked hard over the week to get these guys to buy into the system here, and they seemed to listen.”
Not only did the Fleas reap the benefits of a steady offensive attack, but they also got clutch pitching. In a surprise move, Bobby Shantz was given the start in Game 1, after being reduced to relief duty in his first three games with the club. “We knew Shantyz has a lot of experience in tournament formats. Last week, we just wanted to get him acclamated, but not waste him. I wanted five good innings tonight, and that’s what he gave us.” Dick Drago also appears to be emerging as the front-runner to take on a closer role. Drago had two more solid outings from the pen to close out both games. In the Fleas’ three victories in the Classic, Drago has only given up 2 runs in 7 innings of relief. “I’ve never been a believer in the ‘go with the hot hand’ philosophy (fuck you, Trey Hillman), but I do think you have to try guys out in different scenarios to see what fits them best. Dicky D looks comfortable out there in pressure situations, not everyone can handle that.”
The Fleas are now looking ahead to face the McCall Mudhens. The Fish Bowl is bound to be rowdy, but Buck O’Neil believes the Fleas will actually thrive on that energy, “You have to love the opportunity. When I was a boy in grammar school, I hated math. I mean, I hated it. I went home one day furious because I didn’t want to go back to school and deal with math. I didn’t see the point. My mother sat me down with a huge smile on her face. She said, ‘John Jordan O’Neil, you know I love you. But you will succeed at math, you’re just not tryin’ hard enough. You have to love it. The harder it is, the more you have to love it. Would you rather be out in the celery fields with your father all day, or in school?’ Now, I may have hated math, but I DID NOT want to pick celery all day. Then she told me ‘Think of math as a challenge, as an opportunity to show everyone how hard you’ve worked. Study day and night, and then when a test comes along, you put on your Sunday suit and wear it to school, because you’re going to show them how much you’ve learned, and that’s a big event. You’ve got to love the opportunity to show people hard you’ve worked, you’ve got to love it.’ And ever since then, whenever I’m faced with a challenge, I just think about how great it is to truly love an opportunity to succeed. That’s how we’ll prepare this week, and I promise we’ll be ready to play.”
O’Neil never has been one to pass up an opportunity to tell a good story.
The way that offense performed last night I am wondering if Buck showed them tapes of the Nazi “Blitzkrieg” attacks on Poland! They were fucking relentless!
After last night the Fleas had better hope that they did not blow their load! We all know what those Mudhens are capable of during a short series… and the fish have a LOT of pride on the line. If a team that has a handful of games under their belt gets a major title before they do that would definitely be a black eye for Blasingame’s boys.
Be careful, O’Neill might get a big contract offer from another organization if he keeps fielding teams like this! … You better pay the man!!! Wisdom is not cheap!