By Joe Gordon, ASB Network

McCall – He stands victorious, with a “KCBL Champions” t-shirt in one hand and a cigar hanging from his half open mouth while smiling teammates spray champagne around a plastic covered locker room in Boggstown. Not overly boastful, not overly self-absorbed… just proud. He has been a key cog in the Championship run for three Boilers teams and is now hoping to recreate this scene for the upstart Westport Fleas as they battle the McCall Mudhens in McCall on Wednesday night.

Max Bishop is not just another “on-base guy”, he has become THE “on-base guy”, the ultimate rabbit. He has collected more walks than any player since he entered the league in January of 2008 and has been a constant at the top of any lineup that he has been a part of. He holds the record for most walks in a (12 game) season with 30 during the 09 KCBL and collected another 24 during the HBL 2008.

Since he entered the league there has been no one better at getting on base. He has put himself above the other career second basemen with his consistency and distinguished himself as one of the best table setters in the game… In short he is the definition of a TRUE winner.

“He has been incredible,” said Owls Lifetime player and team captain Ryne Sandberg. “Having a player like that at the top of the lineup that is so consistent, that you know what you are going to get night in and night out is so important to a team… He is a quiet team leader.”

In five I-70 Classic games, his 31 plate appearances have yielded 7 singles, 4 doubles, 10 walks, 6 RBI and 11 runs compiling a .523 batting average with a staggering .677 On-Base-Percentage.

Standing out at a position that boasts names such as Hornsby, Stanky, Carew, Gehringer, Robinson and Morgan is not easy, but Bishop has become the best rabbit at a position known for it’s rabbits. It’s easy to see why the Fleas followed the template of so many Boilers Championship teams and placed Bishop at the top of the lineup.

——————————————–

Wikipedia
Max Frederick Bishop (September 5, 1899 – February 24, 1962) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1924 through 1935 for the Philadelphia Athletics (1924-1933) and Boston Red Sox (1934-1935). Bishop batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.

In a 12-season career, Bishop was a .271 hitter with 41 home runs and 379 RBI in 1338 games played.

Bishop was the leadoff hitter for the last three American League pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics teams of Connie Mack. Nicknamed “Tilly” or “Camera Eye” for his notable ability to judge pitches, Bishop was adept at working counts and drawing walks, as evidenced by his .423 career on base percentage, in front of Athletics sluggers Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane and Jimmie Foxx. Seven times he collected 100 walks, leading the AL with 128 in 1929; twice walked eight times in a doubleheader, to set a major league record; twice draw five walks in a single game, to become the only major leaguer to do this twice and recorded a 2.55 walk-to-strikeout ratio (1153-to-452), as his walk percentage of .204 is only surpassed by Ted Williams’s .207. He also scored 100 or more runs during four consecutive seasons (1928-1931), with a career-high 117 in 1930. Rated as one of the best fielders in the game, Bishop led AL second basemen four times in fielding percentage and played 18 World Series games without committing an error. When Bishop scored 117 runs in 1930, he became the only man in major league history to score at least 70 runs while collecting more runs than hits.

When Mack dismantled the Athletics in 1933, he sent Bishop, Lefty Grove and Rube Walberg to the Boston Red Sox for two players and $150.000. After two years in Boston, Bishop ended his playing career in 1936 with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League and then scouted for the Detroit Tigers in 1937. After that, he served as baseball head coach at the U.S. Naval Academy between 1938 and 1962. During his 25 years as Navy coach he posted a 306-143 record, including an academy seasonal record of 24 victories and two defeats in 1961.
Bishop died in his home of Waynesboro at age 62.

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.