Andy Rios (6) has hit a team-high three home runs in this year's Little League
World Series. (Gene J. Puskar)
At first, I thought the story of the Chula Vista Park View All-Stars would read more like a Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig legend.
Or a Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris 1961 tale.
Or a Mark McGuire-Jose Canseco Bash Brothers rollercoaster ride.
Pretty much, just two studs who’d carry the team on their back on a way to a title.
Coming into the 2009 Little League World Series, there were two names that the guys on the Worldwide Leader always mentioned.
There was the dynamo that was Kiko Garcia, with his 12 home runs in six games at the West Regional, and the hulking teenager that was Luke Ramirez, with his 6-foot-2 frame that struck fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers.
And after the first game of the LLWS, I though it would come true. The Mini Bash Brothers led the way, going a combined 7-for-8, crushing three home runs and accounting for almost half of the Chula Vista offense in a 15-0 win.
That wouldn’t be the case in Sunday’s 14-0 victory over Peabody, Mass.
Ramirez and Garcia went a combined 2-for-6, with two strikeouts, no home runs and only one run batted in.
It didn’t matter.
The rest of the team picked up its two studs as the Blue Bombers minus Ramirez and Garcia went 14-for-28, with 12 RBI. Shortstop Andy Rios supplied most of the power with two home runs and four RBI.
In fact Rios—not Garcia or Ramirez—leads Chula Vista in home runs in this Little League World Series.
So, instead of playing like the Bash Brothers or M&M (Mantle and Maris), Chula Vista Park View plays like those Yankees’ teams of the late 1920s—aka Murderers’ Row.
Those Yankees teams, especially the 1927 version, were known for their amazing prowess at the plate. Pitchers couldn’t take a break, because each hitter was so good. It wasn’t just that Ruth and Gehrig brought the lumber—so did everyone else.
The first six hitters for that 1927 Yankees team had at least 62 RBI, with Ruth (164), Gehrig (175), left fielder Bob Meusel (103) and second baseman Tony Lazzeri (102) each having more than 100 RBI in the season.
The Yankees that year hit .307, slugged .489 and scored 975 runs.
And Chula Vista Park View bats the same way—and maybe even better.
Through its first two games in the World Series, Park View has hit .484, has a slugging percentage of 1.045 and has scored a tournament-high 29 runs.
Chula Vista Park View has also already hit 10 home runs—just three shy of the Little League World Series record set by 2005 champion Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
And those 10 home runs have come off of six different bats.
It’s a Mini Murderers’ Row.
Of course “Blue Bombers” is a little bit more politically correct, so we’ll stick to that nickname.
But there’s no doubts that this team has a vicious offense—one that’s not just led by two or three hitters, but all 12 kids that are on the team. The lineup is stacked and each opposing team knows that.
And if these young sluggers keep swinging for the fences, who knows how far they’ll go? They may just smash their way to the Little League World Series title—and it’d fit these bunch and fit the moniker.
Murderers’ Row won the 1927 World Series, why can’t the junior version do the same 82 years later?
Chula Vista plays its final game in pool play against San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.
Comments