Mothers Day – Dugout Tales

The Langoliers was a novela by Stephen King as part of the Four Past Midnight collection released in 1990. The plot was basically a pilot finds out his wife was killed in an accident, so he flies out to be with her and a bunch of crazy stuff happens on the flight and landing. Turns out these Langoliers are eating everything to get rid of the evidence. I don’t remember how or if the Langoliers are described in the book, but in the horrible movie adaption they’re these horribly done graphics that are like big rock looking things that fly around and have sharks’ teeth. I didn’t say I was recommending the book, I just thought I’d mention because of Shea Langeliers, catcher for the Las Vegas Aviators who is the Oakland A’s #2 prospect behind Tyler Soderstrom,.and to be completely honest, I think that needs to be reversed. I’ve now had the opportunity to have watched Soderstrom and Langeliers play in person, and with all due respect to Soderstrom, Langeliers is my choice as the A’s Top Prosepect.

Coming out of college, Langeliers was considered the second-best catcher in the 2019 draft behind only #1 overall pick Adley Rutschman. The Braves selected Langeliers with the ninth overall pick that year out of Baylor University. Atlanta’s MILB Player of the Year in 2021, and a key piece in the Matt Olson deal that also included Christian Pache. While Pache is already making his mark with the Oakland A’s, Langeliers has been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas for 2022.

Langeliers and the Las Vegas Aviators flew into Sacramento to begin a six-game series tied for first in the Pacific Coast West Division with the River Cats as both teams are 13-11. This week should be a good week of baseball with the Division lead on the line as well as the River Cats having three Major League rehab players on this roster in Lamonte Wade Jr, Tommy LaStella, and Evan Longoria in the lineup.

The River Cats started the six-game series with a win, and the games were played out with everything you could expect from the top two teams in the division until the River Cats went off the rails over the weekend. Although the series had been split 2-2 through Friday, it was all downhill from there for the River Cats.

There were plenty of highlights for both teams, but Oakland A’s fans were treated with a stellar pitching performance from Parker Dunshee who tossed six shoutout innings, striking out six, and only giving up a walk and a hit, it was Star Wars Day, and the Force was definitely with him. The performance also earned Dunshee Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.

Sacramento finally was also able to see the home debut of Tristan Beck who made his Triple-A debut the previous week in Albuquerque. Beck came to the Giants as part of the deal that sent Mark Melancon to Atlanta back in 2019, and he was the Braves fourth-round pick in 2018 out of Stanford. He had a rough outing in his Triple-A debut but pitched better than the numbers show in the box score this night as he struck out five in 5.1 innings of work in a loss.

On a side note, it was nice to see former River Cats pitcher Sam Selman come into the game for Las Vegas to pitch an inning and say hello. While on the mound Sean Hjelle commented to the Aviator’s dugout, “He’s one guy I don’t understand how we let go”. Unbeknownst to us all, that would be Hjelle’s last night in Triple-A as the Giants called him the next day where he made his Major League debut against the Cardinals in an inning of relief and throwing a perfect 1-2-3 inning and also getting his first strikeout by way of Corey Dickerson.

One of the best pitching performances of the season was also turned in by River Cats pitcher Raynel Espinal on that same Friday night who went a solid five innings, striking out a season high nine batters while the River Cats as a team had fourteen; all I want to know is where did this guy come from?? The Cats would win on a combined 4-0 shutout.

Saturday night was nothing short of a disaster for the River Cats as they lost by a score of 13-0. The Aviators simply dominated behind lefty Jared Koenig and his 10 strikeouts in six innings. Koenig would allow only two hits and one walk in his outing as well.

This series ended on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for Mother’s Day. While the skies were overcast, the weather itself was perfect. River Cats’ pitcher Taylor Williams’ wife even threw out the first pitch as the couple celebrated their first Mother’s Day with their son Nolan. The River Cats would drop this by a score of 3-1 and fall into third place in the Division.

The aforementioned Langeliers really shined and was the highlight of the series where he hit .320 with two home runs and three RBI. He also showed off his catching skills behind the plate which were impressive, and the arm is a cannon. Langeliers now leads the PCL with 11 home runs on the season, and Sacramento’s David Villar sits in second place with eight. While I loved Matt Olson and I know the pain that A’s fans endure as their beloved players keep getting shipped off instead of paid, Langeliers is a star in the making, so enjoy him while you can.

The Aviators took the series by winning four of the six and gained sole possession of first place in the PCL West, while the River Cats dropped to third behind Tacoma.

One common theme during the first three games were the complaints about the pitch clock violations and how arbitrary they appeared to be. There were at least three called during that Game 3 alone. I had one pitcher with Major League experience, tell me that it was “the dumbest rule in baseball”. Another interaction between bench players and an umpire contained comments like, “You can’t just reset it whenever you want”, and “You stopped him! Someone is going to get hurt”! The cohesion on this matter was clear to me when the opposing team’s first base coach who also now has Major League experience commented, “They don’t give a shit about us. If they want to do this, they shouldn’t do this at Triple-A, they’re messing with people’s livelihoods”.

According to Jeff Passan, Minor League games have been shortened by an “average of twenty minutes”, but at what cost to the players? What is baseball trying to do when they don’t listen to the fans who don’t want this and more importantly the players who find it both inconvenient and dangerous? While baseball can be a long game, not knowing when it will end is part of the beauty of it.

This week the River Cats start a series against the El Paso Chihuahuas, Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They will be facing a rehabbing Blake Snell in the opening game of the series. The Chihuahuas are third in the Pacific Coast East with a record of 17-13, the same as the Aviators who lead the West. Round Rock has the best record in the PCL as we start the week at 19-11.

Mom died 14 years ago this past April. Born in what is now the heart of the Sacramento Delta wine country, Clarksbourg, CA on August 8, 1939. I don’t know what Clarksburg was like at the end of the Great Depression or as World War II rolled in, but the wine grapes were in their infancy as Bogle led the way during my childhood. Clarksburg was surrounded by sugar beets, tomatoes, corn, and alfalfa as well as the great pear orchards of Courtland across the river.

Mom was the second of five children which included three sisters and their baby brother. I don’t remember stories from Mom’s childhood except that she loved to play volleyball and softball in what sounded like a church league at St. Joe’s and graduated from Clarksburg high school in 1957. A few years after Mom graduated Clarksburg High School would be renamed Delta High School. Mom’s childhood home was maybe 200 yards from my childhood home. I can barely remember it from my youth as it was torn down in the early 80’s to make room for a horse corral.

Mom’s life was difficult as she spent over thirty years with Dad and his textbook machismo, and later in life diagnosed with scleroderma. Mom had five boys and sadly buried one shortly after birth. I was the last, it was a difficult birth, and I arrived eight years after her last child. Mom hoped that I would be the daughter she had longed for, and was planning to name me Hope; as it turned out my name is David for my dad’s friend.

Being the youngest, I don’t know exactly when Mom was diagnosed with scleroderma or how bad her condition was. That was just like Mom to keep things to herself so that she wouldn’t be a burden. Mostly Mom suffered in silence. This is what made Mom so special; though she dealt silently with her own pain she bent over backwards for her children, especially me. I was told that Mom almost died during my birth, but I was lucky enough to have her for 31 years: sadly I didn’t appreciate her as I should have. The scleroderma was hard on Mom and I still remember the last meal we had together at the Olive Garden. She didn’t suddenly die after that meal but swallowing food became more difficult as her condition worsened. As an aside, as we were pulling up to the Olive Garden, Mom noticed the Hooters across the street and suggested maybe we go there. Luckily she settled for Olive Garden. Can we say awkward??

Fourteen years is a long time and I’m saddened to have taken Mom for granted. I can barely remember her voice but I’ll never forget her laugh. Mom thought she was funnier than she actually was but that’s what made her laugh wonderful. It was a dorky laugh, if you will, and a little high pitched but soulful. My oldest daughter has her laugh and Mom would have loved that.

Mom always wanted a daughter and the “Hope” she had for me paid off on July 4, 1998. Mom was right there when her first grandchild was born; a girl. I always thought it fitting that her last son, who she hoped would be a daughter, finally gave her the little girl she dreamed of. I can still see Mom’s joy as she held her granddaughter for the first time.

My oldest memories of Mom are oddly the ones that drove me crazy about Mom. After a long day at work, and also being a mom, Mom would fall asleep on the couch, head tilted back, and begin to snore while we watched TV. As a child I would feel offended and wake her up to tell her she was snoring or ask why she wasn’t watching TV. She never got upset with me for doing this and would simply reply with, “I’m just resting my eyes”. It’s only now that I know parenting is hard, she was tired, and it was love, not boredom that kept her there instead of going to bed. Mom is getting the last laugh now as I often fall asleep and start snoring on the couch while watching TV with my daughters. They’re not as “nice” as I was to Mom; they poke, prod, and try to balance things on my head, or put things in my ear while taking embarrassing pictures. Damn smartphones, but Mom always did have a great sense of humor and she is finally getting me back.

My favorite memory with Mom took place in May 2004. I don’t remember the exact date but it was the Tuesday or Wednesday following Mother’s Day. I was working as the mascot for the Stockton Ports, Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers at the time. Living in Sacramento, Mom had never seen me perform so I treated her to a day at the ballpark. Upon arriving at old Billy Hebert Field in Stockton she was whisked away to her VIP box seats behind home plate but a little down towards third base, right in front of the Ports’ on deck circle. I checked in on her before the game to make sure she had her hot dog, nachos, and drink, and asked if she liked her seats. She was content but Hebert Field was an old ballpark with hard seats, no shade, and it was a hot day. After checking on Mom, I suited up in the walk-in fridge beneath the third base bleachers, and then started up the ATV that I would make my entrance on. The voice of the Stockton Ports introduced me at 6:50pm, fifteen minutes before game time. I shot out onto the field just past third base, raced around the outfield warning track, and sped up coming down the first base foul line and coming to a stop just in front of the Ports on deck circle, and Mom. I jumped up on the seat of my ATV and waved to Mom and the crowd. The PA system started to play my intro music, “Just Because” by Jane’s Addiction, and on cue I jumped off the ATV doing the splits in mid-air before landing on my feet and going into my dance routine. My performance ended with a cartwheel and then running the line giving the Ports players high-5’s. While they threw gatorade and bubblegum at me. Mom watched it all while laughing and smiling. Mom was proud. Her “baby boy” was dressed as a smelly wharf rat, but she was proud. I stood shoulder to shoulder with the team during the National Anthem, and Mom was proud that I was doing what I loved.

Mom is gone, my memories are fading, but it’s funny how my love grows stronger. So whether you bred them, bought them or stole them, whether they have two legs, four legs, or no legs, Happy Mother’s Day.

For Mary Lucy Espinoza (nee Davalos)

8/8/1939-4/11/2006

Tag: Mothers Day

They Ain’t Just a Stephen King Novella Anymore…

Mom