- Nate Rubin
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After finishing a disappointing 4-6 in the Fall/Winter
2004-2005 season, the Giant Robot (GR) softball team’s follow up campaign in
the Spring/Summer 2005 set an all time franchise low at 1-10. The MO?
Untimely hitting and atrocious defense leading to one inning
that would doom GR to another heartbreaking loss. Now, a year later, this once lost and frustrated group are riding
a win streak, sporting new, fetching black jerseys, and are the odds-on
favorite to win their new league at the Poinsettia Recreation Center in West
Hollywood, begging the question, “How did they turn things around?”
The story of rising from the ashes starts in the
most unlikely of places for a 1-10 softball team: the Summer 2005 tournament. Slotted as the last seed, GR used a
combination of scrappy defense and a rejuvenated "small ball" offense, to upset
Maloney’s On Campus and Morningwood Lumber Company (two teams that combined for
over 20 wins and 4 losses) before bowing out against the eventual Pacific/Metro
runner-ups, the Shizz. Quite simply it was a magical run, one that gave GR a needed boost of confidence and
credibility.
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For the Fall/Winter 2005-2006 season, Coach Michael Idemoto recruited former GR
players Sean Caster, Jason Kato, and George Tevelde to add thunder in the lineup. The additions ballooned the GR
roster to 15 with at least five more players on the waiting list. With such a deep team, players had to adjust
to possibly getting only two or three at bats a game to make an impact. On the field, a platoon system for every
position but shortstop and pitcher had to be implemented to give everyone playing time.
As the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day and GR went through some
growing pains. Despite a deeper and better team, GR only managed a 2-4 record by midseason in the Fall/Winter
2005-2006. Players were still getting used to their new roles and old rivals like the Rainmakers and Moss Adams took
advantage. The team was playing better and the potential for greater results was apparent, but one final piece had to
be added.
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Widely recognized as the best player to suit up for GR, Coach Idemoto limited his role to
manager and the occasional cameo. However, when longtime
and stalwart third baseman, Eric Nakamura, broke his right ring finger fielding
a grounder hit by Idemoto in practice, he rejoined the team fulltime.
With the team’s spiritual and on-field leader back as a fulltime player, GR fortunes
turned the proverbial corner, finishing the season with six consecutive
victories and stealing second place from the pre-season favorites, the
Mojos. The team’s signature scrappy play now had some muscle behind it.
Pitcher Martin Wong made life miserable for opposing teams with filthy,
high arcing pitches. The outfield of Bryant Kim, Chi Wan, Carlos De La Garza, Bret Banta, Sky Tetsuka, Rich Borja,
Tevelde, and Caster ran down fly balls with reckless abandon. Idemoto locked down third base while
shortstop Hap Penetrante and second baseman Bill Poon anchored the middle
infield. Kato and Nate Rubin, while not the most mobile duo at first base, dug out errant throws and stretched out to
complete double plays. Nakamura, sidelined by his injury, assumed the coaching role and took it one step further
by taking notes on the opposing teams hitting tendencies during the game. Finally, catcher Greg Otani kept everyone
hydrated with his generous offerings of Gatorades, and, most importantly, worked with
Wong as a target behind the plate.
Now that GR had become competitive again, LA Municipal Sports moved the team to
Poinsettia Recreation Center where they would do battle with Union Rescue
Mission, Privileged and Confidential, Musicians Institute, and, oddly enough,
Morningwood Lumber Company, a team that indirectly set GR back on the winning
path. To commemorate the 8-4 season and give the team a fresh look for the new park, management ordered
black, mesh jerseys. Another GR veteran, Paul Kim, rejoined the squad to give GR another pitching option.
Poon, upon his return to the team from a work related hiatus, has taken the role of
offensive coach, opposite Nakamura, who remains the defensive coach.
It's a brand new ballgame folks...
*Presently, a documentary film crew is following the trials and tribulations of the team for a video yearbook
tentatively entitled: ROBOT!
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