Homeless Man Helps Buccos Conquor the Rockies

Mike Novak shrugged off a ball that smacked him in the mouth in the first inning, going 4 for 4 from the bottom of the order and making a splendid shoestring catch in the final frame as the Buccos trounced the Balboa Rockies 21-11 to insure a winning record in the final regular summer season game in the Los Angeles County Senior Softball Leagu,e

The Buccos finished with 7 wins 5 losses and a tie, good enough for 5^th seed in the 14-team playoffs, which are scheduled to begin next Thursday.

A twisting first-inning drive to right field glanced off Novak’s glove and plunked him in the mouth. He ran off the field to apply a Band-Aid to his bleeding upper lip, making him look a bit like Charlie Chaplin with a toothbrush mustache.

The lip was not even the main issue. “The impact made my jaw go askew a bit,” said Novak, 76, who went to an Urgent Care clinic after the game.

Novak stunned the field with the Buccos trying to close out the game in the 7^th inning with the shoestring catch of a sinking line drive in right-center.

“I was even surprised it was in my glove. I thought it was coming in shoulder height and then I’m catching it off the grass,” said Novak, who missed last week’s game and was doubtful for this one after he and his wife Denise were forced to move out of their house near Toluca Lake in the Valley over a structural emergency.

The Buccos, who have won games mainly on the strength of their defense, have had an offensive explosion of late – scoring 51 runs over the last three games with contributions up and down the lineup (and from key subs, such as Junkies manager Greg Loria). Against the Rockies, Mark Lambert and Joe Blachman were both 4 for 4 at the top of the lineup and Jodie Francisco was 3 for 4 at the bottom (along with Novak’s bravura performance at the plate).

The Bucco defense was not always sterling in the sweltering heat. Balls dropped and booted, and some erratic throws. Blachman’s highlight reel was to range into the third-base hole and then make a long jump throw to first to nail the runner.

Making lemonade out of a lemon, I drifted over to the first-base foul line camping under a twisting pop-up, losing it briefly in the sun – and then falling over backward lunging for it. But the ball serendipitously landed by my hand! Which I heaved over to first-baseman Loria alertly standing on the bag! And this is why we play Senior Softball. For these kinds of plays that dance in our heads for days afterward.

I was anxious when I arrived at the Sepulveda Basin field ahead of the game without my black and gold Pirates cap. Would it jinx me? I only had in the car a souvenir Yankee Valley Champions hat Joey Carbone gave me for subbing for his team last season during their championship run. Roberto Clemente, whose number I wear, would be rolling in his grave! At least I could wear it backward under my pitching mask.

After our usual One Bad Inning in the first (when I issued my only walk), I was able to land first pitch strikes the rest of the way to keep a sturdy Rockies’ lineup at bay.

“That was your best game pitching,” said catcher Patty Rebbe, who last week had advised me to do a mental reset before the game. So at home before bolting out the door without my cap, I did a Mindfulness Meditation, followed by herbal tea and some Yoga stretches with New Age music.

Novak, who worked for the City of Los Angeles for 20 years after selling his automotive business in the Valley and is the father of two sons, is enjoying a new lease on life in his 70s. He had breast cancer surgery just weeks after open-heart surgery in 2011.

“I feel like I traded in a new body for an old body,” he told me over the phone after the game. “I wanna see that new body,” his wife Denise could be heard saying in the background in their temporary digs at a Residence Inn.

.