Zane Ransom Lindeman: Champion!

Watching the Heat win the Eastern Conference Championship was amazing, thrilling, and exhilarating all at the same time -- why we love sports. What could be better? Well, perhaps watching the same thing unfold in a setting where the players are people you love in a literal, not just a figurative way.

Enter Zane Ransom Lindeman, my adorable and hugely talented nephew (also my namesake). One of Zane's baseball coaches is also my brother, Leslie William Lindeman, who was a pretty decent catcher in his day, but who's real area of expertise lies in the written word.

What follows is the report on Zane's championship game as told by author and father Les Lindeman ...

On 5/27/2011 1:47 PM, Leslie Lindeman wrote:
Greetings All,

Unlike the Bulls, who folded like a cheap suit when they felt the heat breath of the Miami Hot... er, I mean the hot breath of the Miami Heat on the backs of their necks last night, the Pasadena Southwest Little League Yankees strengthened their resolve and held on to defeat the Pirates, 12 - 7 and win the league championship.

Beginning last Wednesday, we've won three playoff games in a row. Prior to this month, Zane had only won one playoff game in 5 years of playing Little League.

The Yankees built a 12 - 4 lead on the strength of Zane's pitching -- 4 innings giving up 4 runs, 2 of them on a lucky bloop -- and his sharp single to left in the first inning that drove in the first two Yankee runs and opened the floodgates.

I don't have the score book in front of me, but he probably struck out 10 batters, maybe more. This he did despite being a little unnerved by the behavior of the opposing coach, a nice guy who appeared to have gone off his anti-anxiety medication at an inopportune time and was shouting at the umpires and jumping around like a crazy man. Zane "buckled down," as my dad loved to say, and threw 3/4 of his pitches for strikes, an outstanding performance.

So the score was 12 - 4 in our favor when we arrived at the top of the 5th inning and Zane was "out of pitches." He had thrown 85, the maximum according to the rules, so we had to bring in our second pitcher.

First batter, walk. Second batter, walk. Third batter, home run. This home run came off the bat of the legendary, "Niko," who has hit 7 homers in the last 5 games; Zane walked him twice, almost striking him out once... Score: 12-7.

Two more guys got on base that inning and two the next inning, but we held them down and the last out was made on a fly ball to left field which was caught by Grandpa Bard, er... I mean a kid named "Jasper," a name GPB no doubt appreciates, a boy who once said to me, "Thank you, Mr. Lindeman," but those were the only words I heard him say all year. The next batter up would have been Niko and a homer would have made the score, 12 - 11.

So we had our share of luck, as well as skill and hard work by a lot of boys, and especially the mothers who washed baseball uniforms almost daily.

The manager, Ted, gave the first game ball to Zane, saying that he carried the team for months; he was our best pitcher, for sure, in fact, he's roundly viewed as the best pitcher in the league. He was also our best hitter, leading the team in hits, runs batted in and runs scored.

There is an old gentleman who has been coaching at the field we play on for so long that he coached Ted the Manager's team when Ted was 12 years old. This guy, believe it or not, really knows baseball. Very knowledgable. He recently compared Zane -- and we don't tell Zane stuff like this -- to a kid who played on the field a few years ago, named Lucas Herbert. You could waste a lot of time watching Lucas Herbert, who is today 14 or 15, on YouTube hitting home runs playing for the USA developmental Olympic team in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Anyway, the old guy says Zane is the only kid who has made him think about Lucas Herbert. Just by way of saying, last night probably wasn't the end of anything, a high spot to be sure, but not the pinnacle.

Whatever.

There was a night in May, 1969, when the Washington Township (NJ) Dodgers, sponsored by Wildridge Pharmacy, similarly won a Little League championship, and some of you were there, at Clark Field, and in the back yard with twinkly lights in the trees at 573 Howard Street.... Bard Lindeman coached that team, a wonderful team it was; it produced more stories than a small war or a revolution ... and that night there was a celebration of boys and families and baseball that will always be remembered.

Just want say how grateful I am for that night (thanks, Mom & Dad) and for last night (thanks, Zane/Karyn/Natalie) and for all the time (that would be 42 years, my friends) in between. And for all of you.

We all have our private and shared anxieties. But baseball is one place where we keep our hopes and dreams, our memories and our love, and there we know they are always safe and at the ready.

My love to you all.

-- Leslie

Leslie Lindeman, Ghostwriter
213.999.3284
LesLindeman.com

How Champions Win

For 45 minutes tonight the Bulls beat the Heat. And then the champions took control. With the score 77-65 Bulls with 3:14 left on the clock, it began. When it was all over, the Heat had hit their last 9 consecutive shots on an 18-3 run, and shut down Rose and the Bulls with their trademark stifling defense. The scoreboard read 83-80, Heat.

And that, is how champions win big ballgames, and Eastern Conference Championships. See you Tuesday ...

Heat up 3-1 over Bulls - Light Clearly Seen ...

101-93 Heat over Bulls in a hard fought overtime victory. Massive. Heat now go up a definitive 3-1 in the series, and ladies and gentleman, the light at the end of the Eastern Conference tunnel is now clearly visible.

Bosh enormous in game 3, counterbalancing the average games from the balance of the big 3. Tonight though, it was truly a team effort. Wade struggled offensively all night - and yet, characteristically, when it was most important, Jordan-esque, came up enormous. A soft jumper from the left sideline, followed by a transition break and amazing finish, capped off by a huge block on the defensive end --all in OT.

But it was more than Wade to be sure. Mike Miller had a huge game with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Haslem was cold from the floor, but still grabbed 9 rebounds and influenced the game. Lebron had yet another huge game, leading all scorers with 35 points, and absolutely shut down Rose down the stretch.

Trailing nearly the entire 2nd half, the Heat refused to quit always clearly believing they could win this game, and with Lebron holding the fort down and Wade catching fire late in the game, they tied it up at the end of 4 quarters. Going into OT, all real fans knew the Heat would prevail. Rose and Noah were spent. Rose played the entire 2nd half and OT, while Spo did a masterful job of rotating and resting.

5 minutes later, it was 3-1. That it is definitely a light ...

Chitown: Mission Accomplished

Play the first 2 on the road, and you always want to come away with a split. Tonight, the Heat is 1-1, splitting the first 2 with Chicago in Chicago with an 85-75 victory.

Spo likes to talk about "grinding it out." Man, this was hard fought basketball, make no mistake. The 2 best defensive teams in the league going at it.

Glass much better tonight as Heat out-rebounds Chicago 45-41, although Chicago still kills on the offensive glass, 17-10 (1st quarter particularly ugly).

But the real story tonight was the official return of Udonis Haslem. 13 points, 7 rebounds, and awesome off the bench. At one point, UD had a block, followed by a jam. And on the next offensive possession, a 2nd jam for 4 quick points. That may have been the decisive turning point in the game. You could just feel the Heat get a lift off of that. Ironically, in the post game, Charles Barkely referred to this sequence as the "turning point in the series" and quickly corrected himself, "I mean the game" ...

He may have been right the first time.

Still a long way to go, no question. And this Bulls team is hugely tough on D, enormously deep particularly in the frontcourt where Miami's weakness is most palpable, exacerbated by Spo's inexplicable decision to inactivate both Z and Damp. Yes, Da Bulls are deep, deep, deep.

Finally, D Wade and Lebron combined for a huge increase in point production, intensity and leadership tonight. In particular, down the stretch, as in the last game with Boston, Lebron took over, seemingly just willing in hugely tough 3 point and clutch baskets.

UD. Lebron. Huge. Split in Chitown: mission accomplished. See you Sunday ...

Don't Panic

First off; no panic here. The Bulls, who finished as the top seed in the NBA won the opener at home. Consider, if they had lost this game, there would be talk of "collapse" and "choke" etc ... so the fact that Da Bulls held serve on their home court does not crush me. A win Wednesday would be huge; a split is a split.

That said, there is lots, yes oodles, of room for concern. First off, yes, Rose had a great game with 28 points and 3/7 from the 3 point line, but Noah's 14 rebounds and just plain dominance of the paint, alongside the aggressive frontcourt play of Boozer, and lordy, even the gutsy play of Gibson (yikes, what a jam/putback that was) was cumulatively an enormous-around-the-basket force.

That's why, sure, you gotta be quick against this Chicago team, but the length and size of Zadrunis surely would have helped tonight. I think Spo's gotta rethink dressing out Z. (It's not like big cat Magloire is quick.)

Offensive rebounds (19 - 6 Bulls) destroyed the Heat tonight. Offensive rebounds lead to 2nd chance points, which means no Heat fast court pace with open breaks. Z helps you clear those defensive boards. Significantly, he also has had some great offensive tips and O-rebounds of his own. They'll need lots more than Z to steal game 2 in Chitown though.

Big picture is don't panic. Lots of ball left to play. A let down after that gargantuan series against the Cs was probably unavoidable. They'll be getting 2 days of much needed rest with no travel - that will help.

"There's nothing to run from ...
Everyone here's got someone to lean on"
--Don't Panic / Coldplay