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