[Jazzmosis]

It was a hot evening in Grand Rapids, and the sun was still blazing in the August sky. I wiped the sweat from my brow and grabbed some more chewing tobacco, sticking a large piece behind my lip. I nervously paced up and down the dugout, looking at the assembled team of young men that made up the Duluth Express. It was a collection of aspiring, talented players that were hoping to make a living playing baseball, and in this new league, they'd certainly found their groove at the right time, storming back to take the division and thrilling the fans in the city that had no professional team to cheer for within a three hour drive. The owner had poured a lot of money into these guys, and the objective was obvious: start this league off by taking the Great Lakes Trophy home to Duluth.

The team was pretty loose - at least the hitters were. They'd been consistent most of the year, and had performed near the top of the league.

However, Grand Rapids was the early favourite. They'd been on top for nearly the whole year, and were the quickest to get the fans behind them - not to mention the fact they had an awesome 1-2 pitching punch that looked to take them deep into the playoffs. It was this fact that was making me twitch nervously - if Manny Depaz didn't knock off Lampe in this game one matchup, we could be playing from a 2-0 hole heading back home. I wanted a split - the boys wanted a 2-0 lead.

The game began with the flash of bulbs as Lampe delivered the first playoff pitch in GLL's history - a strike to RF Freddie Lehmann. And much like clockwork, Lampe threw three brilliant strikes to collect the first K as well. As Freddy came back to the dugout, he muttered.

"That changeup is hot tonight, boys."

And how it was. Although Stewart doubled, Lampe got both of our heavy guns - the league batting champ Clarence Warden and power slugger Harry Zeman - on his deadly changeup. Grand Rapids fans loved it - and I saw Lampe smiling as he walked off the mound.

I walked over to Depaz as he readied himself for the mound. "Right Manny," I started, "gotta be just as sharp tonight." He nodded to me and jogged out to the mound.

And much to my relief, he made a quick 1-2-3 inning out of Grand Rapids' hitters.

That relief was short lived. After Lampe cruised through his half, Depaz gave up back to back hits with one out in the second - one a double. And as Stewart fielded the Matt Lehman ball in the corner, he turned and threw a bullet to try and nab Gayhart at the plate.... but instead threw it to the backstop. Grand Rapids had their lead. And the bleeding didn't stop there. A single plated their second run, and with two outs, Lampe himself dropped a single of his own in. Then Raines belted a double that plated them both.

Then, a grounder bounced to Zeman at third - he fielded it and threw a perfect strike to first to end the torturous inning - but immediately went to the trainer, holding his shoulder tightly. He wouldn't be playing the rest of the game. My best power hitter, gone. And after we gave up 4 runs.

The game then went into cruise mode... Depaz steadied the ship, but in the 5th inning I lost Saurez to a pulled bicep, losing my short stop and third baseman in the same game. I was already giving up on this game and setting my mind to game 2.

As the top of the 6th rolled in, I called Depaz over and told him his night was done. He'd only thrown 71 pitches and he didn't want to come out, but I explained to him that I wanted to keep him fresh in case I needed him on short rest. Ben Casablanca came out to replace him.

The night continued to go downhill, as Corkery, my replacement shortstop, threw away another easy out that resulted in Grand Rapids plating another run and extending their lead to a commanding 5-0. Meanwhile, Lampe was throwing a 2 hitter, and nobody had got past second.

Casablanca and Ed Sieber then proceeded to shut down Grand Rapids, but it really didn't matter in the end - the game was all about James Lampe. He cruised through innings and cut up our hitters like cheap meat, completing a masterful 3 hit shutout with 11 strikeouts that saw us get dealt a very demoralizing first blow in the series. Of course, we also saw why Grand Rapids was the favourite, and had even sold out a couple games. James Lampe had walked all over us, and without a quick response in game 2, Grand Rapids already looked poised to crush Duluth with little effort.