MiLB: Eugene Emeralds are unlikeliest of champions
The Eugene Emeralds won the Northwest League championship despite having the worst record in the league during the regular season. You have to love minor league baseball!
Eugene is a city near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers about 50 miles east of the Oregon Coast. After Portland, which is 110 miles north, Eugene is Oregon’s second most populous city. Its official slogan is “A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors.” It’s also been referred to as “Track Town, USA.” Nike and Taco Time were launched in Eugene, making it a great place to go for a run and eat some tacos.
The Eugene Emeralds are a minor league baseball team in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League. Eugene has had a baseball team since 1955, most of those years in the Northwest League, along with a stint as a B-League team and a five-year stretch as a Triple-A team from 1969 to 1973.
Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt played in Eugene in 1972. Talented outfielder Eric Davis spent two seasons there in 1980 and 1981. Former MLB player and current MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa started his professional career in Eugene in 1996. The Washington Nationals current shortstop, Trea Turner, was an Emerald in 2014.
The Emeralds been affiliated with numerous major league teams over the years. Most recently, from 2001 to 2014, they were affiliated with the San Diego Padres. Since 2015, they’ve been a Chicago Cubs farm team. They won the Northwest League championship in 2016, then lost in the finals last season.
The Northwest League is divided into a North division and a South division. The Emeralds play in the South division, along with the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks farm club), Boise Hawks (Colorado Rockies) and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (San Francisco Giants). The first half of the season was rough for the Emeralds. They went 14-24 and finished in last place, 10 games behind the Hops in the South division.
The second half wasn’t great either. The Emeralds were 17-21 and again finished 10 games behind the Hillsboro Hops. Still, that 17-21 record was enough for the Emeralds to slip into second place by a game over the Volcanoes. By league rule, because the Hops were the first place team in both halves of the season, the second place team in the second half was awarded a playoff spot. Welcome to the playoffs, Eugene! Here’s a congratulatory taco!
When the first round of the playoffs began, it was expected to be a total mismatch. The Hillsboro Hops had the best record in the Northwest League, at 51-25 (.671). The Eugene Emeralds had the worst record in the Northwest League, at 31-45 (.408). This was David versus Goliath, the windshield versus the mosquito, Johnny the evil Cobra Kai Guy versus everyone’s favorite underdog, Daniel LaRusso.
Game 1 of the playoffs was in Eugene. As expected, the Hops led early. They knocked out starting pitcher Eury Ramos and took a 2-0 lead after three innings. Then the Eugene Emeralds magic took over. Three relievers combined to pitch six and two-thirds scoreless innings and the hitters battled back to claim a 3-2 victory.
Game 2 was in Hillsboro. Again the Hops took an early lead, putting a run on the board in the bottom of the first. It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when the Emeralds busted out for three runs. The Hops scored to make it 3-2 at the end of six innings. In the bottom of the ninth, the Hops put runners on second-and-third with one out, but Emeralds reliever Riley McCauley was called in to save the day, like Mighty Mouse.
McCauley got Jorge Perez to strike out swinging and Jake McCarthy to pop out to short. With the victory, the Emeralds had a sweep and a spot in the league finals. Somewhere, perhaps, Courtney Love and Rose McGowan felt a little joy in their hearts. As a child, Love lived in Eugene with her mother. McGowan grew up there.
The best-of-five series to decide the league title started in Spokane, Washington, a city whose motto is “Creative by Nature.” Spokane is on the eastern side of Washington state, much closer to Idaho than Seattle, both geographically and politically. Spokane is like Seattle’s cousin who lives in the country. They get along okay, but avoid discussing certain subjects at Thanksgiving dinner.
In Game 1 of the finals, Eugene fell behind early for the third postseason game in a row. Spokane hit back-to-back jacks in the bottom of the fourth. Emeralds starter Riley Thompson was removed after four and one-third innings and the bullpen took over. Three pitchers combined for four and two-third scoreless innings the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, the offense woke up in the top of the fifth. A double and three singles plated two runs to tie the game. In the top of the eighth, second baseman Levi Jordan launched a solo home run to give the Emeralds a 3-2 victory. Jordan had just one home run in 129 at-bats during the regular season. This home run was the margin of victory and the Emerald’s had their third straight 3-2 victory in the postseason.
At this point, the Emeralds must have been feeling cocky. They’d slipped into the playoffs by the slimmest of margins, but now had three straight one-run victories, all three games ending 3-2. Locals following the game on the radio or streaming it online must have put on their Birkenstocks and headed to town to celebrate with a beer from one of the many local breweries in Eugene, like Ninkasi, Oakshire or Hop Valley.
Eugene Oregon based Ninkasi Brewing is one of the nation's best known and most respected craft breweries. Here are some facts you may not know: https://t.co/mYgnRGCcNv
— Great Beer Now (@GreatBeerNow) April 23, 2018
In Game 2 of the finals, the Emeralds didn’t bother with a close game. They came out swinging, scoring three runs in the top of the first and another run in the seventh. Three pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout. The Emeralds were a game away from a league championship. Rumor has it there were celebratory concentrates, tinctures and edibles of the finest quality consumed by Eugene fans that night.
Game 3 was in Eugene, which is a great city for the arts and outdoors, I’ve heard. Spokane’s back was against the wall. The Emeralds were a game away from their second league title in the last three years. They took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but gave that run right back in the top of the second. Spokane plated another run in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. That’s where it stayed until the bottom of the ninth.
Spokane had reliever Emmanuel Clase in the game. Clase was an international free agent signing in 2015. His fastball sits 96-98 mph and he has a slider in the 85-87 mph range. He was nearly untouchable during the regular season, allowing just two earned runs in 28.3 innings. That’s an ERA of 0.64. Opposing batters hit .163 against him. He struck out 27 and walked six.
Emmanuel Clase entering with two outs remaining in the eighth after Cole Uvila loses Nelson Velazquez and walks him.
— Josh Horton (@byJoshHorton) September 12, 2018
Clase throws upper 90s, so that's fun. #NWLchampionship
Down by a run against one of the toughest relievers in the league, the Emeralds notched a single, a fly out and a single to put runners on first-and-second with one out. A force out at second put runners on the corners with two down. The runner on first, Yonathan Perlaza, then stole second and the hitter, Jake Slaughter, was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
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Andy Weber stepped to the dish. During the regular season, Weber hit .291/.363/.329. He didn’t hit for much power, but had the second-best on-base percentage on the team for players with 70 or more plate appearances. The count went full and Weber did what he does best. He drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game.
That brought up Nelson Velazquez to face Emmanuel Clase. Velazquez didn’t have the high on-base percentage that Weber had this season, but he had significantly more power, with a .250/.322/.458 batting line. As the hometown crowd cheered their team on, Clase began his motion, then caught a spike and stumbled a few steps to his left. It was a balk, a walk-off balk, a “chicken-chicken balk-balk-balk” to give the Eugene Emeralds the Northwest League championship.
The walk-off balk to win the Northwest League Championship!!! #GoEms #BalkOff #FlytheW pic.twitter.com/s9p2ssdoGy
— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) September 12, 2018
A walk-off balk isn’t how the title-winning fantasy usually ends, but it seems appropriate for the Eugene Emeralds in 2018. They had the worst record in the league, but due to the quirky rules they made the playoffs, where they faced the team with the best record in the league.
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After never winning more than two games in a row during the regular season, the Emeralds won two straight in the playoff round and three more in the finals. Their only five-game winning streak came when it counted most.