|
With the euphoria of winning the 2009 Battle of the Beer a distant memory, the bitterness that was required is still fresh. The intense and combative characters required to become a successful pitcher are the same traits that make it hard to let a rivalry go.
The recent acquisition of former Kelowna American star pitcher Jeramy Politi at first seemed like a sound move for the Crusaders who looked to move from a 4 man rotation to a 5 man rotation as the demands of the season intensified. The existing pitchers with their long memories however thought otherwise.
As the Crusaders fell 3 games behind in the 2009 Battle of the Beer, and with victory for the Americans looking ominous, the press unwittingly fuelled an ugly rivalry by quoting less than favourable comments from the respective pitching camps. As the series wore on the barbs directed at each other degenerated and the rivalry became more and more personal for the players involved. Politi lost the final game of the series after being out duelled by Wayne Campbell in a 2-0 decision and at that time came in for particular attention from the Crusaders players.
Sources close to the team say the present trouble started to brew as soon as rumours of the deal circulated. The players had already pencilled veteran Kogel Kawalsky back into the rotation as the move to 5 starters loomed. Kawalsky had spent the majority of the season providing an experienced and dependable arm to the bullpen. The situation exploded after Maximo Bigsby went down with the flu leaving 3 starters and instead of moving to a 5 man rotation with Kawalsky and Politi, the team stayed with a 4 man rotation and opted for Politi to start.
The situation has infuriated Kawalsky and his good friends Isak “Shaggy” Markway and Maximo Bigbsy. The performances of both Kawalsky and Markway of late could best be described as angry and wild and have lead to the undoing of some great starts from Tony Barrett and Wayne Campbell. Their pitching performances have also thrown extra pressure on some the younger bullpen guys with the pitching coaches asking for more innings from them while they have been reluctant to use Kawalsky and Markway.
In the mean time Politi has hardly helped the situation. His 3 starts to date in dark red uniform of the Crusaders have returned a record of 0-2. It gets worse for Politi as he has averaged a barely acceptable 5 innings per start at a woeful era of 9.39.
It remains to be seen as to whether GM Graham Colvin can pacify these strong personalities and turn the pitching into the cohesive unit it was before the trade. Perhaps a reversal of roles for Kawalsky and Politi is all it will take as the form of Politi is begging for the change.
On a side note, catcher Enzo Ransone who was also traded from the Kelowna Americans has faired better with the Crusaders hitting at an average of 0.317 from 41 at bats and impressing the fans even further by hitting 0.381 from 21 at bats at home.
| 
