And Then There Were 39
- Updated: July 12, 2018
(Reigning Southern California champion Santa Margarita National Little League of Rancho Santa Margarita celebrates winning the 2018 California District 68 title on Jul. 7. SMNLL will compete starting Saturday in Southern California’s Section 10 tournament to be held at Aliso Viejo Little League in Aliso Viejo. Photo courtesy of Santa Margarita National Little League.)
The number 39 has tremendous significance.
It is the name of a song that when performed live by Queen, served as one of the top moments during that legendary rock music band’s concerts. With that group’s four musicians performing side-by-side at the front of their stage, 39 had become a visual as much as a musical highlight of Queen’s shows. Watching the following epic footage brought tears down my face as I strolled through memory lane:
(I cannot wait for November. Miss you, Freddie.)
In Judaism, Jews are prohibited from performing 39 categories of labor during our Sabbath. Within those 39 are the reasons this crazy rabbi/sports blogger cannot attend baseball or hockey games on Friday nights and Saturdays, which explains why I never show up for the final of the West Region tournament held at Albert E. Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, as that game has always been played during our Sabbath.
Those 39 prohibitions also explain why I could never take my sports journalism career to the next level, as advancement in that competitive field almost requires desecration of the Sabbath, and why CaliSports News is a perfect outlet for my writing, and one of the reasons why I had written that CSN’s hockey editor “is probably my favorite boss for whom I have ever worked,” as he is fine with me covering the Anaheim Ducks despite my limited availability.
And, in the Southern California Little League all-stars tournament which started with more than 300 leagues competing, as if part of an Agatha Christie novel, after the first round of district play has now officially concluded, suddenly, the giant field of competition has been reduced, and then, there were 39.
That number 39 keeps showing itself.
Starting on Saturday, each of SoCal’s 39 remaining Little League teams will compete in one of 10 different geographical sections. Although CSN has mentioned that the most competitive district in California and perhaps in the entire world is District 42, once one of the heads of the three-headed monster emerges as that district’s winner, history has shown that the monster enjoys relatively smooth sailing going forward, and that Section 7 in particular becomes a relaxing sunset boat ride on gentle waters along the coast.
District 42 has absolutely dominated Section 7, winning that tournament’s title in each of the past nine years, and mercy-ruled opponents many times along the way. Not only that, but the monster has only lost one game during those nine Section 7 tournaments, and that loss happened back in 2012.
Meanwhile, the real competition has been seen in Section 10 in Orange County which, starting in 2011, has sent teams to the Little League World Series in S. Williamsport, PA, from two different districts, with Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach representing District 62, and Santa Margarita National Little League of Rancho Santa Margarita repping (is that even a real word?) District 68. Not many other SoCal sections can claim sending teams from two different districts to Pennsylvania within such a short time frame.
(Huntington Beach’s Ocean View Little League celebrates winning the 2011 Little League World Series in S. Williamsport, PA. Photo courtesy of Ocean View Little League.)
Ocean View had gone on to win the entire world championship in 2011, becoming the most recent team from Southern California to sing We Are The Champions “of The World”. OVLL had been a beast, winning its district title for the past four straight years, and in eight of the past 10. However, this year, its crosstown rival, Huntington Valley Little League of Huntington Beach, tranquilized that longtime beast.
Huntington Valley will face another ferocious lion in the Section 10 tournament in SoCal’s defending champion Santa Margarita which again won the District 68 championship. Not only did SMNLL’s 12-and-under team win its district title, but so did that South OC league’s 11s, 10s, 9s, 6s, 3s, Intermediate, Juniors, Semi-pros, Adults, Senior Citizens, refreshment stand workers, bleacher cheerleaders, field landscape teams, and parking lot attendants. Okay, I might be exaggerating a tad, but that league roared through its district this year.
Santa Margarita National’s 12s start their sectional play on Saturday against Irvine Ranch Little League of Irvine, while Huntington Valley opens that day against West Anaheim Little League of Anaheim. Aliso Viejo Little League in Aliso Viejo will host all of Section 10’s action. Until then, stay tuned!
CSN hopes to embed a spy at that tournament to share their notes via shoe phone. I believe that spy will also wear sunglasses that double as a camera. So, stay with CSN, Southern California’s undisputed leader in Little League coverage.
(One of CaliSports News’ anonymous sources. Photo courtesy of Pinterest.)
Finally, as a follow-up to my prior article, I am thrilled to report that the amazing parents of the players on Chula Vista’s Park View Little League team read Park View It Is !!, and immediately adopted Rabbi Rabbs as that baseball family’s crazy uncle. Chula Vista’s Little League communities, regardless of which particular league they represent, consistently impress me as being among the nicest people I have ever encountered. I am so blessed to be welcomed by what had been complete strangers, and I am tempted to move to that city.
The Park View parents even ordered for me a free rally towel, and a free t-shirt to wear at that league’s upcoming games. And check it out, those shirts will say “The Green Monsters”. Can you believe that? How friggin’ perfect is that? For me to wear those words seems almost surreal.
That league has even discussed my car flags suggestion, although I am not sure those parents share their crazy uncle’s same enthusiasm to wave such flags.
In the meantime, guess what? I can proudly state that I have memorized the names, jersey numbers, fielding positions, heights, weights, favorite desserts, least favorite school subjects, and biggest crush of Park View’s 13 players. Okay, that is another exaggeration, but I thankfully did put the following line-up card to memory, and with the generous help from one of that team’s very sweet mothers, this crazy rabbi has started to match faces and nicknames to the names on the card:
(Let’s Go Big Cat !! Let’s Go Guerro (pronounced “Wee Dough”) !! Let’s Go Big Mike !! Let’s Go Atty !! Photo courtesy of Jon Bigornia.)
I now know for what I wish most, even more than to wave car flags. I would love for District 42 to create t-shirts, pins, or bumper stickers that on them would proudly declare the now-famous words: “Home of the three-headed monster.”
Even better than that would be a cartoon drawing of a three-headed monster showing Park View’s head colored green, the head depicting Chula Vista’s Eastlake Little League would be blue, and the head portraying Bonita’s Sweetwater Valley Little League would appear, I suppose for contrast, as gold, red, and white. Those items would sell out faster than tickets to a Queen concert.
Until then, Let’s Go SoCal !!
Any way the wind blows …
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2 Comments
About Rabbi Rabbs
Lisa C.
July 13, 2018 at 7:35 am
Great article. And amazing run for this three headed monster! Exciting times for parkview and all the lil leagues as they move on to regionals. Being from the 2009 PVLL family I appreciate your comments and dedication to the teams! So excited for PVLL again!
Thanks you
Rabbi Rabbs
July 17, 2018 at 11:42 pm
Hi Lisa. Thank you so much for reading my article, and for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment. Very much appreciated. So glad you liked what I wrote.