Goat Post: Issue 18

The Goat Post runs on a Saturday through Friday calendar, and this week was hotter than the California sun from start to finish.

We begin with a 47-year-old football coach who has climbed the ladder — this is his eighth program — and earned a legendary upset victory. Tim Skipper took over as interim head coach of winless UCLA and had a home game against Penn State staring his Bruins in the face.

If this was a game of chicken, Skipper crushed it and gave out wings like Nick the bartender in It’s A Wonderful Life. The Bruins absolutely flew. UCLA was a 25-point underdog and defeated Penn State, 42-37.

“No more sad Sundays!” Tim told his euphoric team.

Tim had an unmistakably joyful assistant and Bruins lifer in the mix. Unless you’re a Penn State fan, admit it, it was special to see Rick Neuheisel — from the TV studio — watch his son, Jerry, celebrate when the Bruins closed the deal. Jerry and his flowing hair are UCLA all the way. He was promoted to offensive coordinator and, honestly, didn’t even know how to operate the headset he was handed.

But he wore it well and won it better.

You’ll have a hard time topping this clip of Rick and Jerry. It’s coaches having whatever is the opposite of a Family Feud.

Which leads us back to Tim Skipper. Tim’s brother Kelly is running backs coach for the Buffalo Bills, and their Dad, Jim Skipper, spent 15 seasons as running backs coach of the Carolina Panthers through 2019.

@bleacherreport

Tim Skipper hype after UCLA’s upset win over No. 7 Penn State 🔥 (via @UCLA Football) #cfb #football #ucla #collegefootball

When the NFL says football is family, they ain’t lyin’.

So all that was about last Saturday. What A Week.

Sunday, the Broncos won in Philly and the Patriots won in Buffalo. Those were surprises, but the  Arizona Cardinals had the coldest beer to hold.

It wasn’t just that they fell to the Tennessee Titans. It was how. Emari Demercado literally dropped the ball. And he did so, almost inexplicably, short of the goal line.

But hand Emari this much (knowing he’ll hang on to it): Credit to that young man for standing up afterward and owning the mistake.

Memo to everyone: Never do that again.

We fast forward from there to the Yankees overcoming a 6-1 deficit Tuesday, thanks to a signature game from Aaron Judge (3 for 4 with 4 RBIs), to the Blue Jays getting the last laugh and advancing Wednesday to the American League Championship Series.

The next night, the Dodgers’ walkoff clinch over Philadelphia ended with a PFP (pitchers fielding practice) comebacker that Orion Kerkering would handle cleanly around 99 out of 100 times.

Hollywood ignored the odds.

Orion was a stand-up dude after the error, and he was comforted in the immediate aftermath by Phillies manager Rob Thomson.

@mlbonfox

Orion Kerkering spoke to the media after the Phillies devastating loss to end their season (via OnPattison/X) #mlb #baseball #phillies

That’s the way you do it, Rob. We see you. And Philly fans, the ones often depicted unfairly, I bet will give Orion a standing ovation next time he enters a game at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies Karen? I’m not as sure.

Which brings us to Friday night. Watching the Tigers-Mariners Game 5, writing this in real time, I’ve gravitated to Leo Rivas. He tied the game with a dramatic RBI single.

Leo is from Venezuela and spent a decade-plus in the minor leagues. A dream weaver, maybe Leo was destined to get us to the morning light. The stage: October Baseball. It’s the 12th inning.

Leo drew a lead-off walk.

I went back and watched the game-tying hit when the Tigers had a 2-1 lead in the seventh. The happiest cat on the field might have been Eric Young Jr., the Mariners’ first base coach.

A former stolen base champ, Eric is a person you root for if you know his backstory.

“I’m trying to turn tragedy into triumph,” Eric said after the death of his newborn son, Eric III, in 2017, “maybe inspire some people along the way who might be battling something just as devastating to them.”

Eric Young Jr. is perseverance and great energy personified.

So many awesome people in the games we watch, in the moments we forget to exhale from the edges of our seats.

Leo didn’t score. We’ve gone to the 13th inning.

During the half-inning break I found the clips of Leo’s first career at bat, resulting in a stand-up triple. And a walk-off homer, with a Jakob Berger TikTok that’s pretty damn funny.

@jj.bergss

“LEO RIVAS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!😱💣” #mlb #baseball #seattlemariners #leorivas #walkoffhomerun

Bottom 13, still 2-2. Two on, nobody out for the Mariners. Seattle is more caffeinated than all the world’s Starbucks supply.

We’ve been peppered tonight with Goat of the Week (aka Goat Dub) nominations for whichever player is the hero of this game. I concur.

One out. Double play.

Detroit has flexed better brake pads in a single game than Tommy Boy did when he saved Callahan Auto.

It’s the 14th inning. Dillon Dingler rips a ringing, one-out double to left. Dingler is 27, and it’s 12:37 a.m. Saturday right now on the East Coast. His real first name is Francis. Dillon is a better first name for a Major League catcher.

Seattle gets out of it.

Mariners fans now have one of the great gifts of baseball, that time when you know your team, the home team, has three outs to play with and no chance of losing in that window. Winning time?

Jack Flaherty is pitching brilliantly. He was five days shy of his 30th birthday when the game began. It’s 12:48 a.m. as he gets the second out — a swing and a miss — in the 14th.

A four-pitch walk to Victor Robles brings J.P. Crawford to the plate.

Dillon fires with Robocop perfection to catch Victor stealing. Not so fast, Seattle.

Luis Castillo is on the mound, going up against the top of Detroit’s order. Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Blue Jays await the winner of this game and hope it takes 50 innings, one for every cherished state.

The Tigers haven’t scored in the last nine innings. The Mariners have been shut out for the last seven. We’re in the bottom of the 15th. Tommy Kahnle enters to pitch for Detroit.

Tommy, 36, has pitched for the Rockies, White Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Yankees again, and now the Tigers in a distinguished MLB career.

He’s in a tough spot now. Single. Hit batter. Fly out to center. Both runners advance on a wayward throw from the outfield. Intentional walk. Bases loaded. One out. Full count.

Jorge Polanco knows Tommy has to throw a strike. Is that my heartbeat or is there a bowling ball in the dryer?

Jorge barrels up the 3-2 pitch and mashes a walk-off near-quarter-century catapult to the ALCS.

Jorge, a Major Leaguer since 2014 with the Twins and a former All-Star starting shortstop, has just flashed his greatest might in the twilight of his career — and approaching the dawn after a 4 hour, 58 minute masterpiece.

Here he is, Jorge Polanco, forever a legend in the Pacific Northwest. I’m certain he will think of Maximo, the grandfather who taught him to swim, who had an adoring hand in raising him, who passed away eight years ago, as Jorge soaks it in that Game 5 made him immortal.

Somewhere, even Big Foot is clapping, crying and has no words.

Jorge, afterward, credited his teammates, and it’s especially on point to share love for Leo, the lion. It was his 28th birthday on Friday. 

They haven’t had a baseball party like this in Seattle since Leo turned 4.

Goat Big!