September 4, 2004

Ole Sheldon’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th Thursday night completed what can’t be described as anything but an unbelievable season for the Greeneville Astros.

A new team in a new ballpark that was so embraced by the local fans they destroyed the rest of the league in attendance; a rookie skipper who took Manager of the Year honors; an 18-year-old slugger that tied the single season home run record en route to being named Player of the Year; a division title; and now late inning heroics in back-to-back, come-from-behind victories to win the league championship: movie makers wouldn’t buy this story because it sounds too much like fantasy.

It isn’t fantasy. Maybe it’s destiny.

“You couldn’t write a better script,” said Astros manager Tim Bogar after Greeneville’s 2-1 victory over Danville in game three of the Appalachian League Championship Series. “(Wednesday) night to come from behind in the ninth to win it, then a home run to walk it off, there isn’t a baseball movie like this. They wouldn’t believe it. I am so happy for this town. It took so long to get baseball here. We finally got it, and we got a chance to give them a championship. The boys played so well. They were fantastic.”

Sheldon gave the Astros bookend wins this season. He hit a ninth inning homer at Elizabethton to win the season opener. His mammoth blast to left in the bottom of the 10th inning brought the league season to a close and brought the championship to Greeneville.

“That’s about the only two good things I did offensively all summer,” Sheldon said. “This team is unbelievable. These fans are unbelievable. I’ve struggled all year with that wood bat. Our pitching is unbelievable. This team has worked so hard. To win like this... no words can describe it.”

To make the fairy tale complete, Jimmy Barthmaier closed out the top of Danville’s order in the 10th to get credit for the pitching win. Barthmaier was cruising along in game one of the series until he was hit by a foul ball while in the dugout. He wasn’t the same afterward, giving up a three-run homer and handing Danville the win.

“After getting hit in the knee I wanted another shot at getting back out there,” he said. “I knew I could do it in the first game. It was just an unfortunate accident. I was ready to go. I know what I can do. If I’ve got my stuff, it’s going to be hard for them to get me. They did a good job. They put the ball in play, but our fielders made plays. We made it happen. That’s all you can ask.”

Oh yeah, it was Mitch Einertson’s 26th home run of the season that helped send the game to extra innings in the first place.

Danville scored a run in the third when Van Pope led off with a base hit and was driven in on an RBI single to right by Carl Loadenthal. Einertson launched a 2-2 delivery over the scoreboard in left field to tie the game at a run apiece in the fourth.

The Astros did a good job to get out of a bind in the later innings. They left a Danville base runner on third in the sixth inning and two more in the same spot in the seventh and ninth. Greeneville was unlucky in the bottom half of the seventh, leaving the bases loaded. They had a runner in scoring position in the ninth, but couldn’t get him back to the plate.

That just added to the drama. Barthmaier, who came on in relief of starter Juan Gutierrez in the eighth, had to face the top of the Braves’ order in the 10th. Three ground balls made short work of Danville’s leadoff hitters, and then Sheldon came to the plate.

Danville reliever Rodny Jimenez, who struck out three Astros in the ninth, was down in the count 1-0 and then made the mistake of fishing for a strike.

“It was a fast ball down the middle,” Sheldon said. “I’ve been struggling all year. They kind of knew to come after me. I got one. It was all about getting a good pitch and something happening. It was good.”

Einertson, who led Greeneville with his homer and a double in the seventh, couldn’t be happier for his teammate.

“We were saying all game ‘Leave them on the field’ and Ole left them on the field,” he said. Einertson and most of the team won’t be back in Greeneville next year. They’ll move on to other places great and small. But, you couldn’t ask for a better parting gift to the loyal fans or a better way to remember their year in rookie ball.

“I think right now this is going to be my fondest memory,” Einertson said. “We got a ring. That’s what we came out here to do. We thank all the fans. We thank all of you. This is a feeling I’ll never forget.”

After their inaugural season in Greeneville the Astros do have one problem. What do they do for an encore?

“I hope its something they can build on every year,” Bogar said. “It’s going to be a tough job to top what happened here, especially how they won it. It was amazing. I really don’t know what to say.”

One member of the team who definitely won’t be back is pitching coach Jack Billingham. Win or lose, Thursday night was his last baseball game. Billingham announced long ago he was retiring at the end of the season.

“This is storybook,” Billingham said. “I’ve had some exciting times in my career. I’ve been in World Series. This (Minor League baseball) has been my home for the last 18 years. It’s great to see these kids play their hearts out. Danville did, too. It was a great series. It came down to the wire. I’ve been very fortunate this year. I’ve had a great bullpen. I’ve had some great starters. They made it very easy on the old man in my last year.”

This was Bogar’s first year as a manager. The way he handled his first assignment, the Astros organization will most likely be anxious to keep him around somewhere.

“It’s hard to describe,” Bogar said. “These kids worked so hard all season. There were many times in the beginning of the season we didn’t know where we were going to go. Our pitching started coming around. About halfway through the season we made some adjustments offensively, and every single one of these kids worked their heart out for us. We got what we needed out of them tonight.”