Life in the Minors
Dragons enjoy another ride
with Bussie at the wheelThis week the Dubois County Dragons received the pinch hit of pinch hits, the web gem of web gems, the save of the year. And it all came courtesy of a bus driver.
For my first two seasons as a player and coach in the Frontier League, I had known only one bus driver. David Mays, the captain of our trusty Beck Bus, scooted me around the Midwest as an Evansville Otter in 1999 and then as pitching coach for the Dragons last season.
With his disarming southern charm, the Kentucky native always had a smile, a story, and, well, a pair of steel-tipped cowboy boots, a pocket knife and a cowboy belt complete with a huge belt buckle with a depiction of a rodeo to share with all who boarded his bus.
A true fan, he was always a part of the team, shuffling down the aisle of the bus to the beat of Bill Monroe's "Orange Blossom Special" to celebrate each of our road wins.
Being from the Islands, the first time I witnessed the "Bussie Diddie," I was a little thrown. There I was sitting in my bus seat three years ago, basking in the glow of a road win against the Springfield Capitals, when all of a sudden a tune that reminded me of the "Dueling Banjos" began blaring through the overhead speakers, eliciting a roar from the 30-some men aboard.
After whipping my head around toward the back of the bus to see what all the commotion was about, I spun back around to see this tall, lean 60-something-year-old man shuffling down the aisle. And so I was exposed to the spunk of David Mays, or "Bussie," for short.
Well, after chauffeuring the Dragons to a West Division crown last year, Bussie decided to go back to the Otters for 2002. A resident of the Evansville area, he had grown tired of the late-night return home to the Beck Bus station after carrying us back to Huntingburg from one of the league's 10 other cities.
With Tom Saum steering the ship for us this season, we made an adjustment. While Tom didn't entertain us as Bussie did, he was certainly very good at whisking us from town to town over our first 36 road games.
Apparently the very proud owner of a huge bladder, Tom lead-footed us around in record time, needing only the occasional, once-every-four-hour cigarette break to recharge for the remainder of our trips.
So as we sat in the parking lot of League Stadium at 1 a.m. Wednesday awaiting Tom's arrival to head off on our regular-season-ending, six-game road trip, we began to get a little concerned as time passed by, with no bus in sight.
With 30 players, coaches and staff roaming the dimly lit parking lot in sweats, pajamas and other various forms of sleep attire, concern turned to worry.
The first thought was that the bus company had assumed 1 p.m. instead of 1 a.m. But the assurances of our assistant general manager Jason Potts turned our focus elsewhere.
For the next half-hour or so, we all just assumed that maybe Tom was a bit behind schedule. Then we all began to worry that Tom had gotten into an accident.
It was worse than that. The 30-something father of four had a heart attack aboard the bus and had to be rushed via paramedics to the hospital. After about another half-hour of concern for Tom, the coaching staff got together and tried to figure out our next move. With eight or so hours of bus travel to cover before our 7 p.m. game, we had to figure the best way to make the journey to Rockford, Ill.
Well, the end-all fix was to ring good-ole Bussie. So at 2 a.m. or so, our manager Greg Tagert got on the horn to current Evansville Otters assistant general manager and former Dragon GM Steve Tahsler, who got us in contact with our long-lost bus driver. Feeling like Commissioner Gordon, Greg got Bussie on the bat phone ... er, Dragon phone ... and faster than a speeding bullet, there was David Mays, pulling into League Stadium, with his trusty Beck Bus.
Bussie definitely played the super-hero role that day. Hopping off the bus to a hero's welcome, he did the handshake and high-five circuit, exchanging brief greetings with the 12 or so Dragon holdovers from the previous season.
For the new guys, the arrival of Bussie filled in some blanks. Having heard about the bluegrass-listening, eye-winking, story-telling legend of the Frontier League for three-fourths of the season, Bussie's arrival transformed the myth into a man for our first-time Dragons.
The bus trip flew by. Bussie's presence put the Dubois County Dragons at peace, because for the first time this year, the whole team slept on an overnight trip. By the time the video of Eddie Murphy's "Raw" was over, the bus was silent.
The ride put us all at ease. The stress of holding off the rest of the West Division for the past two months had taken its toll on us. We were weary.
Scratching and clawing night after night, we headed into our series against the second-place Rockford Riverhawks needing two wins over our final six contests to clinch our second consecutive division crown. Bussie's return was a much-needed comfort for us all, a remedy.
Our series opener Thursday night was a triumphant one as we routed our rivals 10-2 behind the complete-game, six-hit, 10-strikeout performance of Cody Fisher.
The win gave us 48 on the season to tie the franchise record we set a year ago and put us within a win of capturing the pennant. More importantly, it meant the return of "Bussie's Diddie."
Like a true hero, Bussie disappeared silently into the Midwestern night after the game. With his mission accomplished, he returned home to Indiana to ready for his next assignment.
Beck Bus had sent another driver to take over for the remainder of the trip. Although he returned to us for just a day, Bussie reminded us that the true victory in life does not lie in the destination itself. You have to enjoy the ride.