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HISTORY OF THE TEQUILA WORMS |
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In the early 1980's the Wortham brothers, Mike and Larry, began playing softball in Sherman, Texas for St. Mary's Catholic Church team, coached by Ken Rohr, the original Bronco Billy. During their college years, both made the drive weekly to Sherman to play softball. Second generation St. Mary's players Mike Meredith and David Rohr, both of whom had fathers playing on the team, joined them. By the late 1980's, the Sherman team had disbanded, and Mike and Larry began living in Dallas. They were playing on two teams: the Wampus Kats and the Thunder Possums. In 1988, the two teams merged, and kept the name Wampus Kats. They were joined by Meredith, and other Sherman High graduates, Ross Stubber and Russell Key. David Rohr joined the team prior to 1989, playing sparingly as needed in the infield and outfield.
Seeking a new identity and more popularity, the Wampus Kats sought a new team name for the 1989 season. Coach Mike Wortham made David Rohr an offer he couldn't refuse. Since the Worms didn't have a sponsor, the team would pay it's own entry fee. Wortham offered Rohr free entries fee if he would stand in line to register the team. He also had power of attorney to pick a new team name. The registration was at 5 AM at the Fair Park Coliseum at the Texas State Fairgrounds on February 20, 1989. While standing in line, eating a McDonald's sausage biscuit, Rohr explored his options for a team name. At 7 AM, it was his turn to register, and he still didn't have a name picked out. He decided he would just register as the Wampus Kats again, when the thought hit him over the head like a tequila bottle. The Wortham brothers were both nicknamed "Worm" in their Sherman days. He decided that had the perfect ring to it and that is how the Tequila Worms were born�
Since that time, the Worms have seen or experienced just about everything. Enjoy reading the history of the Tequila Worms, and feel free to include any comments when you sign the guestbook.
The Worms took the field for he first time in 1989, at Norbuck Park on Monday nights, with a team of the late Jim Mark, Mike Wortham, Joel Falcon, Bobby "the Brain" Patton, Joe Pumphrey, Ross Stubber, Russell Key, David Rohr (Bronco), Larry Wortham, Mike Meredith, Wes Ott, Jeff Harrison, Xavier "X-man" Hernandez, Greg "Smitty" Smith, Dave Brown, and Jim Bob Sanders. The Worms experienced instant success, finishing second in the spring season. The spring season included a game that still stands as one of the worst moments in team history. Leading the Ag Bullets, 20-7, in the sixth inning with two outs, and only 30 seconds remaining on the time limit, all the Worms had to do was take a couple of pitches to run out the time. Instead, Joel Falcon popped out on the first pitch. Therefore, the seventh inning had to be played. The Bullets scored 13 runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game. The Worms didn't score in the bottom half of the frame, so the game went to extra innings. The Ag Bullets scored another 12 runs in the eighth inning. The Worms scored two in the bottom of the eighth to make the final score 32-22. The seventh and eighth innings lasted 40 minutes, and the Worms committed 14 errors in the two innings. The team recovered to win the summer league, but lost two straight games in the Dallas City Playoffs. The Worms sustained their first major injury during the summer league, when coach/catcher Mike Wortham broke his wrist and missed the rest of the summer season.
The 1990 season was much the same for the Worms. However, there were some personnel changes. Joe Pumphrey retired, and Bronco moved into the infield at shortstop. Bobby Patton was moved to catcher when Wild Bill Hawkins joined the Worms, and took over at second base. The Worms finished second in the spring and won the summer league, splitting four games with the Ag Bullets. The two losses to the Bullets were the only losses the Worms suffered, but they costed them the spring league title. The 1991 season would be an important one for the Worms.
The 1991 season was perhaps the most significant in Worms history. The Worms relocated to Fair Oaks Park for the 1991 season. More importantly, the Worms acquired the services of an energetic and talented left fielder named Rod Taylor. Bill Hawkins had met Taylor while on vacation in Mexico, and recruited Taylor on behalf of the Worms. Hot Rod quickly became one of the most popular Worms, and an inspirational leader. At the time, Taylor was the only married Worm, and his wife JoniBeth, was dubbed, the "First Lady of the Worms". There were many cold nights when JoniBeth was the only one there to watch the Worms play. Her dedication was an inspiration to the Worms. Craig Stephens also joined the Worms in the outfield, but left the team before completing his freshman year, and nobody really knows what happened to him. His contribution to the team was priceless though. Stephens designed the current Worm logo that you see today. The Worms won both spring and summer league titles. The budding rivalry with Ag Bullets continued as the Worms won three of five games against the Bullets, including a one game playoff to decide the summer league championship. The Worms then dropped two straight games in the Dallas City Playoffs.
The Worms won the spring and summer league titles in 1992, and experienced their best post season success to date, finishing 8th in the Dallas City Playoffs. A large addition was made to the Worms, as Dee Carter, who at 6'0" 255, became the largest Worm ever. Carter became the Worms designated hitter, and also played some games at catcher and first base. In winning both the spring and summer league titles, the Worms took three of four games from Ag Bullets. This was last time they would see them, as the Bullets would disband their team following the season. Following a 6:30 PM game at Fair Oaks Park, the Worms went to Milo Butterfingers to drink beer. Carter had to be at work at 2 AM so he went home instead. On his way to work at 1:30 AM, Carter stopped at Milo's because some of the players were still there. He sat and visited with the Wortham brothers and Bronco before going on to work. Larry reported to Dee that there was no way they could leave because the waitress, affectionately dubbed "the Lesbian Linebacker" by the Worms because of her size, kept bringing free pitchers of beer. The Worms competed in the Sherman tournament and won it handily, posting a 5-0 record. One of the highlights of the tournament was Bronco Sr.'s quote regarding Joel Falcon: "Is this guy so lazy that I'm gonna have to *%$ his girlfriend for him too?" Worm pickup William "Barney" Bell's collision at home plate with Dean Gilbert was also a highlight. Barney also had a confrontation with the Vlade Divac look-a-like. Barney kept calling him "Vlade". All the Worms thought he knew the guy. However, it became apparent that he didn't when Vlade took offense to it. And during the last inning of the Championship Game, local favorite Ed Davis announced Bronco as the "Haggar Player of the Game". The umpire had to momentarily stop the game because everyone was laughing so much. Mike Meredith left the Worms following the 1992 season. In addition, Joel Falcon left the Worms after the season, because he was upset about being moved to designated hitter, and he felt he should have been playing first base. But Falcon's legacy had already been created off the field. At the Wortham's Halloween Party, Falcon came dressed as Santa Claus. While smoking, Falcon caught his beard on fire. If not for everybody laughing so much, Falcon may have never known. In the Dallas City Playoffs at Kiest Park, with the wind blowing about 60mph, Bronco set the tone by leading off the tournament with a home run. The Worms went 3-2 in the tournament, including a win over the Mexican Orioles. The Oriole players were wearing garden gloves for batting gloves. All five games in the tournament were decided by run rule. Jim Mark left the Worms following the season to pursue a career in art.
The highlight of the 1993 season was the acquisition of pitcher Mike McKee. McKee was a huge improvement over the incumbent pitcher Jim Mark. Bubba Tipton joined the Worms as well. Tipton immediately became the starting second baseman, as Bill Hawkins moved to the outfield. Terry Fabian joined the Worms outfield. And Jack Zimmerman joined the Worms to play third base and some first base. Ross Stubber moved from third base to the outfield. A new rivalry was developing for the Worms. The team finished second in the spring season, before bouncing back to win the summer league. The Worms developed a friendly rivalry with the Black Sox, and split two games with them. During one post game beerfest at Fair Oaks Park, Mike Wortham and Bronco recorded three stolen bases. The poor scorekeeper is still looking for those bases, and for years after would ask Mike about them everytime that she would see him. The Worms won only one game in the Dallas City Playoffs in a disappointing year. An important development occurred, however, as Ray Smith was picked up for the Dallas City Playoffs to replace Bronco, who was out with an ankle injury, at shortstop. In his Worms debut, Smith rapped four home runs.
The Worms experienced a first in 1994 as JoniBeth Taylor gave birth to Brandon Taylor. Although there would be many more to follow, Brandon was the first second generation Worm. The on field results weren't as encouraging. Mike Wortham required surgery to repair an injured knee, and missed the entire year. The injury first occurred in 1992 and had hampered Wortham's performance for two years. Wortham finally succumbed to surgery. Ray Smith remained with the Worms and played in the infield. Smith played games at all four infield positions. The Worms limped to a second place finish in the spring and an unimpressive first place finish in the summer season. Following the spring season, Bill Hawkins left the team to move to Austin. Although the team didn't fare well in the Dallas City Playoffs, Dee Carter recorded the only two triples of his Worm career - in the same game! The highlight on the 1994 season was the 3rd place finish in the Denison Tournament, in which an official scoring error kept the Worms from playing in the Championship Game. The Worms were short of players, so they picked up an old St. Mary's player: Jeff "Slugo" Mallison. Richard Walden was also picked up for the tournament. Neither would last long as both were injured in the first game. Walden, playing catcher, was run over at the plate and suffered a concussion. Slugo pulled a hamstring chasing a ball in the outfield. When Mike Wortham called to check on Slugo the next day, Slugo's wife Sue told Mike that Slugo was sitting in his chair, in front of the TV, with a cooler full of beer. He was unavailable to come to the phone. The tournament added to the legacy of Rod Taylor. The Worms lost their first game in the tournament, then rallied to win seven straight games before losing again. Much beer was consumed during that seven game run, and Taylor was the intoxicated star in left field. The end result from the alcohol and the scoring error was Hot Rod being ejected from the tournament for kicking dirt on the umpire. After the Worms were awarded the 3rd place trophy, Taylor beat it up with a softball bat, and Bronco and Jack gave it to the umpires, explaining "You guys finished third, not us!" After the tournament, the team went to the City Limits restaurant in Denison. In a beer-related incident, the Worms were kicked out of the restaurant. The Worms would not return to Denison for another four years. The Worms played in the fall league for the first time ever. During a game at Samuel-Grande Park, the Worms witnessed a near riot. On the next field over, a co-ed game was being played, when a man started chasing another man with a softball bat, screaming "you took my mother out at second base." They ran from their field to the field the Worms were playing on. Dee Carter quickly evacuated wives, girlfriends, and children from the grandstands to the Worm dugout, as Worm players stood guard. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, as it took Dallas' finest about an hour and a half to respond to the call. Also, at Samuel Grande Park, Mrs. Elizabeth's (Ray Smith's wife) car was burglarized during a game. She had gone Christmas shopping earlier in the day, and all the gifts were taken. In December, Rod Taylor and family moved to Austin.
By 1995, some observers had begun to question the ability of the Worms. There was even some doubt amongst the Worms themselves. Mike Wortham returned from injured reserve, although not at a 100%. David "Cat Daddy" Faulkner and Tim "Musclehead" Mendolia joined the Worms in the outfield in an attempt to replace Hot Rod. The Worms won the spring season, but the highlight of the spring season occurred off the field. Following a game, the Worms talked Bobby "the Brain" Patton out of his engagement. The Brain was engaged to be married, but following this post game discussion with teammates, he went home and broke the engagement. And they never got back together. During the summer season, the Worms struggled mightily, finishing 4-4. After one summer league game, Terry Fabian lost the keys to his truck. While the Worms drank beer for two hours, Fabian worked on hot-wiring his truck. About five minutes after he got it started, his keys were found. Because of the 4-4 record, the team had to enter a shootout tournament just to make the Dallas City Playoffs. The Worms rolled through the shootout with a 4-0 record. With a Dallas record 69 teams entered into the Dallas City Playoffs, and Rod Taylor in town to support the team, the Worms recorded a 4-0 record on the opening day, including a big comeback at Samuel-Grande Park in the last game of the evening. With the Worms trailing by five runs in the bottom of the 7th inning, Bubba Tipton led off with a single to right. Mike Wortham, pinch-hitting for Russell Key, followed with a single to right, moving Bubba to third. Bronco singled to right as well, scoring Bubba, and sending Wortham to third. Ross Stubber delivered the fourth straight opposite field single as Wortham scored, and Bronco went to third. Larry Wortham singled up the middle, scoring Bronco, with Stubber going to second base. After pinch hitter Rod Taylor flied out to left, Ray Smith lined a shot to the third baseman. He was unable to handle it cleanly, and the sacks were juiced. Mike McKee singled home a run, and the bases remained loaded for Dee Carter, and the game tied. Everyone on the Worms bench had one thought - NO DOUBLE PLAY. Carter capped the last inning rally with a RBI single down the left field line to win the game. As the teams left the field, umpire "Shady Grady" told Carter that the team owed him a case for winning it. The next morning, the Worms won again, then ran into a buzzsaw in the Moose's Lodge. The Worms bounced back to win another game, before losing the fourth place game to the eventual champion Chris' Pigs. The Worms had arrived, posting a 6-2 record in the tournament. By finishing 4th in the Dallas City Playoffs, the Worms qualified for the Texas State Playoffs, to be hosted by the city of Irving. However, the Worms were riddled with injuries and missing players. An injured knee kept Larry Wortham from playing the outfield, relegating him to designated hitter duty. Bronco was forced from shortstop to first base with a dislocated shoulder. Tim Mendolia missed the State tournament while he was bailing his girlfriend, Mitsy, out of jail. There was much speculation as to why she was arrested, especially since she was a dancer at the Million Dollar Saloon. "Cat Daddy" Faulkner picked up a friend named Nick to play in the tournament. Following the tournament, the Worms learned that Nick had been fired from the Irving Police Department for beating arrestees and his wife. It was decided that he wasn't Worm material, and he was immediately released from the team. The Worms struggled to a 9th place finish in the State Playoffs. During a fall league game at Fair Oaks Park against Purcell Roofing, a fight broke out in the dugout between Purcell's pitcher and left fielder. With the Worms egging them on, Chief Wahoo McDaniel (pitcher dubbed so because of his Indian heritage) and Sting (dubbed so because of his blonde crew cut), fought in a dugout cage match. Blood was shed, glasses broken, and a friendship lost, as both men were counted out in a double disqualification when they both left the dugout and went home. The results of the match left Purcell with only 8 players, so the umpires called off the game and declared the Worms the winner.
Injuries continued to play a part for the Worms in 1996. Bronco missed the entire year after having shoulder surgery in January. Larry Wortham missed several games due to the lingering knee injury. The Worms were without two of their leaders. Mark Crawford became the Worms shortstop. The Worms added speed to the team in Jimmy Giffen, and spunk in Earl "the King" Jones. Both Giffen and Jones played a few games for the Worms at the end of 1995, but officially 1996 was their rookie year. The Worms were able to win the spring and summer league championships, but couldn't muster up much in the Dallas City Playoffs, finishing a disappointing 1-2. The highlight of the tournament was Mike Wortham's game winning triple in the last inning for the Worms only tournament win. Mike has not recorded an extra base hit since then. The Worms also played in the Richardson tournament. The highlight of that tournament was the King holding onto the ball during a collision at home plate.
For 1997, Bronco returned from the disabled list to play second base, and Crawford was released. Bubba Tipton played shortstop, while Bronco completed his recovered. Ray Smith left the Worms to go fishing, but returned for the summer season. Clayton "Buttercup" Hoover joined the Worms before the summer season. But even by Worm standards, Buttercup was too much of a drunk, and only played one year. The Worms made a decision to switch to the Friday night league seeking more competition. That turned out to be no challenge. In fact, the biggest challenge of the season for the Worms was two Worms against the Dallas Police Department on July 17. The two unidentified Worms were issued citations for drinking at Fair Oaks Park after a Worm's victory. Other fortunate Worms had just left the scene moments before. Following a spring league game, Ross Stubber broke the Creed of the Worms. Stubber, who was scheduled for beer duty, but didn't show up for the game. This was the first time in Worm history that there was no beer for the post game. Since there was no beer, the team decided to go to El Arroyo's to drink. As the Worms were leaving the parking lot, Stubber showed up with the beer, asking, "Where are you guys going?" Stubber was looking at the wrong week on the schedule, and had the game time wrong. The Worms rolled unscathed through both the spring and summer leagues, and were untested heading into the Dallas City Playoffs. The Worms floundered, going 2-2 in the tournament. The highlight of the tournament was the new additions to the Worm fan club, as the Worms adopted Magnum, drinking El Toro (Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull) and his best friend, Thunderbird. "Let's go Roscoe!" In the opener of the tournament, the Worms exacted a bit of revenge when Terry Fabian lead off the 7th inning of a tie game with a game winning home run to beat the Black Sox. The previous year, the Black Sox had booted the Worms from the playoffs. Another highlight of the tournament was overcoming a 13 run deficit to defeat the Pigs. This is the greatest comeback in Worms history, and provided a sense of revenge for the 1995 loss to the Pigs.
The 1998 season was viewed by many as a last chance to win the big one for the Worms. The team was getting older, and hadn't had an influx of youth in awhile. The Worms moved to the Tuesday night league because it was more competitive. Ross Stubber retired from the Worms. And David Faulkner and Tim Mendolia were given their unconditional release from the team. Ken Washington was brought in to play left field. For the first time since Rod Taylor, the Worms were solid in left field. K-Dog immediately became an offensive and defensive rock for the Worms. Bronco, fully recovered, returned to shortstop and Bubba Tipton moved back to second base. Power was also added to Worms arsenal in the form of Bobby Cecil. The team finally had a mix of power and speed. Bronco and K-Dog set the table for Cecil, Terry Fabian, Jack Zimmerman, and Larry Wortham. Fabian cranked out a Worm record 10 home runs for the year. The Worms rolled through the league with a 7-1 record, with the only loss being a forfeit in the first game because the schedule was never delivered. Following a Worm 20-7 victory over the Triangle Plastering on April 13, the Plasterheads challenged the Worms to a beer game the next time they played. The rematch was on May 4, with the Worms winning 23-19 in an ugly game. Both teams were required to bring beer just in case they lost. After the Worms drank TP's beer, they drank there own too. It made for a long, but enjoyable evening for the Worms. In a tune-up for the Dallas City Playoffs, the Worms returned to Denison, Texas, site of one of the most chaotic times in Worm lore. This was an all night tournament that began at 10pm. The Worms went 2-2 in the tournament. But, the real story was again the alcohol consumption, and in some cases, the marijuana abuses. Jimmy's Chicken Shack Giffen still thinks he had that ball, but in reality, he was about twenty feet away from it. The Worms rode into the Dallas City Playoffs confident. The team posted a 4-2 record, and a 6th place finish. For the third consecutive year, the Worms met the Black Sox, with the Sox winning the rubber game. A week following the Dallas City Playoffs, the Taylor family returned to Dallas, on August 29, for a ceremony inducting Rod as the first Ring Worm into the Tequila Worm Hall of Fame. Taylor's jersey number 13 was retired in the ceremony, and the family was presented with a framed jersey, an autographed softball, roses, and an inscribed trophy reading "Rod Taylor - A Worm For Life". For the first time ever, the Worms played in the Garland fall league. Terry Fabian took a liking to Garland, rocking two home runs in one inning during a Worm route. The Worms finished tied for first with a record of 8-2, then lost a playoff game to the Outlaws.
The 1999 season in a word, SUCKED. Ray Smith retired again. The Worms mired themselves in a season long slump, and never could shake out of it. It began on March 27 at the Beer Tournament at Fair Oaks. The Worms went 1-1 before the rains came and washed out the rest of the tournament. The team played in the Garland Spring League for the first time, and it began with a forfiet win. That night was an indication of things to come. Due to forfiets and rainouts, the Worms didn't play a game between April 27 and June 1. The Worms finished the spring campaign at a disappointing 3-5. Back in Dallas for the summer league, the Worms went 6-2 and finished second. As a preparation for the city playoffs, the Worms entered the Garland Tournament and went 1-2. The highlight of the tournament was the first ejection in Worm history, as pick up Jimmy Olmos dropped an F-bomb in right field after missing three straight fly balls. The ejection resulted in the Worms not having enough players to finish and were forced to forfiet. The Dallas City Playoffs were August 21 and the Worms were clearly frustrated by then. Mike McKee had threatened retirement saying "the fire is not in the belly anymore". Bronco was ejected in the second game of the tournament for what umpire leroy boudin (no relation to jethro) referred to as "sarcisms and ironies". We are not sure exactly what that meant. Terry Fabian, who was injured, was forced to play in Bronco's spot. The Worms won that game, but bowed out in the afternoon game. Following the Worms exit, there was another main event rasslin' match. If you recall, in 1995 it was the steel cage match between Chief Wahoo McDaniel and Sting. This time it was a "Meet Me in the Parking Lot" match between Ric Flair and Dean Malenko. Flair, a fiftyish looking guy with a mop of gray and blondish hair, was the team pitcher and coach (We think). Dean Malenko, a fortyish guy with a balding top was the third baseman for the team. Malenko was spotted by members of the Tequila Worms softball club drinking heavily in his pickup several hours before game time. Evidently, his decision making was impaired during the game as mouthed off to the pitcher about giving up numerous walks. Details are sketchy, but apparently Malenko wanted to quit the team but would not relinquish his team jersey. Thus the stage was set for the "Meet Me in the Parking Lot" match. Closed fists were allowed in the match with the winner being determined by whether Flair could strip Malenko of his jersey. The Tequila Worms, relaxing at their watering hole under a pecan tree, tuned in to the match just after it had started. Flair was all over Malenko and quickly had him on the ground and was on top of him. Flair popped Malenko a few times and then began to cuss at him. Malenko then got his second wind and delivered a smashing punch between Flair's eyes which could be clearly heard some forty or fifty feet away by the Worms still remaining at Fair Oaks (Larry, Rick, Tim, Terry and their one remaining fan Christine). This punch, although momentarily stunning Flair, did not prevent him being awarded the decision as he stripped Malenko of his jersey. At that point the match was broken up by only one member of Purcell. Other Purcell team members then slowly and somewhat reluctantly kept Flair and Malenko apart. Tequila Worm Kenny Washington had a ring side seat for this match. K Dog had been recruited to play for Purcell when only nine of their players showed up. After the game, Kenny was sitting on the tail gate of his truck changing socks and shoes when the action broke out only a few yards away. K Dog remained in his seat though and did not interfere with the match. A rematch between Flair and Malenko could happen in the future as Malenko somehow got his jersey back. Although torn in many places and completely missing the front bottom third of the jersey, Malenko defiantly put the jersey back on. Several minutes later Flair approached the Worms watering hole under the pecan tree and apologized to the Worms for the fight. He then tried to recruit K Dog for Purcell Roofing. Kenny politely declined the invitation. The fall league wasn't much better, as the Worms went 4-2. Bruce Lawrence joined the Worms to play catcher. Lawrence located the Worms on the internet. He found this site and contacted Mike Wortham about playing. Tim Elder also joined the squad and played some games in the outfield, as well as second base. The highlight of the fall season was an October 12 doubleheader against WHJ Architects and Whiting-Turner Contracting. The Worms swept both games, but Earl "the King" Jones was the story. Jones was hit in the wrist and hand by a throw from the first baseman at point blank range while in the first base coaches box. Then he was taken out by a runner at second breaking up a double play, and then had his bad hand stomped on at second after sliding in on a close play (he also jammed his ankle into the bag on the play). Then to cap it off, Jones was nearly hit by a throw from the outfield while in the third base coaches box. Despite his hand and knuckles turning blue and immediately swelling (probably broke), and then later having to be carried off the field after the runner took him out at second (we thought he broke his leg or blew out a knee) the King never left the games and actually got on base a couple of times after the injuries, and providing great entertainment for the rest of the team as he hobbled around the bases. The injuries were just a capper to a bad week for Jones. The injuries came two days after a big catfish pulled his rod and reel (which he had laid down on the bank) into the water while fishing with fellow Worm Bubba Tipton. Earl soothed his injuries after the game with several cold ones.
The Worms entered unchartered water in 2000. There was uncertainty surrounding the team as Mike McKee and Dee Carter had retired, and the team was coming off it's worst season in 11 years. The Worms added Greg Goebel to play third base. Bobby Cecil moved to pitcher to replace McKee, and Randy Cain took over at first base. In addition, Tim Elder joined the team. And with all the changes, and the start of the millennium, came a new and exciting Tequila Worm team. The season didn't start well, as the Worms lost their first three games, including the first of nine games against Southwest Cardiac. During the Spring season, the Worms only went 5-3, including a loss to last place Kangaroo Club. Perhaps the Worms were rattled by a gunshot incident before the game. We don't know the full story, but a man was fleeing from window in the apartments next door. He ran toward the fields as shots rang out. We don't know if he was robbing the place or screwing somebody's wife. At any rate, the cops finally showed up about 30 minutes later. The Worms won the last game of the Spring season against the Scrubs 24-19, and remained undefeated in beer games. The Worms drank the Scrubs beer and their own until 1:00am. On June 3, the Worms competed in the Spring City Championship Tournament, and finished 4-2 and taking a best ever second place finish. The final game of the tournament was an exciting 16-15 loss to Southwest Cardiac. That was the third game of the tournament against Southwest, having split the first two. To read about the tournament and the post-tourney party, click here here. You can also view the bracket, here. By finishing second, the Worms qualified for the State Tournament in Mesquite, Texas on June 24. The Worms lost the first game to Arlington Dave and Busters 8-5, then run-ruled Garland Bad Company 16-2, before falling 12-3 to Houston Hardware Pirates. Two controversial calls cost the Worms at least 4 runs, possibly more, in the final game. In the bottom of the 4th, trailing 7-0, Bubba singled to start the inning. Bronco then dribbled a ball between the pitcher, first baseman and second baseman. The first baseman fielded the ball, swiped a tag at Bubba and missed. He then threw the ball to the pitcher covering first but the pitcher missed the bag. The field umpire ruled both runners safe. When the Pirates bitched about the call, he conferred with the home plate umpire, who ruled both runners out. The next five batters reached base and the Worms scored three runs. The score was 7-3 going to the 5th inning, but should have been 7-5 at least, possibly more. In the top of the 5th, with 1 out, Tim fielded a ball behind second and threw to first for the out. The field umpired called him out, but again the Pirates bitched, the call went to the home plate umpire, and he ruled him safe. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly scored a run on what should have been the third out of the inning. Disappointed, the Worms set their sites on the Summer league. The Worms only went 6-2 in the Summer league, including another loss to Southwest Cardiac. But the Worms were gearing for the Summer City Championship. In preparation for that, the Worms played in a Garland Tournament and went 1-2, then played in the Summer Denison All-Night Tournament. The Worms won the opener 23-12 against Denton Dazed and Confused. The next game against the Denison Brew Crew was forgettable as the Worms lost 18-8. At midnight, the Worms staged off elimination against the Durant YAMFU with a huge rally late. After trailing 10-1, then 14-7, the Worms scored 16 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, running out the time limit, and securing a 23-14 victory. The third out of the 4th was never recorded. After a one hour break, the Worms faced their old nemisis from Dallas, Southwest Cardiac. Southwest jumped out to an early lead of 14-1 after 2 � innings. Just as they did in the Dallas City Tournament, the Worms fought back with 10 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning, making it 14-12. Southwest scored a run in the top of the 4th, setting up another Worm come-from-behind-victory. This time the Worms tallied 7 runs, again running out the time limit, and again the third out of the 4th was never recorded. This set up a 3:00 am showdown with the Gunter Tigers. By now the Worms were running low on gas, and didn�t hit very well. They still managed to keep the game close, but Gunter kept pushing the lead. The Worms lost the game 22-14, going 3-2 in the tournament, and finishing in 5th place. On August 19, the Worms ended 11 years of frustration by winning the Dallas Summer City Championship. The Worms went 5-0, defeating teams that went a combined 38-0 during their season. In the Championship Game, the Worms avoided a collapse like the Spring Tournament and downed the trash talking Indians 19-11. To see the complete bracket for the tourney, click here. Click here to read the entire recap of the tourney. The Worms qualified for the State Tournament in Hurst on October 14. However, the City of Dallas forgot to pay the Worms entry fee. Therefore, there was no State Tourney for the Worms. During the Fall season, the Worms went 6-2, and split two games with Southwest Cardiac. On September 30, the Worms participated in another all-night tournament in Dension, with the first game a 8pm. The Worms played a rematch against the Brew Crew from the Summer All-Night Tournament, in which the Crew won 18-8. It appeared they were on their way again, leading 15-6 going to the bottom of the 4th. The Worms scored 5, then held the Crew scoreless in the 5th. The Worms then tallied 13 runs in the bottom of the 5th, running out the clock without ever recording the third out. Bobby Cecil and Terry Fabian hit homers, and Cecil and Greg Goebel were each 4 for 4. Fabian had initially planned to skip the tournament to attend the Phantom of the Opera, but changed plans at the last hour. The next game was at midnight against Sherman Lube Express. The Worms won the game in a slugfest. Ken Washington and Bobby Cecil each hit two home runs, while Greg Goebel and Terry Fabian hit one each. The defense was shaky, but the Worms won 26-21. A local yocal umpire threatened to kick every Worm out of the game after arguing a call at second base. Cooler heads prevailed however. At 3am, the Worms played against a team that is probably the best team they have ever faced. The Worms fell 27-16 to Ardmore Bomb Squad in another high scoring game. Several Worms were wondering before the game where the name Bomb Squad came from. They found out very quickly. The Squad used up their 5 home run limit early in the game, then proceeded to pound line drive after line drive. Every player in their lineup hit ropes every time up. The Worms only got outs when the Bomb Squad hit it right at somebody. Bobby Cecil took one off the cheek while pitching. The ball hit him so hard, that he ended up taking the throw at second from Bronco for the force out. All in all, the Worms made a good showing against this team. The Worms bowed out of the tourney in 15-12 loss to Texoma Hearing at 4:30am. This team wasn't really that good, but the Worms were running on empty. The Worms trailed early, 12-7, but were able to tie it up going into the last inning. However, Texoma Hearing scored 3 runs and shut the Worms down for the victory. The Worms finished the season by competing in the Fanny Freezer, October 21, going 3-2 and finishing third. The last game was a loss to Southwest Cardiac on October 28, after rain suspended the tournament the previous week. The Worms won the first three games, then lost to Mayhem in a driving downpour. It was by far the worst conditions the Worms have ever played in. To add insult to injury, when the Worms returned to their between game watering hole, a bunch of sissy soccer players were drinking the Worms' beer. They ran off when they saw the Worms coming, but the damage had been done. All in all, the Worms went 36-21 in the year 2000, shed the reputation of tournament losers by claiming a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and two 5th place finishes in tournaments, and set several team records. Terry Fabian set a team homerun record with 23. Bobby Cecil hit 18 and Ken Washington had 12. Cecil had 124 RBI, which is a record. Washington knocked in 88 and Fabian 85. Four Worms racked up 100 hits - Cecil (105), Washington (103), Bubba Tipton (103), and David Rohr (102). Rohr scored 98 runs and Tipton scored 90. Larry Wortham led the team in walks with 23, while Rohr led the team with 23 doubles, and Rookie of the Year Greg Goebel led in triples with 8. Tipton was the team batting average leader with a .648 average, followed by Washington (.636) and Cecil (.633). Bobby Cecil was voted as the team MVP.
The Worms were determined to follow up the success of 2000 with even more success in 2001. They began that quest by playing in the Sno-Ball tournament in Denison. The tournament schedule was ridiculous, and the weather was extremely cold, so it wasn�t much fun. The Worms went 1-2 in the tournament. The highlight of the tournament came in the second game when Worm pickup Jesse Davis, drunk and stoned, survived a brutal home plate collision. The play resulted in the base runner for Hit and Run being ejected from the game for lowering his shoulder to barrel over Jesse. Jesse took the hit, held on to the ball, got up, and shouted "yea mother f&*cker, you wanna do it again!" The lowlight of the tournament was Bronco narrowly escaping a DWI in Allen trying to make last call at Scooters after the last game. The pre-season beer tourney at Fair Oaks was originally scheduled for March 10, but was rained out. The Worms decided to have their pre-season party that night at Bronco�s house. Terry Fabian introduced Jason Wilson, who would win the 2001 DWWA Rookie of the Year award, to the Worms that night. Jason joined the team to play in the Spring Season. The tournament was rescheduled for the 17th but was rained out again. It was again rained out on the 24th, and finally rescheduled for April 28. The Worms got some at bats in, going 2-2 in the tournament. The Worms won the Spring League season, going 7-1, with the only loss to Triangle Plastering. As is usually the case, the Worms were shorthanded against Triangle, but still only lost 15-14. The Worms then competed in the Spring City Tournament on June 2-3, and successfully defended their 2000 Summer City Championship. The Worms went 4-0, and outscored their opponents 93-47. The Championship Game was a thrilling 26-24 victory over Goodson Engineering. The post-tourney celebration was held at Terry Fabian�s house. To read about the tournament and the post-tourney party, click here here. You can also view the bracket, here. On June 22, the Worms played in the Spring State Tourney in Beaumont. The Worms only went, 1-2, but the win was against Undisputed Truth. On the field, this tournament would be labeled as a failure, but winning this game, made the trip worth it. The game feature alot of trash talking, and some near fights. Undisputed Truth was a local team that did plenty of talking. In addition, the other local teams were cheering heavily for them. They also had several other local fans. Several out of town teams, including Goodson Engineering from Dallas, came over to watch and cheer for the Worms. Undisputed Truth had pissed some other teams off with their trash talking ways and the other teams wanted to see them lose. After Greg Goebel flew out to end the sixth inning, the first baseman for Truth jumped in his face and then started threatening violence. Greg responded by adjusting his cup and calling him a "f%$&ing punk." When the first baseman replied with "I got your number 1, you don't call me a punk," Greg responded with "OK punk." Bubba Tipton delivered a game winning single in the bottom of the seventh to put an end to the Truth's talking. The first baseman turned out to be all talk, as he had nothing to say after the game. Earl Jones, perhaps caught in the excitement of the game, lost his cool, and started yelling at his Worm teammates. During the confrontation, Earl delivered the quote of the tournament - "You ain't my Daddy! I can talk if I want to!" Before the next game, Earl headed to Houston in disgust to catch a plane home, and his Worm days were done. Jack, Larry, Mike, and Bubba were left stranded with no transportation. There were several highlights on this trip. Terry Fabian, David Rohr, Greg Goebel, Randy Cain, Tim Elder, Ken Washington, Jason Wilson, and Jimmie Giffen rented a van. Terry drove, and was labeled �softball mom�. Bubba Tipton, Mike Wortham, Jack Zimmerman, Larry Wortham, and Earl Jones flew to Houston, and drove to Beaumont. Bobby Cecil drove himself Saturday morning. Jack won several bets with teammates when Bobby showed up Saturday. Most of the Worms didn�t think Bobby would show up. The traveling vanpool loaded beer coolers at Terry�s house in Rockwall and set out. By Ennis, they were out of beer and had to reload. There would be three other stops to fill the cooler on the way. Some of the highlights of the trip included Tim saying �we almost had an assident.� Obviously, he meant to say accident, but being drunk, the Worms got a real kick out of it. Jason Wilson provided interesting insight on what do if attacked by an alligator. According to Jason, if an alligator chases you, then you need run in tight circles. Jason wasn�t real sure how long you would need to run the tight circles though. After being knocked out of the tournament, the Worms went across the street to a hole in the wall bar called the Radar Lounge. The owner of the Lounge, was the widow of the big bopper, JP Richardson. Apparently she wasn�t used to having many customers, and went out of her way to entertain the Worms. The 70ish year old woman repeatedly raised her shirt flashing the Worms and showing off her girdle. The Worms enjoyed the entertainment, especially the elder statesmen of the Worms, Mike Wortham and Jack Zimmerman. A round of beer at the Lounge for 10 Worms cost about 15 dollars, so that was a definite highlight. After leaving the Lounge, the Worms went to Red�s Icehouse. The Worms partied there late into the evening. Terry and Bronco went from table to table drinking other people�s drinks. Jason picked up some local ho, who obviously had no pride. She went back to the hotel with Jason, and even though he was sharing a room with Terry, Ken, and Tim, she spent the night there anyway. But before going back to the hotel, the Worms partied some more at Cactus Canyon, a fine country establishment. Goodson Engineering was there so the Worms partied some with them. Jimmy almost got into a fight with a local redneck but cooler heads prevailed. Mike Wortham passed out on the loading dock outside of the bar. The Worms woke him, and when he climbed in the van, he did the hump and roll from the front of the van to the back. Mike enjoyed some Detroit Rock City on the radio on the way to the hotel. The Worms welcomed back retired star pitcher Mike McKee in a 23-20 win over Page Southerland Page on July 3. McKee, in affect took Earl�s spot on the roster. McKee, recently divorced, returned with a new fire in the belly for softball. As a tuneup for the Summer City Tournament, the Worms played in the Richardson tournament on July 28. The tournament was a Class D and E tournament. The Worms went 2-2. They lost the first game, then played the Hardliners, who were a Class B Team sandbagging. Tournament rules stated that a player that hits a homerun is an automatic out for the rest of the game. Four players for the Hardliners had hit homeruns so that helped keep the Worms in the game. The Worms trailed 5-3 in the 5th, when a fifth player hit a homerun. This player, however, threw his bat, which resulted in him being ejected. The Hardliners had no subs, so they were forced to forfeit. After winning another game, the Worms played a Class E Team. Since the Worms were a Class D team, the Titans were spotted 3 runs before the game started. Appropriately enough, the Titans won 13-10. The Worms rolled through the Summer League with an 8-0 record. During a Summer League game on July 17, Jimmie Giffen proved to be the ultimate utility man. Jimmie played the first inning at catcher and the second inning at first base. In the third inning, he played second base, shortstop, and then third base. The fourth inning saw him play right field, right center, and left center. He played left field for the first two outs of the fifth, before moving to the mound to retire the final batter of the game. Jimmie is the first and only Worm player in the team's 13 year history to play all 10 positions in one game. The Worms won the game, 16-6 over Beck. The Summer City Tournament was scheduled for August 18, but was rained out. The Worms had a party at Bronco�s house and Randy Cain got a bit out of control, stripped down to his underwear and went for a swim in the kiddy pool. The Worm attempted to defend their City Championship when the tourney was rescheduled on September 8-9. The tournament was originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but with threatening weather, the tourney director said the tournament would be played in one day. The Worms went 4-0 and were set to play the Championship Game Saturday night. However, the Bone said they couldn�t play that night and the director rescheduled the remainder of the tournament for Sunday morning. The Worms had a post-tourney party at Jack Zimmerman�s house anyway and returned to the field Sunday morning. The Worms fell in two straight games to the Bone and finished 2nd in the tournament. The Worms traveled to Wichita Falls on October 13 for the Summer State Tournament. Larry Wortham, Jack Zimmerman, Terry Fabian, Randy Cain, and David Rohr drove on Friday and spent the night. The rest of the team drove Saturday morning. The drive was treacherous as the Worms encountered a tornado in Decatur. To make matters worse, they were drinking skunky beer. Terry made the discovery after RC and Bronco had drunk several already. The beer with a born on date of DEC02 had to be tossed. The Worms partied at the Water Hole and It�ll Do on Friday night. The Worms only had 10 players in Wichita Falls. Mike McKee, Bobby Cecil, and Mike Wortham did not go for various reasons. That left David Rohr to pitch. The first game was a well-played game. There was a 4 homerun limit that kept the Worms in the game. Red River hit 10 homers, but 6 of them counted as outs. They had a big black guy who hit one ball about 350 feet. He hit another line drive that passed the infield about knee high and by the time it got to Larry in left center, it was eye high. It was still rising when Larry got it. The Worms lost the second game too, and suffered an injury as well. Tim Elder, running out a ground ball, was hit in the leg by a throw from the shortstop. The throw fractured his leg. In addition, he fell awkwardly and tore ligaments in his ankle. Tim was quite the trooper though, and finished the game since the Worms only had 10 guys. The team decided to come home to party at Terry�s house rather than staying another night in Wichita Falls. The Worms entered the Garland Fall League and struggled mightily. Jimmie Giffen left the Worms because �the Worms get him into trouble�, whatever that means. Not only was the competition tougher in Garland, but the Worms often struggled to have 10 guys show up. Part of this was due to Jimmie going AWOL and Tim Elder�s injury. On October 30, Bobby Cecil outran Terry, Bronco, and Greg in 40 yard dash following a 15-14 loss to Johnny Ringos. Bobby clearly had a 2 or 3-step head start, but it was exciting for him nonetheless. Bobby had been nagging everybody all year to race. He was upset that he was perceived to be the slowest runner on the team and wanted to prove to all that he wasn�t. The Fall League was a disaster as the Worms went 4-6, but somehow managed to salvage a third place finish. The Worms went 33-19 in the year 2001, won the 2001 Spring City Championship, and were one inning away from winning the Summer City Championship. Terry Fabian lead the team in homeruns with 13, while Bobby Cecil had 12. Greg Goebel tallied 90 RBI to lead the team, followed by Cecil's 81. Bubba Tipton, who was voted the 2001 Tequila Worm MVP, again led the team in hits with 104 and David Rohr also contributed 101 hits. Rohr scored a team high 92 runs, narrowly ahead of Tipton and Goebel, who each scored 86 runs. Larry Wortham led the team again in walks with 28, while Rohr again led the team with 21 doubles. Fabian led in triples with 6. Tipton was the team batting average leader for the second straight season with a .627 average, followed by Cecil (.618) and Rohr (.591). Mike McKee hit .671 and Mike Wortham hit .652, but neither had enough at bats to qualify for the team lead.
The disappointing finish to the 2001 season carried over into the 2002 season as the Worms began slowly. Some changes were made to the look of the team. David Birchfield joined the team full-time to play third base. Greg Goebel moved from third base to shortstop. And David Rohr moved from shortstop to right center. The season was scheduled to begin with a tournament in Carrollton on March 2, but that was rained out. But the preseason party went on as planned at Bronco�s house. The season finally got started with a Richardson tournament on March 16. The Worms went only 1-2 in the tournament. The Spring League started on March 26. Last year�s rookie of the year Jason Wilson, and Stone Cold Mike Young quit on the spot because they were not in the starting lineup. Another Spring League highlight occurred on April 2. With the Worms losing 18-8, a batter for the Bombers threw his bat and hit RC who was playing catcher. He was ejected and the team had to forfeit because they had no subs. Also, Mike Susko joined the Worms that night. The Worms played another Richardson tournament on April 20, and went 1-2. However, the only win in the tournament was by forfeit. On May 4, the Worms reached a season low, and possibly an all-time low. The Worms went 0-2 in the McKinney tournament and were scrambling for 10 players each game. To make matters worse, Jack Zimmerman was taken out at second on a double play and tore ligaments in his knee. He would not return to action until September. Battling a batting slump, RC and Susko went for hypnosis on May 7. RC enjoyed instant results going 2-3 with a double and a walk that night. However, he would struggle for most of the season after that. The Worms went 3-2 in a Rowlett tourney and finished 3rd on June 15. Phillip Pearson joined the Worms during this tournament. In his first game, he and Bronco collided on fly ball in right center. Bronco held on for the catch and neither was seriously injured. The highlight of the tournament was a collision at home with Tim Elder and a player from Mesquite Power Systems. Tim held on to the ball to record the out. The Worms wrapped up the Garland Spring League in second place with an 8-2 record. However, a poor tournament record left the team with a 13-11 record overall. The Worms played another tournament in Richardson on June 29 and finished 3rd with a 3-2 record. The Worms held Turn Back the Clock Night on July 9 during the Dallas Summer League. They defeated HKS in the game 13-0. For the event, Mike Wortham wore his overalls, Bubba Tipton wore his blue jeans, Bronco wore his old Notre Dame hat and glasses, Terry Fabian wore his old coaching shorts and Ranger hat, Mike McKee wore long pants and high leg socks, and Larry Wortham brought his old black bat. And to everybody�s surprise Bobby Cecil was still able to get into his old #88 jersey. On July 13 the Worms played in a round robin tournament in Allen and went 2-1. During the tournament, there was a Homer Run Derby. Terry Fabian blasted 6 homeruns in the first round, and 2 homeruns in round two to finish 2nd in the Derby. The following weekend, the team went 4-2 in a Garland tournament, and finished 4th. Included in this tournament was a hard fought 9-8 loss to the Austin Avenue A�s, who were ranked #3 in North Texas. Later in the tournament, the Worms defeated North Texas� #9 ranked team, Ronnie Macs of Mesquite, by a score of 11-8. The Worms clinched the Dallas Summer League title on August 6 by mercy ruling Halff Associates 26-6. The Worms went 1-2 in the All-nite tourney in Rowlett on August 9. Following one of the losses, Mike McKee threw a profanity-laced fit. When the umpire tried to call him down, saying there were kids present, McKee responded with the quote of the year: �It�s late, they should be in bed anyway.� After the tournament RC, Bronco, Terry, Susko, and Allison stayed and partied until 9am. During this time, Terry revealed to all that he shaves his nuts. In the coming weeks, Bronco, RC, and McKee would follow suit and form a group they called the SNzP (Shaved Nutz Posse). The Worms went 2-2 in the Dallas City Tournament on August 17. With few teams in the tourney, the 2-2 record was good enough for a third place finish, which guaranteed the Worms a spot in the Texas State Tournament in Arlington on October 12. In the City Tournament, Terry hit 4 home runs to lead the way. Other tournament activities included McKee outrunning RC in sprint. Also, Bronco outran Phillip Pearson, Mike Susko, Tim Elder, Ken Washington, and Fabian in sprint. Following the tournament, there was a post-tourney/birthday party at Angie and RC�s house for Greg (Aug 8), RC (Aug 15), and Bronco (Aug 19). On September 3, Jack Zimmerman returned from injury. A week later, on September 10, the Worms beat Brew Bums 14-5 to tie for first in Garland Fall League. The Worms played in the Denison all-nite tournament on September 14. The results were ugly as the Worms went 0-2. But they did go back to Terry�s house and party until 4am, so the weekend wasn�t a complete loss. The Worms fell out of first place in the next game. Leading Lookout 29-20 on September 17, Greg Goebel got ejected for dropping two F bombs. With no subs, the Worms were forced to forfeit the game. On September 24 the Worms won 17-8 over Har-West to move back into first place. During this game, Bronco struck out looking, which was very unexpected since he usually swings at every pitch. The Worms finished up the Garland Fall League on October 1 by beating the Outlaws and tying for 1st place. Later that night, the Worms lost to Lookout in a one game playoff for the League Championship. On October 12, the Worms participated in the Texas State Tournament in Arlington. The Worms opened the tourney with a 13-3 win over the Little Smokies of Whitney. Without a break, the Worms next battled the Bowie Buzz. Both teams struggled on offense, as the game was 1-0 into the bottom of the 5th. But the Worms scored 7 in the 5th, and 4 in the 6th to score the 12-0 run rule victory. After a one hour break, the Worms returned to the field, and held on as the hometown Arlington Sandlot rallied late to make a game of it. The Worms won the game 16-15. The Worms enjoyed their two hour rest before the next game by eating Braum�s hamburgers and drinking several cold beers. The affects of that showed as they lost to the Wichita Falls Cyclones, 11-0, and recorded only 7 hits in the game. That forced the Worms into the loser�s bracket and they had to play immediately against the Wild Bunch from Dallas. The Wild Bunch had knocked the Worms out of the Dallas City Tournament, so the Worms enjoyed a lot of satisfaction in downing the Bunch 12-11. The Worms trailed early 10-2 but rallied with 7 runs in the 4th and 3 more in the 5th, and held off the Bunch over the last two innings. The victory put the Worms in the State Championship game against the Cyclones. The Worms went up 4-3 after the first inning and were feeling good about things. However, an hour or so later, it was 30-4 Cyclones and the season was over. The Worms finished 2nd in the state with a 4-2 record for the tournament. Randy Cain, Jack Zimmerman, and Terry Fabian were recognized for their play in the tournament by being named to the all-tournament team. The Worms went 43-28 in 2002. The Worms didn�t win any tournaments this year, but did finish 3rd three times, and 4th once, and of course, the 2nd place finish in the State Tournament. For the third straight year, Terry Fabian led the team in homeruns, this time with 20. Bobby Cecil hit 9 homers. Fabian also led the team with 97 RBI, followed by Cecil�s 86, and David Rohr with 78. Rohr led in hits with 130, while Bubba Tipton added 127 and Fabian had 102. Rohr and Tipton scored 98 and 95 runs respectively to lead all Worms, and Fabian scored 87. Larry Wortham once again was the walk leader with 22, while Rohr again led the team with 29 doubles. Goebel led in triples with 7. Rohr led in batting average with a .596 average, followed by Tipton�s .572 and Ken Washington�s .570. Terry Fabian and David Rohr were voted co-MVP's for 2002, and David Birchfield was named Rookie of the Year.
The Worms started the 2003 season on March 22 with a tournament in Garland. It was a sign of things to come for the Worms in the early part of the year. They didn�t hit well at all, and only went 1-2. Not all was lost as the Worms did enjoy a fun party at Terry�s house afterward. The Worms played the Spring League in Garland, and it was a complete disaster, going 3-7. The single highlight of the season came on April 15 when the Worms rallied to beat the first place Ronoco SBC 13-12. The Worms trailed 10-5 in the bottom of the 5th inning, but rallied for six runs to take a one run lead. Ronoco scored two in the top of the 6th to regain the lead at 12-11. Bubba lead off with a single, followed by Bronco's single. Ken Dog flied out to right, moving Bubba to third, and both runners advanced on an overthrow. With the game tied, and Bronco at second, Terry Fabian was intentionally walked. Greg Goebel then delivered a game-winning single to left. Midway through the Spring League, the Worms did show some life with a makeshift lineup, going 3-2 in the Carrollton Tournament on May 3. The Worms followed that with a mercy-rule win over Cape Buffalo, 22-2 in league play. The Worms tried another tournament on May 31, this time at Kiest Park. It didn�t go well at all, and the Worms went 0-2. At the conclusion of the Spring League season on June 4, the Worms record sat at 7-13. The team was 3-7 in league play, despite hitting .557 as a team and only being outscored by 1 run for the session. The Worms were 1-5 in 1-run games at this point. David Birchfield hit .750 in the Spring to pace the team, followed by Bubba Tipton�s .667 and Randy Cain�s .654. Terry Fabian provided the power with 7 homeruns and 30 RBI. Following the Spring session, Phillip Pearson left the team. When the Worms opened the Summer League in Dallas, Aaron Hall and Paul Halton joined the team, and the Worms opened with a 16-4 run-rule of Page Southerland Page. The Worms steamrolled through the competition en route to a 4-0 start with 4 run-rule wins. On July 8, the Worms only had 9 players show up for the rematch with Page. The game started and the Worms were ok, however, Mike Susko was ejected in the first inning for using an illegal bat. The bat was okay�d in the first game of the session, but this was a different umpire and he didn�t allow it. The Worms had to forfeit the game. The Worms met at Pugley�s Library on July 12 for the 15th Anniversary Party, and a good time was had by all. Hayes Carl provided the entertainment. Almost 40 people (current players, retired players, and families) attended. Some guys we hadn't seen in 10+ years. It was fun to get caught up with everybody and for some of the newer guys to meet the guys that played 15 years ago. It was a good mix of former players and current players. Players who attended included:
Original Worms - Mike Wortham, Larry Wortham, Mike Meredith, Russell Key, David Rohr, and Joel Falcon.
Former Players � Dee Carter, Rod Taylor, Mike Young
Current Players � Mike Susko, Randy Cain, Ken Washington, Terry Fabian, Mike McKee, Bobby Cecil, Jack Zimmerman, Bubba Tipton
The 15th anniversary celebration continued 3 days later on July 15 with the 2nd annual Worms win Turn Back the Clock Game; a 14-13 victory over HKS. To see pictures from the 15th Anniversary Party and turn back the clock night, click here here. A week later, the Worms clinched the Summer League championship with a 9-8 win over Dish Direct. The Worms hit .571 in the Summer session. Eight players hit over .600, including Bobby Cecil, who hit .833. Newcomer Paul Halton hit .647. The Worms returned to Garland on August 5 to begin the Fall League. The team run-ruled VSG 23-11. On August 16, back in Dallas for the city tournament, the Worms flopped, going 1-2, including scoring only 2 runs in the last 2 games combined. The Worms pounded the opposition to a 5-0 start in the Fall session. This included 4 run-rule victories. After a 16-14 setback in a rematch with VSG, the Worms ripped off 3 more wins to sit at 8-1 on October 14 and clinch at least a tie for first place. The previous week, in a game against The Blue Team, Mike Susko was drilled by a Bronco line drive while standing on third base. It hit him directly on the elbow and he had to leave the game, but nothing was broken. The Worms played in the Rowlett tournament on October 18, going 4-2 and claiming second place. The Worms won their first game, but then lost 13-12. The Worms ended up playing 5 games in 7 hours, including two more 1-run games and a thrilling 18-12 comeback win against the Bearkats. Trailing 12-8 in the top of the 7th, the Worms rallied for 10 runs and then shut down the Bearkats for the win. It was interesting tournament for the Worms to finish second since they only hit .511 as a team. Randy Cain and Greg Goebel each hit .583 for the day, but nobody else was over .550. Three days later on October 21, the Worms polished off the Fall League will another come from behind win, this time over the Yard Dogs. The Worms were out to just have fun in this game since the title had already been won. The Yard Dogs wanted to knock off the top team. The game went back and forth with the Dogs taking a 15-14 lead in the last inning. The Worms had the hammer and Bronco led off with a single. Paul Halton followed that with a game-winning, walk-off, inside-the-park homerun to win the game 16-15. This was the Worms 14th 1-run game this year. The team was 8-6 in those games. Also, in this game, Bronco started at third base. It wasn�t the same as Jimmy Giffen playing every position in one game in 2001, but it did mean that Bronco started at least one game at every position this year, solidifying his utility player status. David Birchfield hit .667 in the fall league, followed by Fabian at .629 and Bronco at .625. Bobby Cecil was the power source, batting .579 with 10 doubles, 4 homers, and 25 RBI. After starting the season 7-13, the Worms went 20-6 the rest of the way to finish 27-19. Terry Fabian led the team in homeruns for the fourth straight year, this time with 11. Bobby Cecil hit 7 homers. Fabian again led the team with 81 RBI, followed by Cecil�s 52, and Goebel with 48. David Rohr led the team in hits with 83, while Bubba Tipton added 82 and Goebel had 79. Rohr scored 65 runs to lead all Worms, and Fabian and Tipton scored 61. Rohr and Tipton broke Larry Wortham�s stranglehold on the walk title, leading the team with 10 each. Rohr led the team in doubles again with 17, barely outpacing Cecil who had 16 . Ken Washington led in triples with 7, followed by Goebel with 6. Tipton led in batting average with a .599 average, followed by David Birchfield�s .593 and Randy Cain�s .579 . Terry Fabian was voted MVP for 2003, while Paul Halton took Rookie of the Year honors. Halton also hit .634, but didn�t have enough at bats to qualify for the team leadership.
The Worms were scheduled to start the 2004 season on March 2 but the game was rained out. Therefore, the season started the following week on March 9. The season had an inauspicious start, losing to Have Keys Will Travel in the Spring League opener. Last fall, while the Worms were going 9-1 to win the championship, Have Keys was going 0-10. The Worms were doomed by an 11 run 3rd inning. The Worms bounced back to win the next 4 league games and seize control of the league. On April 9, several Worms took in the Rangers home opener, which has become a Worm tradition. After partying before, during, and after the game, Terry Fabian, Bubba Tipton, Jack Zimmerman, Randy Cain, and Mike Wortham went to Cape Buffalo, while Bronco and Bronco Sr went to the Deryl Dodd concert at Fairfield�s. It would have to be considered a success because nobody was arrested, and everybody made it to Kiest Park the next morning for a tournament. It did show though, as the Worms were blanked 11-0 in the first game, getting only 3 hits. The Worms didn�t even make it through the lineup twice. Larry Wortham, who didn�t go the Ranger game, got a good laugh between games. He had gone to the store and when he got back, all the Worm cars were parked next to each other, and each one had sleeping players in them. The sleep helped though as the Worms won the next 2 games. Included in that was a 16-5 spanking of St. Pete�s Dancing Marlins. Rumor has it that this was actually Goodson�s tournament team, which is always spoken of, but never seen. The Worms finished 5th in this tournament after falling to Bam 13-3. The Worms returned to Spring League action on April 13 for a rematch with Have Keys. However, they must have sensed that revenge would be delivered as they didn�t have enough players. The Worms won by forfeit. The next week, on April 20, the Worms beat the Hitmen 27-18. The significance of this game was Greg Goebel going 5-5 with 5 runs scored, 2 triples, 2 homers, and 8 RBI. The 8 RBI is believed to have tied a Worm record. The next week, April 27, the Worms set a team record for runs, routing Dallas Diversity 33-9. The team batting was 33-41 in the game, including Terry Fabian going 4-4 with a double, 3 homers, and 7 RBI. The game won the Spring League title with a 7-1 record. Incredibly, the Worms hit .608 as a team in the Spring League. Greg Goebel batted .773 to lead, while David Rohr was .750, Randy Cain, .733, and Ken Washington .727. Terry Fabian clubbed 8 homers and 27 RBI. One of the lowlights of the year was the May 22 tournament in Rowlett. The Worms only had 9 players for the first game, which was lost 15-5. The Worms did rally for a 17-16 comeback win over the Texas Rhinos, but then lost to the Cage Dawgs. The Summer League started on May 25, again against Have Keys Will Travel. The Worms prevailed in an exciting, back and forth game, 25-24. After leading 10-0 after 2 innings, the Worms fell behind 20-15 after 5 � innings. The Worms scored 5 runs to force the game into the 7th inning. In the bottom half, the first two Worm batters made outs. A Bobby Cecil single kept the inning alive. Doubles by Mike Jackson, David Rohr, and Randy Cain made it 24-23 with the tying run at 2nd base. Inexplicable, Have Keys intentionally walked Spencer Sherrard, the winning run. A bloop double by Aaron Hall scored both runners to win the game for the Worms 25-24. The Worms rolled on to a 5-0 Summer League record going into the Rowlett Ironman tournament on July 10. The Worms went 2-2 in the qualifying portion of the tournament, meaning they were a two seed in the elimination portion. Playing back to back, the Worms run-ruled Little J�s 18-5, then edged Haltom Top Shelf, 21-18. In the semifinals, the Worms lost to Corsicana Cana 13-12. The Worms finished 3rd in the tournament, qualifying for the State and National Tournaments. Ken Washington was the man in this tournament, going 21-26 (.808) with 17 RBI. Over the last 5 games, Ken was 19-20 with 12 runs scored and 14 RBI. David Birchfield hit .667, Bubba Tipton .654, and Bobby Cecil .652. Cecil also had 15 RBI, and Terry Fabian had 14. But all efforts were overshadowed by Washington�s performance. The Worms Summer League continued, going 1-1 over the next few weeks. On July 31, the Worms played in the State Tournament in Cedar Hill. The first game was at 6am, and surprisingly, the Worms hit early on. However, after the Worms scored 5 in the top of the first, the Bad News Bears of Euless countered with 12 runs of their own. The Worms spent the rest of the game battling back before falling short, 16-12. The Worms were run-ruled by Celina Ten Most Wanted 13-2 to end the tournament for the Worms. The Worms only hit .400 as a team for the 2 games. On August 3, the Worms wrapped up the Summer League title (3rd straight league title overall) with a 16-15 triumph of Have Keys Will Travel. The Worms trailed 10-7 into the 6th inning with time running out. But a 6 run rally, capped by short term Worm Mike Jackson's second homerun of the game, a three run blow, put the Worms up 13-10. However, Have Keys battled back to tie the game 13-13. Have Keys almost won the game, but a game saving catch by Jackson forced a 7th inning. The Worms rallied for 3 more in the 7th to lead 16-13. After Keys had loaded the bases with two outs, Greg Goebel made the worst play and the best play of the game on the same play. First, a hard hit grounder made it past Goebel. Two runs scored, and the tying run attempted to score. A perfect relay of Aaron Hall-Greg Goebel-Randy Cain nailed the runner at the plate to end the game. The throw from Goebel was perfect and the runner slid into Cain's tag to end it. Bubba Tipton led the Summer League batting with a .710 average, followed by Randy Cain�s .704, and rookie of the year Spencer Sherrard at .643. The Worms played an all-night tournament in Rowlett on August 6. The Worms opened up against a church team playing their first game together. Embarrassingly, the Worms didn�t hit at all and lost 10-5. The Worms bounced back to beat D&G Dawgs 18-13. The Worms looked to be on their way against Mama�s Boys, scoring 4 first inning runs, but when Kelly Johns got hit in the back with a throw, he dropped an "F" bomb. As a result, he was thrown out of the game. With no subs, the Worms were forced to forfeit the game. It didn't quite have the same impact as Greg Goebel's 2002 "F" bomb that cost the Worms a league title. Adding to the frustration, David Rohr was tossed from the game too, even though the Worms had already forfeited. The Fall League started on August 24 with a 15-14 loss to the Texas Bulls. The Worms were run-ruled by the Mudcats the following week to fall to 0-2. The Worms would have been better off not playing in the Fall, as interest had waned and fewer and fewer players started showing up. The State Tournament in Austin would be considered a failure if not for the partying on 6th Street that followed. The Worms led 5-1 in the opener against the Houston Jokers, but the Jokers scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win. This game included several controversial bunts that were allowed by the umpires. The Worms didn't hit much in game 2 against the Euless Gators either. The Worms were still within striking distance, losing 10-4 starting the bottom of the 6th. A 3 hour rain-delay prolonged the Worms misery. When play resumed, the Gators scored 12 runs in the top of the 7th to put the game away. The Worm�s time in Austin started with an amusing elevator story about Bronco. Putting it into words just wouldn�t do it justice, so ask Terry, Greg, RC, and Bubba about it next time you see them. The Worms hit countless bars on 6th Street Saturday night; some of them twice. There was a close call with the cops for drinking beer on the streets. Fortunately, the cops let the Worms pour their beer out instead of issuing citations. Bronco quickly blamed in on the store they were standing in front of. The cop agreed and said they should have known better. The truth is though, the beer came from Terry�s truck. Several beers were drunk, and several shots slammed. So much so that a lot of the night is a blur so it�s hard to relate what exactly did happen. The Worms returned from Austin and on September 7 resumed Fall League play. The Worms finally got in the win column by beating the Wild Boys 8-7. The Worms barely had 9 players to even play the game as David Birchfield showed up during the 5 minute grace period. The Worms had to forfeit their first at bat, and had an automatic out each time the 10th place in the order came up. Trailing 7-3 in the bottom of the 7th inning, the Worms rallied with 2 outs to score 4 runs to tie. Randy Cain and Aaron Hall had key hits in the inning. After shutting down the Wild Boys in the top of the 8th, the Worms loaded the bases with 3 singles. After Bobby Cecil popped up, Spencer Sherrard delivered the game winning single over the left fielder�s head to give the Worms the improbable win. A few weeks later on September 18, the Worms played in another Rowlett Ironman tournament. The Worms really hadn�t played well since the last Ironman tournament in July, and continued that way being run-ruled by the Snowball Express and Sam�s Bunch. It was looking like a 0-5 day for the Worms. But the Worms squeaked out an 8-6 win over the Renegades, and then run-ruled Blaze 14-4. The Worms finished the qualifying part of the tourney at 2-2 and played in the elimination round as a three seed. Starting back to back at 8pm, the Worms beat the Stallions 19-12, the Warriors 14-1, and Outkasts 17-7. With 5 straight wins, the Worms were in the semifinals against Lil J�s. The Worms led 12-9 in the bottom of the 6th when time expired and looked to be on their way to the championship game. But Lil J�s rallied for 4 runs to win 13-12 and sending the Worms home with a 3rd place finish. For the tourney, Ken Washington hit .824 (14-17) with 12 RBI in only 5 games. Greg Gobel hit .739 (17-23) with 14 runs and 12 RBI. John Amelio, in his first Worm action, hit .577 (15-26) with 15 runs scored. David Rohr hit .619 (13-21) with 12 RBI. Combined in the two Ironman tournaments, Washington hit .814 (35-43) with 23 runs scored, 3 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, and 29 RBI. The Worms won 3 out of the 5 Fall League games to finish 4-4 and claim third place. This included an October 5 loss to the Mudcats, who went 8-0 in the Fall League. The Worms led 12-10 in the bottom of the 7th before the Cats scored 3 to win the game. This seemed to happen quite a bit to the Worms this year. Bobby Cecil led the Worms in the Fall, batting .696, with 4 homers and 18 RBI. Bubba Tipton hit .654, John Amelio .636, and Aaron Hall .600. As a team, the Worms hit a paltry .506. The Worms record for the year was 31-22, but could have been better if not for a 4-7 record in 1 run games. The Worms stormed out of the gate this year to a 20-8 record, including Spring and Summer League titles. The Worms only went 11-14 after that, which included a 5 game win streak in the Ironman tournament. For the first time since 1998, David Rohr did not lead the Worms in doubles. That honor went to Bobby Cecil with 21. Spencer Sherrard had 19, and Rohr had 18. Cecil also broke Terry Fabian�s 4 year hold on the homerun title, cracking out 11, including 3 in the last 2 games. Fabian was second with 8. Cecil�s 87 RBI also took that title from Fabian, who was second with 67. Ken Washington was third with 56. Bubba Tipton led the team in hits with 102, going over the 100 mark for the third time in four years. David Rohr added 92 and Goebel had 88. Tipton scored 85 runs to lead all Worms, followed by Goebel with 74, and Rohr with 70. Rohr led the team in walks for the second straight year - this time with 16. Three other Worms hit double digits in walks (Tipton 13, Goebel 12, Cecil 12). Ken Washington and Greg Goebel led in triples with 8, followed by Fabian with 4. Washington led in batting average with a .661 average, followed by Bubba Tipton�s .622 and Bobby Cecil�s .593. Bobby Cecil was voted MVP for 2004; his third such award. Spencer Sherrard took Rookie of the Year honors.
The Worms began the 2005 season on March 1 with a 20-9 Spring League win over the Soldiers. Spencer Sherrard was the power source, going 3-3 with 2 homers and 8 RBI. Whispers of steroid use could be heard, but Spencer attributed his power to the chili he had eaten before the game. The Worms continued to rack up runs, winning the next 3 games 21-14, 25-18, and 26-2. The 25-18 win over Har-West on March 15 was the start of a trend for the 2005 Worms. Har-West scored 14 first inning runs, leaving the Worms fighting from behind. It was a trend that became almost comical in the Spring. The Worms rolled to a 5-0 record to start the Spring after averting disaster by picking up two guys from the parking lot on March 29 to field 10 guys. The Worms won the game 14-13. Worms took a break from the Spring League to play in the McKinney tournament on April 2, where they went 3-2. The Worms only loss of the Spring came on April 4 when a bad storm rolled through Garland. It was assumed the game would be rained out, so only 6 players showed up. Have Keys Will Travel picked up the win by forfeit. The Worms bounced back to win the next two weeks and claim the Spring League championship, including an April 12 win over the Hitmen, after falling behind when the Hitmen struck for 10 runs in the second inning. The clincher game on April 19 against the Soldiers, 22-11. Sherrard hit 2 more homers and had 5 RBI, running his total against the Soldiers to 4 homers and 13 RBI. It�s the chili. On May 7, the Worms played in a Rowlett state qualifier tournament. The Worms rolled in game one, a 14-1 win over the Matadors. That was followed by a 18-10 loss to the Tate Law Dogs. The Worms reached a low point in the next game, falling to the Underdawgs, 3-1. The Worms, thinking they were out of the tournament, started to leave. The tournament directory informed them that they were still in and were playing immediately. Kao was the team waiting, and jumped on the Worms for 10 runs in the first inning. The Worms battled back and won 21-17. Next, the Worms beat Slim Thuga 13-6 and Train Wreck 12-10. That was 6 games in an 8 hour period, included 5 straight. The Worms had qualified for the State tournament and were too tired to continue, so they called it a day and drank beer all night. The Summer League opened on May 24, with a 24-13 victory over Confusion, after Confusion scored 8 runs in the first inning. The next week, the Worms rallied from 8 runs down to beat the Soldiers. Trailing 16-8 in the bottom of the 4th, the Worms scored 5 runs, highlighted by Terry Fabian's grand slam. The Worms were still down 16-13 into the bottom of the 5th. Aaron Hall led off with a triple, and scored on David Rohr's RBI single. After two pop outs, Bubba Tipton blooped a single into right field. John Amelio smacked a two run single, and ended up on second somehow (maybe a wild throw?). The Soldiers, thinking Bobby Cecil was up, intentionally walked Ken Washington. Cecil then smoked a single to right field to score Amelio and give the Worms an improbable 17-16 win. Then next week, the Worms downed Ballistic 18-13. This was the third straight week that the Worm had come back from an 8+ run deficit, as this time they trailed 13-3. The perfect Summer League record came crashing down with a 16-9 loss to Body Enhancement on June 14. The Worms took a break from league play on June 18 to play in another Rowlett Tournament. This was one that would have been better off skipping. The Worms only batted .512 for the tournament, and went 0-3. The Worms trailed the whole game in game 3, but scored 4 to tie the game in the 4th. That's when David Burchfield hit an apparent sacrifice fly to score Amelio. The Texans appealed the play and the umps ruled that Amelio left early. It wouldn't be a Rowlett Tournament without an F-bomb ejection. And this was the time for it. It was from an unlikely source though, as Amelio was the dropper of the F-bomb. With no subs, the Worms were forced to forfeit. Nobody was too upset about it since the Worms were in the loser's bracket anyway. This F-bomb forfeit wasn't nearly as painful as the Greg Goebel one that cost the Worms the league title in Garland a few years ago. The Worms returned to Summer League action on June 21 and routed the Hitmen 22-9. This was followed by convincing wins over the Hitmen and Confusion. On July 5, on Turn Back the Clock Night, the Worms beat McCloud Electric 20-13, move into tie for first place. Randy Cain claims to have made 7 errors at first base in the game. We aren�t sure if that is an accurate total, but it has to be close. It was one of RC�s worst games. Either way, we�re pretty sure he set a Worm record for most errors in a game. The DWWA voted this as the Worms highlight/lowlight of 2005. The next week, the Worms rolled off their fourth straight 20+ run effort. After allowed 12 first inning runs to the Soldiers, the Worms battle back for a 20-18 win to clinch the Summer League. On July 23, the Worms played a tune up tournament in Rowlett to get ready for the State tournament. It didn�t exactly go as planned, and the Worm hit only .496 as a team. Somehow, they manage to win a game and finished 1-3 in the tournament. The State tournament was August 6 in Garland. The Worms couldn�t take advantage of a good draw and went only 1-2. The highlight of the weekend was an 18-7 win over the Ft Worth Suicide Bombers, a game that saw the Worms pounded at 28. After trailing early, 7-3, the Worms scored 15 straight runs to pull away. The Worms began the Fall League on August 23 with a 19-11 win over the Hitmen. After a win the next week, the Worms led McCloud Electric on September 6, when Sherrard yelled �shit� after a close play at second base. He was ejected and Worms lost because they didn�t have any subs. As it was, the Worms were playing with only 9 guys. The Worms bounced back to win the next week to move to 3-1 in the Fall League. A September 20 doubleheader saw the Worms fall to 3-2 with a loss to the Hitmen. This put the pressure on the Worms to win out to try to sweep all three Garland league championships. The challenge started immediately, as the Worms took down first place McCloud Electric in a rematch of the �shit� game. The Worms clubbed out 22 hits in 32 at bats, drubbing the Electricians 22-9. Ken Washington pounded 2 homers and a Worm record 9 RBI in the game. Leave it to the Worms to never take the easy way. That was the case the next week. After leading the Red-Eye Assassins 16-6 early, the Worms changed positions. That wasn't the reason, but the Red-Eye Assassins scored 12 runs in the 4th inning to take an 18-16 lead. After shutting the Worms down in the 4th, they scored 3 more in the 5th. That forced the Worms to score 5 runs to tie the score to keep the game going. The Assassins scored 2 in the top of the 6th, but the Worms bounced back with 3 runs to win the game. The Worms won the next week to finish 6-2 and in a three way tie for first with the Hitmen and McCloud Electric. On October 11, the Worms lost to the Hitmen 24-15 in a three team playoff to end the season. For the season, the Worms went 29-17, including 20-5 in league play. David Rohr led the team in batting for 2005, hitting .657, followed closely by Ken Washington at 654. This was followed by Bobby Cecil at .605 and Greg Goebel at .591. As a team, the Worms hit .559. Cecil and Terry Fabian each clubbed 11 homers to tie for the team lead, while Washington knocked out 10 and Spencer Sherrard 7. Cecil led in RBI with 82, followed by Sherrard�s 65 and Washington�s 57. John Amelio scored 80 runs to pace the team, and Bubba Tipton scored 79. Sherrard was third with 66. Tipton led the team in hits with 93, followed by Amelio with 88 and Cecil with 72. The Worms had 7 guys hit for double digits in doubles. Sherrard led them all with 19. Cecil and Fabian had 16, Rohr 13, Washington and Amelio 11, and Tipton 10. Sherrard also led in triples with 6, followed closely by Goebel and Aaron Hall with 5. Tipton took 14 walks to show the way. David Burchfield was second with 12 walks, and Goebel and Amelio each took 9. Amelio had 163 at bats, while Tipton had 160, and Sherrard 132. Amelio was the only Worm to play in all 44 games. Tipton played in 42, and Burchfield played in 38. Bobby Cecil was name team MVP for the second straight year by the DWWA; his 4th MVP award in the last 7 years. Having only played 11 games last year, John Amelio was eligible for Rookie of the Year honors, and won the award in a landslide.
The start of the Worms 2006 season was as dreadful as the entire season would turn out to be. The first game was the last day of February as the Worms started with three bad losses. They trailed early in each game - 13-0, 13-1, and 20-7. The Worms would finish the Spring League with a 3-5 record. Interestingly, the Worms split with the first place Poachers and swept the second place McCloud Electric, but went 0-4 against fourth and fifth place Hitmen and TCOB. The highlights of the Spring were the two McCloud games. The Worms won the first one 16-15 with 20 of 21 hits being singles. The second one was even more exciting, as the Worms pulled off the improbable upset. Having shown up late, the Worms forfeited their first at bat and trailed 14-0 before batting. The Worms battled and battled, but still trailed 22-10 after 3 1/2 innings. The Worms scored 6 run in the 4th inning to make it close and shut down the electricians the rest of the way. Then trailing 22-17 with time out and 2 outs, the Worms rallied. Spencer Sherrard singled to score a run, and Brian Kantoris doubled home one. Aaron Hall followed with a two run single to make it 22-20. Following a David Broyles single, David Burchfield blooped a double to right, scoring two runs to tie the game. After the Worms shut down McCLoud in the 7th, Bubba Tipton and John Amelio led off with singles. Ken Washington was then intentionally walked, putting him in the same company with Randy Cain, who was also intentionally walked the previous inning. Terry Fabian then delivered the sacrifice fly for the win. The Worm victory blew any chance that McCloud had at winning the Sping League title. However, the biggest highlight of the game was the defensive substitution, moving Hall in from left centerfield to play shortstop and promptly starting a 6-4-3 double play. The Worms played in a tournament at Kiest Park on April 29. The Worms went 2-2 in the tournament, including a loss to the Ft. Worth Jokers that was in line with the Worms season - trailing 12-0 after 2 innings. For the tournament, Ken Washington went 11-13 (.846) with 2 doubles, a tripe, and 10 RBI. Terry Fabian went 9-12 (.750) with 4 doubles and 6 RBI. The rest of the team hit .423. Larry Wortham at .600 (3-5), David Rohr at .538 (7-13) and Bubba Tipton at .500 (7-14) were the only other Worms to scratch .500. The Worms missed the signup for Summer League, and didn't play again until July 22 - and it showed. Playing a tournament in Garland, the Worms went 0-3 and were outscored 42-13. In the last game, a 10-0 to DC Diablos, the Worms had three hits for the whole game. And for the tournament the Worms hit .350 (28-80). Spencer Sherrard is the only Worm to hit above .500 (5-9). David Rohr and Bobby Cecil were .500 even (4-8). The rest of the team hit .272 (15-55). The Worms had as many sacrifice flies (4) as extra base hits for the tournament. The Worms tried one more tournament on August 19 in McKinney. They didn't fare much better. They went 0-4 but were only outscored 57-36 this time. Since the Worms had already missed the signup for the Fall League, it was decided to call it an end to the 2006 season. The Worms finished the season 5-14, including 8 straight losses to close the season, and didn't win a game after April 29. Terry Fabian led the team in batting for 2006, hitting .674, followed by David Rohr at 620. As a team, the Worms hit only .497, believed to be an all-time low. Spencer Sherrard and rookie Bryan Kantoris tied for the team lead with 4 homers each. Ken Washington led in RBI with 25, followed by Fabian�s 21. John Amelio led the team in runs with 29, the second straight year he has lead. Bubba Tipton led the way in hits with 34, followed Rohr and Fabian with 31. Fabian led in doubles with 11. Washington was the leader in triples with 3. Amelio claimed the team lead in walks with 8. Terry Fabian was named team MVP for the third time by the DWWA. Homerun leader Bryan Kantoris was a runaway winner for Rookie of the Year honors.
The Worms added several new players to the mix for 2007. John Hernandez and Chuck Lance, both who played some games before with the Worms, joing full-time. Sean Stevenson and Scott Adkins also came on board. The Worms kicked off the 2007 season with a 24-4 route of Bad Company on February 27. The Worms pounded out 24 hits, including 7 doubles and 4 triples. All 11 batters in the lineup had at least 2 hits. The next week, the Worms started the game with only 9 players and fell behind early, then made a huge comeback, fell apart, made another comeback, but fell short. Trailing 16-6, the Worms scored 13 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning to take a 19-16 lead, only to see Old American rally for 9 runs in the 5th. The Worms battled back to score 3 and had the tying runs on base, but lost 25-22. Due to 4 rainouts and a forfeit win, the Worms played only 2 games between March 7 and May 1. Included in that span was a 37-22 win over the Bullets on March 20. The Worms started the game off flat, falling behind 12-2 after the first inning. After going back and forth, the Worms entered the 4th inning trailing 18-14. That's when the Worms set off on a team record 23 run inning. The Worms scored 20 runs after 2 were out. Bubba Tipton and Ken Washington each had 5 hits to lead the way, while Washington, David Burchfield, and Tim Faulkner had 5 RBI each. At 4-2 in the Spring, the Worms played a Rowlett tournament on May 5, finishing 3rd. Ken Washington hit .750 in the tournament, while driving in 7 runs. Terry Fabian also had 7 RBI. The Worms finished the Spring League with a 5-3 record, after beating Bad Company again, 20-14 on May 7. Washington was the Spring League MVP, batting .833 (20-24) with 7 doubles, 5 triples, and 22 RBI. Fabian hit 5 homers and batted .769. After a two week break, the Worms opened the Summer League on May 21 with a thrilling 17-16 win over Universal Apt Service, who won the Spring League title. The Worms started slowly, going scoreless in the first 2 innings. After trailing 8-4 after 3 innings, the Worms exploded for 9 runs in the 4th and went to the 5th with a slim 13-12 lead. The Worms padded the lead with 4 runs in the 5th, only to watch Universal tally 4 of their own. The game ended with the tying and winning runs on base. The Summer League was up and down, so with a 3-3 record, the Worms played another tournament on July 21. After losing the opener 16-14 to the Dallas Ballers, the Worms rolled off 4 straight wins, before losing 11-8 to the Dallas Brew Crew. The highlight game of the tournament was an exciting 15-14 win over Euless Deep Balls. The Worms fell behind early again, this time 6-0. Then, behind a 9 run 4th inning, the Worms took command of the game, but blew it by allowing 4 runs in the top of 7th to force a 14-14 tie. Bobby Cecil won the game with a walk off RBI single in the bottom half of the 7th. Amazingly, considering the Worms went 4-2, they only hit .492 for the tournament. Tipton hit .722 (13-18) to lead the way, while John Amelio hit .647 (11-17). Cecil was the team leader with 14 RBI. The Worms returned to the Summer League on July 24 and won a back and forth game 22-21. The Worms led early 10-6, but fell behind 14-13. Then went ahead 21-14, however, they saw the Apartment guys score 7 to tie it 21-21. The Worms scored a run in the bottom of the 5th to win 22-21. Two weeks later, the Worms defeated Public Auto Sales 17-7 to finished 5-3 and in a three way tie for second. The next week, on August 7, after losing the coin flip, the Worms were forced to win two games. The first game against Who�s Next started out sluggishly, but the Worms had one big inning and rode it to victory to setup a showdown with the hated Hitmen. The Worms run-ruled the Hitmen 23-7 to take second place in the Fall League. The Hitmen scored 7 in the first inning and never scored again, while the Worms were on the way to 23 runs. All 14 Worms had at least 1 hit in the game. This could be a Worm record. Actually, have 14 guys show up for a game might well be a record also. For the Summer League, the Worms hit .610 as a team. Rookie of the Year Sean Stevenson led the Worms with a .857 batting average (18-21), Tipton .750 (22-30) and Washington .706 (24-34). Washington had 5 doubles, 5 triples, 5 homers, and 33 RBI in 10 Summer League games. The Worms struggle through a disastrous Fall League, which opened on August 21 against the Hitmen. In what would be commonplace in the Fall League, the Worms showed up with only 9 guys. Then the umps started the clock early and forced the Worms to skip their first at bat. To make it worse, it wasn't just the first at bat, but the first three batters, so Tipton, David Rohr, and Washington didn't get to bat the first time through the order. On top of that, the 10th spot in the order was an out every time and that proved to be more of a killer than losing the first inning at bats. The Worms stayed in the game until the end, trailing only 12-8 after 4 innings. But the Hitmen tacked on 6 more in the 5th for the run rule. Fittingly the game ended as a result of the automatic out from the 10th spot. After another loss, the Worms showed up with only 9 players again on September 4. The Worms battled all night to stay in the game despite being short-handed. After falling behind 17-11 after 6 1/2, the Worms rallied for 6 runs to tie the game and force extra innings. That inning included starting with 2 outs and no runs in. With Randy Cain on first, Tipton and Rohr both singled. Washington then homered to make the score 17-15. Aaron Hall and Burchfield both walked. Faulkner singled to score Hall and an overthrow scored Burchfield to tie it. After the LumberKings scored 3 in the top of the 8th, the Worms came right back. Cain led off with a single, and Chuck Lance walked. The automatic out followed, and then Tipton, Rohr, Washington, and Hall all singled to seal the 21-20 win. The Worms suffered through two more terrible games but on September 25, Bobby Cecil pitched the first no-hitter in Tequila Worms history in a 20-0 win over the Millerboyz. That would be the last win of the season for the Worms, as they were routed in the last two games. Cecil led the Fall League batting with a .923 batting average (12-13). For 2007, the Worms finished 20-16. Washington led the team in batting with a .696 batting average, followed by Tipton�s .637 and Rohr�s .622. Washington also led in runs scored with 70. Tipton had 66 and Rohr 54. Washington�s 78 hits led the team too. Again Tipton (65) and Rohr (61) followed. Washington had 24 doubles, followed by Rohr�s 18 and 9 from Hall. Washington had 10 triples to pace the way, while Hall and Faulkner each had 5. Nine homers from Washington led that category as well, and Hall and Fabian each had 5. Scott Adkins had 18 walks and Tipton had 16 and Burchfield 11. Washington�s 92 RBI led the team. And Burchfield had 41 RBI. Clearly, Washington claimed the team MVP honors from the DWWA, while Sean Stevenson took the Rookie of the Year award.
The Worms came out guns a blazing to start the 2008 season on February 26. The Worms battered Har-West for 13 first inning runs en route to a 21-13 victory. The win included an opening day record 4 homeruns (Ken Washington, David Broyles, and two from newcomer Bobby Hallahan). With a couple of rainouts mixed in, the Worms entered April at 3-0 following a 27-26 thriller over Sparkling Water and a 17-8 win over the Hooters. The game against Sparkling Water almost featured a monumental collapse from the Worms. The Worms led 27-11 in the last inning and had to hold off a furious rally by the Water Boys. The Worms took a break from Spring League action to lay a nice 1-2 egg in the Rowlett tournament on April 19. The Worms finished the Spring league at 5-3 and were forced to play a one game playoff for second place. The game was against Dallas Fuego who had previously beaten the Worms 14-3 following the annual Rangers opening day drunkfest on April 8. The game featured RC being too drunk to play first base and RC and Bronco fashioning swinging strikeouts. But the Worms exacted some revenge on May 13, run-ruling Fuego to take second place in the Spring League. Broyles went 3 for 3 in the game, while Bubba Tipton, Washington, and Aaron Hall, who returned from a seson long vacation, added 2 hits each. Sean Stevenson led the Worms in Spring League batting, hitting .737. Tipton and Washington led with 20 hits each, while Broyles led with 19 runs scored, 3 triples, and 5 homers. Washington led with 20 RBI and 5 doubles. The Summer League started the next week, May 20. The Worms survived mulitple injuries during the game (Terry Fabian's hamstring, Jimmie Giffin's knee, David Broyles' knee) to win the Summer League opener 19-9 over the Crushers. Worm rookie Tracy Souther picked up the slack, going 4-4 with 4 RBI. Washington was also 4-4, with 2 doubles and an RBI. Due to rain outs and bye weeks, the Worms would only play one more game before June 24, that being a 21-8 beating at the hands of the Rough Riders. Beginning with the June 24 game against Booyah, the Worms rattled off three straight wins - 20-9 over Booyah, 21-17 over Cowboy Toyota, and 27-13 over the Crushers. The run rule over Booyah was the most impressive because the Worms only had 9 players. The Worms had some fun against the Crushers, riding a 16 run first inning to the 27-13 win over the mouthy Crushers. Tipton was 4 for 4 out of the leadoff spot, while Washington drove in 5 runs and Stevenson 4. Both had a homerun as well. All 11 Worm starters had at least 2 hits and 1 RBI. Despite not hitting very well at all on July 15, the Worms still had the lead in the last inning, but the cocky Stallions rallied for 2 runs to deal the Worms a heartbreaking 11-10 loss. The next week, the Worms lost another nailbiter 20-19 to the Hooters. Despite giving up an 18 run first inning, the Worms stayed in the game. Trailing 18-5 after 1 inning, the Worms kept battling but fell just short, losing 20-19 and leaving the bases loaded to end the game. In the Summer League finale, the Worms survived an ugly hitting performance to win 8-7. With the win, the Worms finish the Summer League at 5-3, tied for second place. However, on July 30, the Worms were no match for the Rough Riders, falling 25-10 to finish third. Tipton led the Worms in almost every offensive category in the Summer League - runs (28), hits (21), doubles (6), walks (7), and batting average (.750). Broyles led in homers with 5 and RBI with 19. It was decided before the season started that the Worms would skip the Fall League, so when the August 16 tournament was rained out, the season was officially over. The Worms finished the season 12-9. David Rohr led the Worms in batting for 2008, hitting .698, followed by Tipton at .672 and Stevenson at .617. As a team, the Worms hit .547. Broyles was by far the team leader in homeruns with 10. Stevenson added 5 dingers and Hallahan added 4. Broyles also led in RBI with 35, followed by Stevenson and Washington with 32. Tipton led the team in runs with 40. Tipton also led in hits with 45, followed by Rohr and rookie Scott Greenberg with 37. Washington again paced the club in doubles with 10 and triples with 5. Tipton was the walks leader with 13 with Stevenson's 12 right behind. David Broyles earned his first team MVP award as voted on by the DWWA. Scott Greenberg was the unanimous winner for Rookie of the Year honors.
The Tradition that is the Tequila Worms will be back in 2009. There promises to be many more exciting moments as the Worms continue their quest to win a State Championship. Once it is posted in early 2009, click on the schedule to see when the Worms play, then click on the map to see where. Come on out and join us. We may not always win, but we always have fun. Just be sure to bring beer, and remember the three most important questions asked at any Worm game:
1. Who brought the beer?
2. How much beer did they bring?
3. What kind of beer did they bring?
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