“Mr. Fixit” engineers Junkies’ win over Grays in Playoffs

Photo: Raul Aguilera rocking his Peanuts sweatshirt

 By Bill Tarrant

(Corrects Raul's name and  deletes reference to Tom Griego as Grays interim manager)

Raul Aguilar a “Mr.Fixit” for years in the LA school system, played A+ second base in leading the Softball Junkies to a 15-11 win over the Grays in the opening round of playoffs Thursday in the Los Angeles Senior Softball League.

     The top four of the Junkies order went 12 for 12 in the game, highlighted by Steve Miller’s three-run homer in the first. The Junkies pounded out 26 hits (no walks). Six players had perfect nights at the plate: Joe Micelli, Raul, Bruce Loria, Steve Miller, Bob Bergeson, and Jim Paul all went 3 for 3.

     The Junkies' infield was stellar: 19 of the 21 outs recorded against the Grays came in the infield.

    “I’ve always been one that feels defense is what wins games,” Raul said. “You can use your intellect for defense. You make defensive plays between pitches, going over what to do when the ball is hit, because there are so many possibilities.”

     Raul displayed that trait in a first-inning double play, getting force out at second and throwing home to catch the runner trying to score from third. “I saw out of the corner of my eye I had a good chance of getting the runner and I knew Lilly (Bashian) would catch it.”

     Later in the game, he threw out a runner at third when he saw he was hesitating rounding second on a hard hit to right center.” I knew where the third baseman was and just made sure of my throw,” Raul said.

     The Grays clogged the bases throughout the game but never came up with a big hit. The bottom of the Grays order got on base frequently via a series of bloops and squibblers.

     ENGLISH TEACHER

     Raul Aguilar started as an English teacher at Metropolitan High in East Los Angeles. He took over as an interim principal one year “and found that I really liked it” and so got his administration credentials.

    “I was the guy they sent into schools having problems. I was ‘the Fixit’. I turned schools around and then went to another school every couple years,” Raul said.

He ended his career where he began as principal of Metropolitan High School, retiring in 2016. Raul says he doesn’t miss it, given the new era of parental involvement in school administration. “I didn’t care that much about parents. They know what’s best overall for their children. But professional staff run schools, not them. I had 200 bosses. They’re called students. Next in line are the teachers.”

“I always tell new principles, go in ears first. See what’s going on. Then decide what to do. The job of a principal is to say yes to a teacher with a good idea, even if you have to find a different way of getting it done because of budgets, etc.”

Like his brother David in the LA league, Raul was a catcher in high school, but unlike his brother, Raul did not play college baseball, at Cal-State-Los Angeles.

Raul has long managed the Snoopy team in the Tuesday senior league. Peanuts has always been his favorite cartoon, and he reckons he has at least 50 Peanuts jerseys. That probably was a delight to his two children growing up and the two grandchildren he has now.

Archies 20, Mustangs 5

The Archies took the lead early and went wire to wire to beat the Mustangs in a game that ended with the "mercy ruke". A big 6th inning for the Archies proved to be the difference.
    Big battle against a very good Bad Knees bears team in the quarter finals is up next. “ The Bad Bears are I believe championship material. A very dangerous team. It will be a tough matchup for both sides”. - Richard Steinmetz

Slow Horses 21 Dodgers 14

The Dodgers were led by John Haas, Bruce Danner, and Ernesto Garcia, all of whom whomped 4 hits a piece. For the umpteenth time, the #3 seed Slow Horses started slow as the Dodgers held a one-run lead going into the bottom of the 6th inning. At that point, skipper Mark Lambert yelled "Time to Pony Up!". The Horsies responded with 12 runs being plated, putting the game, effectively, out of reach. The key play was when Jodie Franscisco got a base hit to load the bases. Greg Waskul followed with a grand slam to turn a small Horsey lead into a large Horsey lead. Gil Bautista provided some great defense at short stop for the Slow Horses. - John Gillot