By Granville Price, Palm Springs Semaphore
Sept. 27, 2011

Palm Springs finds itself a hotbed of playoff fever as the hometown Codgers battle down to the wire for a wild card spot in the Sovereign League of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance.

Saddled by injuries and general malaise, the hometown club at one point trailed hated rival Bakersfield by six games, and their playoff hopes appeared finished, but a blistering 16-7 record over the month of September has brought them dead even with the Bears with just six games left to play.  And fans have taken notice.

Retiree Gertrude Mulligan, passing by Elderberry Field a few hours before tonight’s game against the Aurora Borealis, was typical. 

“The Codgers?  Are they still playing?  I thought the season was over,” she enthused.

Her husband Merton echoed her palpable excitement.  “Usually we get out of town around this time of year because it’s so hot,” he gushed.  “But there’s some kind of problem with the water pump in the Town Car, so I guess we’re stuck here for a while.”

Central to the Codgers’ charge has been third baseman Ollie Morris, who batted .455 with three home runs and 9 RBI ever the past seven days en route to being named the SL Player of the Week.

“Ollie just absolutely put us on his back and carried us,” said right fielder Michael Smith.  “He was phenomenal.  A real phenom.  “Phenom” – is that even a word?  If so, it should be his, like, nickname, or something.”

The Codgers take on Aurora at home for three games, then play a series against Yuma to close out the regular season.  If they remain tied with Bakersfield at that point, they would face the Bears in a special “play-in” game to determine which team made the playoffs.

Team general manager Denny Hills, wearing dark glasses and appearing noticeably unsteady on his feet, seemed nervous about the team’s postseason prospects.

“We juss have to make the playoffs!  It’s, it’s, it’s… it’s there’s no alternative,” he said, his voice breaking and a tear rolling down his cheek.

He quickly excused himself and reeled out of the locker room.

Other team members seemed more confident.  Starting pitcher Felipe Lara credited the boost received from the team’s fans as being crucial to their surge.

“When we look out in the stands and see way below-capacity crowds just kind of sitting around, not really cheering or anything, it’s a total thrill.  With that kind of support, the playoffs are, like, 98% for sure.”

The fans themselves concur.

“My brother-in-law gave Jeffrey and I these tickets – he didn’t feel like going,” said marketing professional Eric Pankratz, taking a seat in the right field bleachers as players emerged to warm up.  “The AC is broken at home and we didn’t have anything better to do, so we thought, ‘Eh, might as well.'”  He yawned.  

“Which team is ours?  The ones with the pink hats?  Is it like Breast Cancer Awareness Day or something?”