By Scott Stokeley
Special to the Edmonton Escutcheon
May 24, 2008

The Edmonton Mall Ratz have discovered the recipe for success: win games.

One after another after another.

Starting April 30th, the team went on a jaw-dropping winning streak spanning seventeen games and nearly three weeks, not losing until finally falling to the Brampton Camels on May 18th.  By that time they had taken a commanding lead in the Alberta Division of the AA Canadian Alliance.

The winning streak is the longest in GNL history and the longest of any kind in Canada for decades.  The unofficial Canadian record is held by the Port Radium Prospectors of the old Great Bear League, which won 31 straight in 1942; it is discounted for the official books because the league had only two teams, whose rosters were picked one by one, playground-style, before each game.  To find a longer official streak, one must go back to 1927, when the Flin Flon Floggers were victorious in 22 straight contests in the long since disbanded Trapper Keeper Association.

Events began innocuously enough.  On April 29th the club dropped a 1-0 decision in Quebec City, Jacob Edgar taking the hard-luck loss to the Frenchies.  The team's record was an uninspiring 8-11.  In the visitors’ clubhouse after the game, manager Salvador Bramasco decided something had to be done.

"The guys had been playing really sluggish," Bramasco recalled.  "I wanted to try and fire them up a little."

Bramasco leapt atop the trainers table and began an impassioned speech that, according to some observers, went on for the better part of an hour, during which the manager covered such topics as pride, effort, hot peppers, hot pants, Mexican volcanoes, the Mexican Revolution, the Panamanian Revolution, the Panama Canal, Panama hats, and the song "Panama" by Van Halen.

"He really covered a lot of ground," hitting coach Júlio Meza said later.

Finally Bramasco shouted, "This will put the fire in your bellies!" He reached into his bag, pulled out a shot glass, filled it with Tabasco sauce from a bottle he wears on a lanyard around his neck and swigged it down.  Then he lined up the players and compelled them all to do the same.

"Oh man, I had never felt anything like that before," said shortstop Ken Thomas.  "I thought I was going to die."

Teammate Nick Newman agreed.  "Holy crap, that was hot," said the shortstop.  "I think half the team spent the night in the bathroom."

But Bramasco's unorthodox methods led to immediate results.  The team dispatched the Red Deer Kings 7-3 the next day and never looked back.  The postgame shot of Tabasco – quickly dubbed "Bramasco Sauce" by a locker-room wag – became a ritual that was, if not welcomed, at least respected.

"I can't really taste my food any more," said reliever Steve Barry.  "I think my taste buds have mostly been burned away.  But you can't argue with the results.  Uff da!"

The Mall Ratz' hot streak has been fueled on the field by solid play both at the plate and on the mound, with the team ranking near the top of the league in almost every pitching and hitting category.  Spearheading the charge have been starter Felipe Montoya – who has four wins and 24 strikeouts over the span – and surprising second baseman Lucas Raines – whose .464 average with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs during the latter part of the streak led to his being named CA Player of the Week for the week ending May 19th.

Edmonton residents, while not generally aware of the streak, nonetheless seemed positive about their team's exploits.

"I've been focused more on the Stanley Cup playoffs, to be honest," said local carpenter Ken Batchelor on May 15.  "But it's good to hear."

"That's real good news aboot the fellas," added his friend Ken Trudeau, a driver for an Edmonton drilling-supply company.  "After hockey is over maybe we'll have to get out to a game or two.  Who knows?  Maybe they'll go undefeated the rest of the year."

Alas, the Mall Ratz' winning streak fell short of reaching the Canadian record just three short days later with the 12-2 loss to Brampton on May 18th.  But the team began another winning streak with the very next game; they have won four straight as of this writing, outscoring their opponents 24-4 while doing so.  And not only have they continued their postgame Bramasco Sauce tradition, they've introduced a new one: the fiery manager has vowed not to cut his ear hairs as long as the team continues to win.

"For such a young guy, he sure has a lot of ear hair," said shortstop Thomas.

"Hopefully it'll get long enough he has to start braiding it."