Hammock plays eight of nine positions in loss

"He'll get back there and catch every few days, throw his body back there," Martin said. "He'll play anywhere, and that rubs off on the other guys in this clubhouse."

Monday, in the final game of a forgettable JetHawks season, a 7-5, 11-inning loss to San Bernardino, Hammock did everything but run The Hangar's sound system (Don Burrow handled that). Hammock played every position except pitcher, and he would've pitched in the ninth inning if the game hadn't been tied at five.

"I wish I would've been able to get out on the mound," said Hammock, who's played left field, third base, first base and catcher for the JetHawks earlier in the season. "For at least one batter, one pitch. But it was a lot of fun."

The JetHawks were able to pull off this stunt, and a few others, because the game was meaningless for both teams. The Stampede are preparing for the playoffs, but they've already clinched the second-half title. The JetHawks season ended with the game's final out, no matter what happened. So JetHawks manager Scott Coolbaugh decided to have some fun with the game.

Catcher J.D. Closser filled Coolbaugh's managerial role, coaching at third base for most of the game. He turned the job back to Coolbaugh when reliever Brandon Medders needed a bullpen catcher to warm up.

"That's a pretty (bad) way to start your managerial career," Closser said. "But we had a one-run lead when I left. I gave us five runs. But Cooley's going to try to pin it all on me."

Jamie Gann, the relief pitcher who started the season as an outfielder, reminded everyone why he switched when he struck out on three pitches in an eighth-inning pinch-hit appearance. Greg Jacobs, another reliever, singled in the tenth inning, but was caught stealing.

"Jacobs has been bugging me all year long," Coolbaugh said. "And now I'm never going to live down that he got a base hit."

But Hammock's play-'em-all experiment was the one that everyone would remember. He had suggested it to Coolbaugh a few weeks back, and the more Coolbaugh thought about it, the more he liked it. Sunday, he told Hammock they'd give it a try.

Too bad Hammock didn't finish it off.

The JetHawks scored five runs in the third inning - keyed by Hammock's two-run home run - to take a 5-2 lead, but the Stampede scrapped back, tying the game in the eighth inning. With the game on the line, Coolbaugh decided to keep Medders in the game and return Hammock to left field.

"I wanted to make sure it was professionally done," Coolbaugh said. "And we wanted to go out with a win."

Still, the decision was a curious one. By trying the experiment in the first place, Coolbaugh was conceding that the outcome of the game wasn't too important. He played several players out of position throughout the game to accommodate Hammock. Jeff Waldron, a catcher, played an inning at first base and nearly committed an error. Hammock committed an error at second base which led to a run, and the JetHawks committed three errors.

But in the ninth inning, the game suddenly mattered, so Medders took the mound. He pitched the ninth and tenth, and Saul Montoya allowed two runs in the 11th.

"The way the game went, I thought I might've had a chance to get in there after they went up two," Hammock said. "I could've come in and pitched, and Saul could've played left for one batter. But it's probably best that I didn't."

Uploaded September 4, 2001