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Happy Days Return for Bears Peterson’s return inspires team in win over Guthrie’s
By Tom Beringer MARGATE PARK, CHICAGO -- As he emerged from the parking lot, utter disbelief soon turned to cheers, and for some, tears of joy. It was indeed a sight as the Bears prodigal son, Rob Peterson, arrived to the Bears sidelines for the first time since 2004. The hallelujah chorus could have broken out, and not a soul would have questioned it.
Search efforts for Peterson (a.k.a. Fun Bobby) had been unsuccessful over the past few months. Peterson found his niche by transcending the art of scorekeeping after an injury ended his Bears career. His stellar scorekeeping, along with his Tony Robbins-like positive attitude has been sorely missed this year. Coaches and players alike have seemed distant, on edge, and even on the verge of withdrawal. His return to the Bears dugout figures to be a huge boost to the team.
Recently Peterson had his image appear on a milk carton inquiring his whereabouts, which Peterson found amusing.
“I didn’t even know I was missing until I poured the milk in my corn flakes this morning,” Peterson laughed. “But it feels great to be back.”
It was quite an emotional site as a tearful Buttermaker handed Peterson the scorebook and pencil for the first time this year.
“That’s the most I’ve cried since the end of Gremlins,” Buttermaker later remarked.
Coupled with the fact that it was Bear shortstop Tim Pearson’s 30th birthday, the fact that a game was to be played seemed rather insignificant. In fact, it was a surprise the Bears didn’t simply forfeit and head over to the Bird’s Nest. Thankfully, a dose of reality set in after a few moments, and the Bears prepared to play ball. Faced with a losing record, the Bears desperately needed a win to get back on track.
Inspired by Peterson’s return, and doing their best to get Pearson a win on his birthday, the Bear offense came alive in an impressive 18-13 victory over Guthrie’s Tavern.
Things started out strangely enough as Steve Lopez led off the game with a sharp single, but was questionably called out by the umpire for “stepping on the plate” during his at-bat.
Buttermaker called it “bush league”, but the umpire corrected him by telling him it was, in fact, the “B” league.
Later, Lopez nearly became the third Bears to fall embarrassingly into the dirt this year after a big swing totally missed, and left him wobbling in the batter’s box. He managed to right himself, but not before laughter could be heard from the Bears dugout along with chants of “am I wobbling now?” He did go 1-for-3, but is still only hitting .231 on the season.
“You can’t hit .690 every year,” Lopez was overheard saying after the game. Lopez actually hit .553 last year.
The Bears (2-2) scored in bunches for the first time all year, yet could not seem to pull away from a persistent Guthrie’s squad. The game was tied 13-13 heading into the final frame, which happened to be the fifth, due to darkness. The Bears responded to the challenge scoring five runs in the top half of the frame to take an 18-13 lead.
After two quick outs in the bottom half, Guthrie’s put a man on, but on the final play of the game, Scott “the Scooter” Koch made a fabulous diving stab behind second base, and reached out to tag the bag with the ball for the force out while lying on the ground.
Koch added a respectable 2-for-3 day with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. He is now hitting .400. Koch denied Buttermaker’s request to wear his Chewbacca outfit during the game but didn’t rule out the possibility in a future game.
Nearly overlooked with all the Peterson brew-ha-ha, was the return of Brian Eby to the Bears lineup after a two game absence due to his aggravated hamstring. Eby went a respectable 1-for-2 with 2 walks in his return, but unfortunately re-injured his hamstring late in the game. His status is day-to-day.
In only his second game of the year, Eby is tied for the team lead in walks. Although, he is hitting only .250, Eby pointed out that Peterson noted in the scorebook that he is hitting the ball hard.
“Scorebook don’t lie,” Eby said.
Third baseman Jeff Stewart led the offensive assault with a 3-for-4, 2 RBI day and raised his now team leading average to .667.
The Bears 18 runs were a season high. The 13 hits included an unbelievable five extra base hits, and Andy Nowak was only responsible for one.
Nowak returned to his usual position of first base and had a very nice day at the plate going 2-for-4, with 3 RBIs. Nowak is now hitting .429.
Nowak blamed himself for foiling the first Bears double play turn of the year when he dropped the throw from Koch. Buttermaker blamed “the Panda”.
Right fielder Mark Kwilosz saw his average drop to .571 with an 0-for-3 day, but “the white Lance Johnson” handled his lone fly ball in right field with great agility. “Kwil” said he thinks of himself as more of a “white Carl Weathers”.
In the bottom of the third, disaster nearly struck the Bears. As bats (the flying mammals commonly associated with vampires and dark magic) were seen hovering over the field, both Pearson and pitcher Chris “Daz” Dowsett were distracted and temporarily injured by sharp line drives hit at them. Both were suffering as Daz limped around the infield and Pearson sat in the dirt for several moments after being struck.
Peterson, known for his uncanny ability to speak to animals, quickly sprang into action, communicated something to the bats, and they agreed to leave the field without further incident as long as Peterson could score them some dope.
Pearson recovered from the injury to go 2-for-3 with 4 RBI, although had a nice imprint of a softball on his leg to show for “taking one for the team”. Pearson is now hitting .500 and should continue heating up due to Jon Scheyer’s recent announcement that he will attend Duke.
Daz (1-for-3, 2 RBI) also overcame his battered foot, and pitched admirably in his first start of the year. Daz is quietly sneaking up in the batting average race, hitting a respectable .333. Daz declined post-game offers to participate in the burlesque show going on later at the Bird’s Nest.
Outfielder Jon Branham went 0-for-3 and continues to struggle at the plate. He is now hitting a mere .286 on the year but echoed Lopez’s sentiments on yearly performance.
“You can’t hit .722 every year,” quipped Branham. Branham actually did hit .722 last year.
Tanner Boyle was kind enough to fill-in once again and added a critical hit late in the game that was good for a few RBIs (1-for-2, 3 RBI). Boyle denied he had anything to do with bats being at the game.
The only thing missing Monday night was team mascot Josie and owner Mike Weast, but sources say the two have been located and are in negotiations with “the Panda” to remain a part of the Bears organization. Rumors were that Josie had been having discussions with The Amigos to become their full-time mascot, but talks fell apart.
Most of the Bears made it over to the Bird’s Nest after the exciting victory, to celebrate Peterson’s miraculous return and Pearson’s jubilant birthday. Even Brian Eby, notorious for his dislike of the establishment made it over and enjoyed several beverages commemorating the occasion. Late in the evening, a handful of Bears stuck around to enjoy the burlesque show too. All in all, a grand night. One for the books.
If the Bears can continue to show the energy and effort that was present today, anything can happen. Maybe there is some truth to the luck that Peterson brings to the team too. Only time will tell. Next Monday the Bears will try to continue their winning ways at the Waveland Fields at 6:15 PM.
DISCLAIMER: These articles are not actually written by the persons labeled, rather, the names of these well known Chicago sports personalities are used for pure entertainment value by the actual authors. Please email me with any concerns. This site is brought to you by Coach Morris Buttermaker, 
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