Drum Solo
This article describes the event in Season 19 where Kelvin Drumsolo became the only lineup player for the Core Mechanics for several games.
The games can be watched here on Before.
The Drum Solo
Going into the second half of Season 19 and coming off of their championship win, the Core Mechanics had put together a powerful lineup and were contenders for the what would have been a stellar season if not for the untimely implementation of Turntables.
However there was another, much more historic event that the Mechanics were about to be a part of.
On Day 19 against Tigers, Bees Taswell and Adelaide Judochop are swept elsewhere, leaving the Mechanics with 5 batters.
On Day 50 against the Fridays, Bees Taswell returns, but Mira Lemma is swept elsewhere. The Mechanics remain at 5 batters.
On Day 57 against the Millennials, Christian Combs is swept elsewhere and Cannonball Sports dives in after them due to their Undertaker modification. The Mechanics have 3 batters.
On Day 64 against the Millennials, Bees Taswell and Kelvin Drumsolo are swept elsewhere. Gia Holbrook completes the fifth, sixth, and seventh inning as the only batter on the Mechanics. At the top of the eighth inning Kelvin Drumsolo returns. At the bottom of the ninth inning the game is tied as Drumsolo and Holbrook shame the Millennials, scoring six runs between them.
On the final out of the game a surge of Immateria rushes up from Under, baserunners are swept from play, and Gia Holbrook is swept Elsewhere. The Core Mechanics end the game with a single player in their lineup; Kelvin Drumsolo.
On Day 65, The Drum Solo begins. The Mechanics proceed to play the next 4 games with only Drumsolo batting, winning every game.
On Day 69 against the Dallas Steaks, The Drum Solo comes to an end at the third inning when Taswell returns from elsewhere shortly after Drumsolo scores their eleventh run of the game. Lemma returns at the bottom of the Mechanic's final inning, and between the three of them they score on the Steaks thirty times in that game.
Impact of the Drum Solo
Having a single player lineup caused the mechanics, and Drumsolo themselves, to break several records for single players in a single game, though most of these took place as the Drum Solo wound down on Day 69. By the end of that game Drumsolo had:
- Hit for the cycle three times (getting a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game)
- Hit four home runs in a single game
- Got fifteen hits in a single game
- Batted in twenty-two runs in a single game
There was also a notable pattern over the Drum Solo of games simply running very long due to the large number of Elsewhere messages. Despite all of the games running the standard nine innings, these games ran 40, 42, 46, 39, and finally 57 minutes - breaking the record for the longest nine inning game recorded in the ILB.
