Drum Solo
This article describes the event in Season β19 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, coming off their Season 18 championship win, the Core Mechanics had a strong lineup with a few notable weaker players such as Kelvin Drumsolo and would have been considered contenders for the championship if not for the untimely implementation of Turntables.
However the Mechanics were about to be part of another, even more historic event.
On Day 19 against the 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 Drumsolo returns. The game is tied going into the bottom of the ninth inning and Drumsolo and Holbrook together score six runs, shaming the Millenials.
On the final out of the game a surge of Immateria rushes up from Under, baserunners are swept from play, and 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 in the third inning when Taswell returns from Elsewhere, shortly after Drumsolo scores the eleventh run of the game. Lemma returns at the bottom of the Mechanics' final inning, and between the three of them they score thirty times in the game.
Impact of the Drum Solo
Having a single player lineup caused the Mechanics, and Drumsolo themself, 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
Games during the Drum Solo tended to take longer than usual 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 - setting and then beating the record for the longest nine-inning game.
