Baseball, bacon and Hold 'Em

Thursday, August 26, 2004 8:13 AM PDT

By Rick S. Alvord

The game is Texas Hold 'Em.

Poker, for those unfamiliar with America's fastest-growing televised sport.

Robi Estrada, Taylor Adlam and Matt Sugarman from El Segundo, Calif. ---- three of the best players on perhaps the best team at the Babe Ruth World Series ---- have played more poker than baseball in the past five days.

You see, Mother Nature has held all the cards in this diamond showdown, forcing players and their host families to participate in a home version of "Gilligan's Island."

Marooned in Longview.

Please send help.

"We're mainly playing cards, watching TV and sleeping," said Estrada, the star shortstop for undefeated El Segundo, which has already qualified for Saturday's semifinals. "We're having a good time. It's all right. We're not letting the rain bother us. We're staying with an awesome family and we're having fun.

"Plus," added Estrada, "I'm cleaning up in cards. I'm taking their money."

And so it goes on "Andrew's Island."

Dave and Linda Andrew are hosting the personable southern California trio in their Longview home for the duration of the tournament, which will end ---- rain or not ---- on Saturday.

Dave Andrew was asleep on his couch late Wednesday afternoon when he was awakened by a reporter's phone call. Andrew, one of countless World Series committee members working extended hours during the rain-plagued event, returned home early when the final four games of pool play were washed out.

He'll be back at David Story Field bright and early this morning. With any luck, Mother Nature will sleep through her alarm.

"We're taking our three guests from El Segundo out for dinner tonight ---- they pick the place," Andrew said after answering the phone. "Our own kids are all out of the house now, so having these guys around is special. We let them make up the grocery list and make sure they have plenty to eat. Lots of bacon, brownies, watermelon, chips ...

"A while back I bought some tapioca pudding by mistake, and one of the kids (Sugarman) is getting rid of that for us."

The rain has forced organizers to reshuffle the schedule on all but one of the tourney's six days. That was Friday, the opening day of action and the last time the sun shined.

Even with plenty of down time between games, players and coaches are being asked to remain in town to better accommodate last-minute edits to the schedule.

No problem. Who wants to hike Mount St. Helens in the rain, anyway?

"This is a nice place. The weather was great when we got here," said Adlam, the winning pitcher in El Segundo's 3-0 triumph against a tough Youngstown, Ohio, squad Monday. "You can't get mad about rain. No one controls the weather. We don't see that much rain where we live, so this is different. But we're just making the best of it.

"Our host family feeds us whatever we're in the mood for," he added. "And the card games are pretty good, so you can't get too mad."

The players did pay a visit to The Hilander's Family Fun Center in Kelso, where they bowled and played laser tag. They also attended a team party at the home of another host family.

Revisiting the subject of food, the El Segundo players burned some down time while sampling the cuisine at Nipp's, one of Longview's best hamburger joints. Keep in mind that California is famous for its In-N-Out Burger establishments.

"Was Nipp's as good as In-N-Out? No, but it was a very good burger," Estrada said. "And the onion rings were awesome."

Sugarman ---- the tapioca fan ---- lives a two-minute walk from the Pacific Ocean in Manhattan Beach, Calif. He and Estrada are two of "about five" dedicated surfers on the El Segundo team, so they're used to a little wet stuff.

"We have a couple other guys with long hair, so they're probably surfers, too," said Sugarman, who arrived in Longview a day later than his teammates after flying in from Boston, where he competed for the Los Angeles team in the Maccabi Games ---- a.k.a. the "Jewish Olympics."

Sugarman calls himself "the big loser" in the Texas Hold 'Em battles with his pals, which isn't surprising given that he's been mired in a World Series hitting slump.

"Things just aren't going my way in cards, just like baseball," he said. "I'm pulling off the ball. We've still been practicing even with the rain, so I've been working in the (batting) cage. Hopefully everything will come through at the right time. We're winning games, so I can't be too upset."

Linda Andrew said the down time has created more of an opportunity to bond with her 15-year-old house guests.

"It has been a blast. It's going to be very hard to see these guys go back home," she said. "They pitch on me and tease me. They act like I'm their mom.

"I've kind of enjoyed having them in the house more," she added. "It's like I've got three sons walking around."

Three California surfers whose penchant for bacon and poker is surpassed only by their love for baseball.

"That's why we're here ---- to play ball," Sugarman said. "But if we can't play ball because of the weather, we might as well have fun anyway."