Many thanks to Don Ball for organizing last night's Fall Ball game in Watervliet. The field was in great shape and it was a fun evening of baseball (even though I got beaned in the helmet). If you are free on Thursday evenings, come on out and join the fun.
The highlight of the evening was Mike Hart's crushing shot over the centerfielder's head.... He still has it....
And I'll thank Dennis Lane for prepping the field and having it ready for a true game of sandlot baseball. Everyone got some BP swings in before the game. With some creative recruiting we had 19 players for week one. Seven different pitchers took the mound and the defensive alignments changed like socks. Great weather, great fun.
We'll be back at Watervliet HS next Thursday for round two. Contact me at dballjr@nycap.rr.com if you would like to play.
thanks to don for organizing a good workout and a pleasant game. he even got jake bonnano to ump for us.
it's a very nice diamond. last year, shasky's dennis lane, the bb coach at watervliet, commandeered a beat-up, weed-strewn field next to the high school. it was a dumping place for construction materials. he reclaimed it and turned it into a large field with a soft infield and a deep outfield.
we hope more guys come next week; we had about 20 (including, for those of you who know cdmsbl, original hall-of-famer doug zymewski; it's always good to see doug; he reminds us of what's terrific about the league, namely long-timing it and regard for everyone) but we could put more guys out there. so if you're eager to work on your new stride swing or your fadeaway pitch, come. there's no penalty, not even long faces, if you whiff or go wild. not that we had a lot of that: there were some fine plays last night.
and thanks, too, to pete zamory, though i'm a bit worried about "still having it." i tell ya, pete, i woke this morning feeling stiff and creaky. i looked under my pillow, under my bed and in my closet for "it" but "it" wasn't there. i checked with my two border collies, lucas and robbie, to see if they'd taken "it" in their teeth and buried it outside. they looked at me with puzzled eyes; they had no idea what i was talking about. besides, they have their own "its" to worry about. so, today, pete, i don't know where my "it" went.
the grand geezers among us last night, if i may, the "z boys," doug and pete, and probably ken goldfarb and brad buchan, and maybe scott ross (no, scratch that, scott's constantly moving, he's forever 39), and the near grand-geezer, john corrigan, whom i heard talking about retiring to florida, know what i'm talking about. every day we gotta look for the "it." sometimes it's there, sometimes the dogs take it.
-mike
p.s. if you come, remember your sunglasses (esp. for the right side of the diamond) and batting helmets. also, the parking is tight near the field, but there is extra room in a small lot on a hill above the third-base line and, i'd guess, around the corner on hillside drive. also, last night we paid $5 a guy for the ump. i'm guessing that cost will stay close to that. -m.
-- Edited by mhart on Friday 7th of August 2015 04:12:39 PM
