The Albany Capitals (and previously the Albany Blue Jays) have been travelling to the MSBL Fall Classic for quite a while now. The roster has changed and evolved many times over the years, though a core group has shared many of these trips. I think I can say that it is an important annual excursion where the camaraderie is as important, or more so, than the baseball and sunshine and beach and vacation time. For those that don't know, among John Weber's many talents is being an executive chef. A few years ago, John and 3 or 4 other guys shared a house. John fixed some meals and the Weber Food Plan at the Fall Classic was born. Now, our guys often share multiple 3-bedroom condos in the same building, or nearby, contribute $100/man to a food kitty, and J-Web prepares two, sometimes three, meals a day for the participants. That has grown into 10 or 12 guys sharing home-cooked meals, eating and drinking very well, while not breaking the bank at beach community restaurants. John is the chef, but other guys help prep meals (namely Bob Hiller), and others help cleanup afterwards. Our coach Mike Surin handles the accounting. It is an impressive operation and bonds this team like no other that I have been a part of. It is unquestionably the reason I made the trip this year, despite the fact that I no longer live in CDSMSBL-land and cannot even play due to abdominal surgery last month. In fact, I look forward to this week, with this bunch of guys, all year long. It is one of the very special things about MSBL and CDMSBL...lifelong friendships and fraternal opportunities. If you have not yet joined a team at one of these tournaments, I suggest you find an opportunity to do so.
Oh yeah, the game. The DC Mustang A's thumped us 15-5. Jim Tesoriero had two hits and pitched effectively in relief. For the other guys, Joe Careccia had a couple hits and made every play in LF. Tony Parella had the game winning hit, a bomb to the warning track in left center for a triple driving in two. I don't know how they can live with themselves.
We wrap the preliminary round tomorrow morning at 10:00am against the undefeated Puerto Rico Royals at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. If we don't find a way to beat them, then we'll need the two currently winless teams to lose again tomorrow in order to steal a wildcard entry into the playoff round. It could happen. Either way, we'll have a bunch of new stories to share, treasure, and exaggerate.
Thank you Curt for eloquently describing how we enjoy these "baseball vacations", and help soften the sting in our loss today. Yes, we still have hopes in making the playoffs and are encouraged by the fact that our pitchers are not overworked and our bats are starting to wake up. Sometimes it takes a while for a team to start to really gel together and many of these teams have been together for many years. Our team is actually starting to show promise. Hopefully not to late.
Mike S
Hey Curt, it's always fun to play you guys and it was great to warm up on your side of the diamond by having a catch with John Cortese. Good luck tomorrow.
Eloquently stated,Curt. Wish we all could play on all the teams for that reason. While we didn't have a banquet this year, an informal all-inclusive CDMSBL get-together would leave some lasting memories for sure. Those pre-tournament scrimmages at 'Vliet were so much fun for just that reason. For me, that is part of this entire tournament experience.
Plus, the older I get, the more I appreciate just how special these times are.
Hey, maybe Sigler could schedule all of our CDMSBL divisions and teams the same week next year. Web would need to hire an assistant chef!
Thnx for all the updates.
And BTW, I'm with a Chicago team (TSP Fire 65s) in a 65 Division Roy Hobbs tournament in Fort Myers. We are 2-2 entering our seed-in game today vs. the Ohio Classics. While I have played with several of these players in past years, it is nowhere near the same as being with the home boys.
