Ok - two posts for this year, that's it - I promise.
Was fortunate enough to play on the Cooperstown field yesterday with Mike Hart's assembled team of great guys.
My reason for posting; 1979, I played on the best team I've ever been a part of - North Albany Post 1610 - American Legion. I was 16 years old and was asked to play for Post 1610. I only knew a couple of the kids I was in high school with and genuinely felt out of place playing with with the other talented bunch of kids - they were the All-stars of All-stars to me. We were managed by baseball's legendary Ron Morrison whose professional career was cut short by polio. Anyone who knew Ron or played for Ron certainly has a soft spot in their hearts for the man.
A lot of the guys who play in our CDMSBL may be familiar with some of these names: Dave Cerutti - 1B (John's brother), Baron Roland - 2B, Mike Ginnley - SS, Berta Drislane -3B, Mark Fagan - 1B - DH, Andy Jablonski - C, Jim Cholakis - P, Mike Taylor - CF, Tom Shepardson - RF, Mel Lyons - C.
August 19, 1979 - NA Post 1610 wins the NYS Championship in Cooperstown, on Doubleday field. Never have had that much FUN before or sense playing the game. I'm mean 16 years olds playing on Doubleday field with the stands packed, major league scouts right behind home plate taking notes - time of our lives! We actually won the NYS Championship in 79', 80' & '81 - all on Doubleday field but 1979 was just magic. And it was kind of a big deal in Albany - the Times Union was writing articles and the TV stations reported our games. We came within one game of going to the American Legion World Series - Damn Ernie Pacheco! : )
August 8, 2009 - Mike Harts Pepper's lose to the Leominster Diamondbacks(?) - a great game and a great time. For me, it was a little emotional thinking back 30 years and remembering that very special time and a very special group of very talented young baseball players.
I was running in from the outfield yesterday after one of the half innings was over and I jogged to the third baseline. My brain just kinda took over - I stopped - something made me turn around and look into the outfield. I saw myself, Mike Taylor and Tom Shepardson LF - CF - RF. I took a few seconds and just looked. There we were - young and pliable and eager and ****y. Then I looked into the first base dugout. I heard Ronnie Morrison telling Jim Cholakis to go warm up. Yea - not afraid to admit it - I welled up!
So, Mike Hart - thank you for allowing me the opportunity to feel and remember something that has been stored away, with a mixture of pride and sadness but mostly pride - something that certainly will never be deported from my mind.
I feel rather fortunate to be playing 30 years later and having the opportunity to revist my old teammates. Thanks!
very nicely said, steve, and while there's supposed to be "no crying in baseball," it ain't really so, certainly not if you know how to see invisible tracks. and in this game, they can come, amazingly, from defeat or victory. anybody who's played more than a handful of games, and played them hard, and doesn't admit to that, hasn't really played. this game pulls at you, but it can tear at you, too.
what you discovered, or rediscovered, was a feeling for the past - and to my mind, that's as genuine and at least as powerful as the joy or sadness you may know from yesterday's game (where, to put it down publicly, you hit a sweet liner to right center off a tough righty.)
in fact, remembering games past may be more powerful: the great plays stay in our minds' eyes, the emotions of the moment in our hearts, and yet those terrific games, the often sunny days on which they were played, and many of the people who played them are too soon gone.
so sappy? well, we probably wouldn't want 13 guys out there tearing up all the time - it would get in the way of catching and hitting the ball, for one thing, and probably be a little icky, and it'd deserve a few hoots - but a welling up for a second? to my eye, that's a tip of the heart's cap and it's fitting.
This is what really makes CDMSBL so unique and so special. Without this league, experiences like this would never be possible.
You also touched a sentimental nerve for two of your Peppers teammates: Al Hart and me. Al and I were the ones writing those articles for the Times Union back in those days. In fact, I'd bet Al was at Doubleday covering those games. He may have even talked to you. In reflection, I was there one of those years - either recruiting for my Twilight team or covering it for the TU. If there is a way to check the archives of TU articles, I will find out for you.
Before our game Tuesday, as we assembled waiting for the gates to open outside the first-base line, Al brought me over to a bulletin board with photos of great moments of Doubleday past. In that display is a photo of Jackie Robinson batting. Al Hart's father, once a photo journalist, took that amazing black & white photo. Al followed proudly in his dad's footsteps. Al was a very impressionable reporter in the TU sports department for many years.
Memories abound anytime I play at Doubleday. We played the Milford Macs there almost every year from '69 to '77 when I was in the Twilight League. As Steve and I talked about his days in Legion ball, we realized we missed each other by one year - playing for the same team. Then here we stand together at Doubleday. Wish your elbow was OK to have taken the mound.
Doubleday has a way of conjuring up the sentiments. The ghosts of greats past seem so real. Taking the mound knowing my baseball shoes toed the same pitcher's plate as Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford and so many other greats before and after them, evokes sensations like no other. You begin to visualize each of their signature windups and deliveries.
So, Steve, I know so many of us can somewhat relate to your goose bumps and sentiments. I can, too, relate to the feelings you get each time you remember Ron Morrison. I knew him well because you could always find him at Bleecker watching his former players in a Twilight League game. We used to talk baseball at length. He loved people, and he loved his players. I'm sure you'd agree: Ronnie never made anyone feel as though he even knew he was wheelchair-bound. He indeed was a beautiful man.
But I can't admit to your sensations from visiting the site from where you won three state titles and remembering your very own good ol' days. Must have been special.
Glad you reneged on your 1-posting-a-year edict. I was happy to be one of the guys to have been there to share it with you. And it was nice you shared it with the entire league.
Steve's heart-felt post (wherein I was mentioned twice) caused me to actually create an account so that I could reply.
I met Steve on Legion Field field in 1979 when a group of rather talented kids came together and began their quest to hone their skills under Ron Morrison's tutelege and improve their game to the point of winning the NYS American Legion championship. You were anything but out of place, especially after throwing a laser from centerfield about 7 feet off the ground all the way home during the initial infield/ outfield practice, switch hitting and hitting bombs. Didn't you throw with both hands too? We all used to look forward to the hours and hours of practice. Our dedication allowed us to keep improving so that we made it back to the championship game each year for three years in a row. A testament to Ron, our hard work and genuine fun we were having.
Just so you know, Steve, I still have all those TU (and I think Knickerbocker News) articles somewhere around here and my brother has a video of parts of the game. Our theme song was a new one from Michael Jackson "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". We almost did until Mr. Pacheco (from the Rhode Island team) ended our season. I had the pleasure of facing him at the URI while I was at Siena. Still couldn't hit him.
You may recall a post last year from Mr. Girard and his discussion of the Giants-Cubs championship game. He wrote about the Post 1610 windbreaker that I dragged out of the closet and was wearing for good luck. Well, as you know, there was some magic left from North Albany Post 1610 in that jacket and the Cubs somehow squeaked out a hard fought win.
Anyway, those, and these, are the best of times. Thanks Tom Maney for being at Keins All-Sports going out of business sale at Crossgates a few years ago and asking if I would be interested in playing again. Thanks to those who make all this possible and allow us to reconnect with friends from long ago.
Tom, Great to see that you joined the bulletin board club. You will go from "newbie" to "two-star guru" in no time! That North Albany Post team was indeed a special one. I was a member of the Latham Padres (under Jim Greenidge) at the time, and we had some great fun in those exhibition games against you guys. Most of those guys were also on the CBA club that beat my Shaker team in the Sectional finals in 1980. It is amazing to me that we have stretched out our adolescence to our mid-forties. I don't ever want to grow up!!! Thanks again Mike Hart for setting up that game at Doubleday Field and asking me to be a Pepper for a day! You are a great ambassador for our league and this great game!
Now there's a name from the past: Jim Greenidge. Great baseball guy who went from being the sports information director at RPI to a columnist for the Boston Globe covering the Red Sox and Patriots.
I believe Joe and Frank Purritano were on that team of yours as well, Mike. I was a bit older, but I recruited Joey and Franky to the team that Tommy Lorenzo's dad took over in the Twilight League.
You can find Franky at the Latham Circle Diner these days. He owns it with one other guy named Nick.
I was a little younger than Frankie and Joey and played with their younger brother, Mike Puritano. I later joined that same Twilight team: Big Dom's and had a blast! I never knew you back then. Isn't it weird! Jim was a great guy and a better baseball coach. He passed much too soon! Those were the days!!!
Enjoyed your note, and it brought me back in time too.
I played for Coxsackie American Legion team at same time (Joe Careccia and I were teammates), and I recall pitching the game of my life against North Albany at Legion Park. I'm going to guess that it was 1980 but could have been 1981. I recall that North Albany had a tremendous hitter (BJ something??) who everyone feared.
I lost to North Albany, but if memory serves me correctly the score was something like 2 to 1 or 3 to 2. While a loss for the team, a huge moral victory at the time that I held such a strong hitting team down as well as I did.
Before I tore my rotator cuff first year of college (fall 1981 at Niagara Univeristy) I was, if I don't mind patting myself on the back, a pretty good pitcher. When that injury stopped my baseball playing days (it was 5 years before I had surgery to repair it) I never played baseball again until I found the CDMSBL 8 years ago (thanks to Jim Jordan and Mike Hart).
So, my point. You are not alone. Playing in this league has brought back some good memories and helped create some new ones as well.
I think it would have been 1981. Robert John "BJ" White was quite a hitter. Ask Mr. Girard about the HR he hit at Shaker HS against the Padres.
That year we began out quest for a third straight trip to Cooperstown by winning our league title and then facing Coxsackie. Quite a wake up call for us. I think I actually piched that game too.
Your shoulder situation sounds similar to mine, just happended a year earlier for you and I didn't get mine "fixed" until earlier this year. Ron Morrison had me hooked up to play in the Cape Cod league, before the injury. Wasn't meant to be. Wait until next year.
