The Matinee Division concluded our inaugural season last Thursday on a gorgeous day for baseball at Schenectadys Central Park. There is a lot of great baseball weather in our area during September and October and we took advantage of that with three games in September and three more in October. After playing all our games this year on the artificial turf at the beautiful A Diamond, we ended our season at the C Diamond due to a conflict with the team from Bryant and Stratton who use the A Diamond as their home field. (See the attached photo from this game)
All in all the season was a success as we held very competitive and crisply played games with an assigned umpire from our local association, and will look to do more of the same next year. We had between 40 and 50 different players participate throughout the year and hope to expand those numbers next year. Thanks to Mark Fitch, John Reel and Don Ball for their support and guidance throughout the year.
Kudos to Jim McQ and Jimmy K for all of their organizational work, time and effort in getting this Matinee Division off the ground. We are fortunate to have guys who step up to the plate and offer endless opportunities to play a game we love. John Reel and his relentless committment to this league, and the Donny Ball-Denny Lane tag team effort at Watervliet HS allow us to take a precious "time out" during the day or evening to enjoy the camaraderie and competitive spirt of our lifetime baseball buddies.
Former Red Sox pitcher Bill ''Spaceman'' Lee, who some of us have crossed paths with during our November trips to Florida and Arizona for MSBL and Hobbs Tournanments, was recently asked why he is still playing baseball at 73 by newspaper columnist Peter Funt. His reply nailed it on the head for most of us: ''When I'm on the baseball field, time seems to stand still. For two or three hours I feel like I'm 12 years old. Why would you stop doing something that makes you feel that way?''
I enjoyed the Matinee games and I am looking forward to more opportunities playing baseball during the weekday next season. I got to learn more about the guys I play against. Sharing a dugout with people you don't normally get the chance to, is the best part about the Matinee and Capital Divisions. In the past two months I learned the names of many players and Ive even gained great scouting reports that may be useful when we play against them....Ha HA. Much thanks to Jim Q, Jim K, Don Ball and Dennis Lane.
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We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing.
