As noted in a previous post, Ive been blessed to wear a lot of different hats in my 14 years of playing baseball in the CDMDBL, and have made numerous friendships during that time. This league has no shortage of great ball players, great characters and great people.
So, take a moment to post your hats and celebrate during these holiday times all the relationships you have built playing baseball in this great league. (Maney, you may need to take a couple of photos.)
Hey Tim, these hats were the only ones I could find. Still have my Belmont Cafe hat from 1991. Has it been that long?
I lost my Orioles championship hat (2000?) along with a half dozen others...Cardinals, Dodgers, National Batting Center ...? These caps do represent the great times Ive experienced over the years, playing with and against some of the best players in the country.
To my fellow CDMSBL ers..past and current...remember what former major leaguer Bomba Rivera told us in one of our first tournaments in Florida to get us ready...something I still live by today when Im at the plate. Bomba would yell from the bench, 'Smoke the pipe'!
I dont know what it means either, but he played in the majors dammit.
Ralph, I still have my Detroit jersey from our 1991 championship season! We were a bunch of guys from the same neighborhood in Albany and mostly played together as kids in the Whitehall LL. We were Detroit because someone got a great deal on the jerseys. Im sure you loved facing our ace Rick Lombardo! He was pretty much unhittable!. Then I took an 18 year hiatus from playing so only about 8-10 hats since coming back in 2009. Steve Schaefer
Steve I remember shaking when Rick threw. I managed to stick my bat out and luckily get a hit to right field. While reliving my hit at first, I took a lead and Rick without throwing a pitch, picked me off. It was always a thrill just to foul the ball off of him.
Steve I remember Rick from the ATL and then the CDMSBL. He was also a great hitter who, homered twice in a game against the White Sox. I know he later umped in our early CDMSBL games. He was as good an umpire as he was a player. One of the best I ever faced. mane
Ralph, dont feel bad. I remember watching him pick off many guys from my position in CF. We all got bored in the field when he pitched. Congratulations on your hit though. There werent many!
Nice to hear that people know and remember Rick Lombardo. He played for me in the Twilight League - a great player and a great person. He made it to AA ball with the Reds. Drafted by the Reds in 1977 right out of the ATL.
I lost two pitchers that year to the draft - Dan Prior of Chatham to the Phillies.
I tried to get Ricky back in the league around 2005, but he started a pizza business and didn't have the time. Great memories. Thnx for mentioning him.
jimk
-- Edited by sfgiants on Tuesday 22nd of December 2020 06:51:00 PM
These go back to almost the beginning. But I left out or lost some relics. Belmont's cafe which went thru several name changes ...national batting center, Cardinals, mudcats, and finally the marlins. And since then the pirates, grays, and angels. Sprinkle in various tournament teams , that red A hat one of early tries, but the braves hat and the blue angel hat I wore mostly. But I was on the apaches, yankees, socal , as a pool player. I've had more fun than I deserve. I'm lucky. JR
-- Edited by adtimbrown on Sunday 10th of January 2021 04:59:48 PM
I wandered onto the bulletin board and saw your request for hats, but I was a little shy on them so I took the liberty to include a few jerseys and jackets and other items I accumulated over the years. Couldn't leave out my 50 yr old rag . 1992 with the White Sox to the Cubbies in 2016, 2018 and some great years with the Marlins and Cubs in between. My Reds stint was great too but unfortunately cut short when I had to have that mass taken off my brain so there were a few lost years in there.
Early days with the Sox we had a great ball club with some great pitching match ups. Platel, Lombardo, Paloditch Moon. The 1st 2 were just out of the minors and could throw above 90 and hit spots. The latter 2 could throw hard but if they couldn't hit spots they'd hit you. Just great old country hardball which made for some great games. Just ask Mane.
Played with Lombardo, Micky Brantley (Michaels dad) and Rafferty with the Delmar Blue Jays in the late 70's early 80's. I remember playing the Bennington Generals! A lot of fond memories of taking the field with you and many others rolling through my head as I looked. Fun just looking around for old stuff.
Thought I'd keep this post going by throwing my hats in the ring. Not as varied a collection as the other guys, but it all started with the Marlins back in 1997, and my first game played was against the Colorado Silver Bullets in front of a pretty large crowd at Heritage Park, under the lights.
I spent time with the Marlins, Silver Marlins, Pirates, Cubs, Bombers and, begrudgingly, a team whose name begins with a "Y" and rhymes with "hankies". Great group of guys, though.
On a side note, I didn't know is was possible to gain weight in your head, but apparently it's true because some of these hats are now about two sizes too small. I'm afraid to even try on the old jerseys.
