In the battle for third place in the over-62 division, Ralph Caputo wore eyeglasses.

He spied an opening. And he hit into it.

If that hit didn't make all the difference, it came close.

Once again, geezer me is working here without the scorebook, so what you see here is essentially memory, also known as "the gist of things,"
in the contest Wednesday night in Saugerties between the Cardinals, who entered the game at 5-7 and the Americans, who drove down the Thruway
at 6-7.

The Americans rallied, again, for the third or possibly fourth time this season, (or maybe more, who remembers?) to overcome a 3-1 early deficit and post an 8-3 victory.
The victory puts the Americans one win away from a third-place finish, which would keep the Cards in fourth.

With the bases jammed in the fourth, and the Americans down by a run, Caputo strode to the plate wearing these big, black-rimmed goggles that made
his eyes the size of cueballs. Our lone, longtime fan, Ralph's wife Suzy, was sitting on a picnic bench behind me, and I instantly turned to her
and said, "He wears glasses? While batting?" Suzy nodded and said, "He's been doing that lately. Mostly, he wears them to read." I was shocked again.
"He reads?" I asked. Suzy nodded. How 'bout that, I thought, two lightning bolts in one at-bat? What a world.

Thing is, we needed a hit. And Specs Caputo delivered. Not big. But then again, well yes, it was big. It was smart big. I forgot who was pitching then. All the Cards pitchers,
Jerry Soloman, Bill Chichester, Al Freer and Jeff Martin, really performed well, but with one or no outs, Ralph laid down the sweetest, take-your-roly-poly-time bunt
down the first-base line, catching the key Cards' defenders by wide-eyed surprise, allowing Ralph to get safely to first and the hit to tie the score.
Thereafter, the Americans began clocking the ball and notching runs.

Those clockers included Jim Porter, who skied a towering shot over the left fielder's head to the wall; Gil Travis, who did much the same in center; and Rich Garbarino
who found considerable air space between the center and right fielders and sent them a-running. In doing that, they drove home batters Don Ball, Ben Patrone, Mike LaBarge
and Vinny Koster who'd gotten on with singles or walks. Memory, that aged force on crutches, says we entered the fourth down 3-1 and left it up 6-3.

The Americans' victory was sealed and packaged with Jim Konstantakis' tough-to-hit, full-game pitching and the Americans' fielding. In fact, the defensive play of the night
belonged to Jim. In the sixth, with one out and at least runners on first or second (or maybe the sacks were loaded), a Cards' hitter unleashed a rising line drive shot
that seemed destined for center and empowered to send at least one runner home. That's when Jim, who is some distance from six-foot-six but easily launched
himself that high, straight up, arm stretched, snagged the liner in the web of his glove, then, having landed, spun and threw a strike to second for the double play.
Sweet leap, two quick-thinking outs.

The Americans play their final season game Friday, at New Scotland, against the fifth-place Peppers. The fourth-place, 5-8 Cardinals, have a lot of good pitchers
and batsmen. The first playoff contest likely between these two teams should be a good one.

-Your entertained scribe and grateful for it, Mike




-- Edited by mikehart on Thursday 10th of August 2023 08:21:47 PM