Date: Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:40:52 -0500 From: mojo999@hushmail.com Subject: SUMMER BASEBALL V-4 SUMMER BASEBALL V-4 ------------------------------------- LET THE GAMES BEGIN!! ------------------------------------ It's now June 5th. The Committee had its last monthly meeting in May, and the meeting cycle now becomes bi-weekly. I am amazed both at how quickly time has passed since last season and by how much work is required to do what we do. Jonathan did in fact retire from the chairmanship over the winter and is now our ambassador of goodwill and chief manure spreader. Pete now sits in that chair. His health is very good and he seems to have no residual effects from his heart attack. Lois watches him like a hawk and he has resigned himself to a diet full of detestable vegetables and painfully short of yummy stuff. It is rumored, however, that he threatened a protest hunger strike over the winter. Which went nowhere fast. This also means I have accepted the position coordinating the Men in Blue. And am a regular baseball god amongst extraordinary baseball gods. Our 1st tournament is the last week of June and is for players age 16 and under. Bulldog reports all teams are confirmed and entry fees have all been received. Many of the players, coaches, and families are regulars at our tournaments. I think their cars must have auto pilot by now. Some of these people may not know how to spend their summers after their boys stop playing ball. She reports 2 new teams will play this 1st tournament. We have a waiting list of sorts for teams, as we have only so many slots to fill on any given weekend. And many teams commit to return the following year before they leave town and pay the entry fee over the winter. A surprising amount of her time is spent fielding inquiries from teams that want to play in our tournaments. Ray reports a healthy bank balance and that all corporate sponsors are paid. We lost a long time sponsor over the winter as his company merged with another and budget items such as us were cut out. We sent this sponsor a framed series of newspaper clippings chronicling our tournaments throughout the years of his support. And he has offered to help us in whatever other ways he can, which we enthusiastically accepted. We have replaced this sponsor from our long waiting list and now welcome his support. Carl reports that all host facilities are on board and look forward to having us. One of the youth league parks almost lost their facilities due to some land zoning and property tax issues. They are one of our long term partners. They scrape and scratch to keep afloat financially, because they charge very little for kids to play and charge nothing to families that cannot afford much of anything, let alone a baseball game. They do count on us every year just to survive. Our lawyer-corporate sponsor quickly and ruthlessly came to their aid on the legal issues and they will not see a bill for his services. Nor will they have these problems ever again in the future. We bought an additional crapload of grounds keeping and maintenance supplies for them. We buy a hundred dozen baseballs a year just for our own use. We bought an additional 100 dozen for their use. We buy a small truckload of diamond dry every year, which functions the same way as kitty litter. Only it's used to soak up rain and standing water on ball fields. We buy small tools such as rakes and shovels to use in grounds keeping so that our hosts don't have to pay for it. Even though they do not charge us for the use of their facilities, we have always felt it important to still pay our own way. My umpire staff is almost intact from last summer. We had a long time blue retire and another blue moved from the area. Pete told me he has some young umpires wanting to help and I will be contacting them. Pete's pipeline of talent is intact. Pete wants to introduce me to his contacts this year. I will be scouting these umpires starting next week. Steven is all healed and is itching bad to start umpiring. He made his new high school's team but sat much of the season because of so many seniors playing. His high school coach however told Pete he was very impressed with Steven's playing skills and with how well Steven handled not playing full time. He told Pete that Steven even umpired some intra-squad practice games and did a better job than any regular adult umpire he has seen in quite a few years. And that Steven helped younger players and even some of the new coaches understand the strike zone and how umpires work. Steven also is starting to grow a beard. He shaves twice a week, even though he doesn't really have to, and both Ty and Marcus sit and watch. Pete is sad because he shaves daily, and none of his boys has ever wanted to watch him shave. If its possible to get handsomer and handsomer, Steven is doing it. His growth in the anatomical department is done. But his smile remains genuine and continues to cover his face. And the twinkle in his eye more is a sparkle. And his self-confidence continues to grow and develop. It seems a few months of living with Pete and Lois have already erased several years of the pain and distress he was coping with. He's also driving! He passed drivers training with flying colors, got his learners permit around Thanksgiving and his full license soon after. Pete found a jalopy of some sort and offered to buy it for Steven on condition that Steven pay for upkeep and insurance. Some of us have seen this car over the winter and honestly believe it looks better now than when it was sitting on the car lot. Ty and Marcus are in heaven when big bro lets them ride with him and are willing helpers to keep the bugger running and lookin' good. And of course, having wheels means having dates. Steven and Andy have been able to have more time together than you might think possible, having overcome the physical distance between them. Sometimes Joel and Mark come to the city and often they have allowed Andy to come. They book a motel room for themselves and Andy stays with Steven at the house. And they have double-dated, catching a nice dinner and perhaps a movie. And I have a bit of unconfirmed gossip that Steven and Andy once stayed overnight at Ozzy's hotel. In their own room! Unsupervised! Pete denies knowing anything. Yeah, right. Joel and Mark did not pay for the room, although it was right next door to theirs. As sure as I'm writing this, Ozzy will know the details and will blab. Almost assuredly, Ozzy has that night's activities in that particular room video taped. Other times, Steven has been allowed to drive to see Andy. He stays with Joel and Mark and hooks up with Andy there for a day or two. Joel and Mark have told me that they have purchased earplugs and turn up the volume on their TV. And have put sound-deadening material into the room Steven and Andy use. Marcus acclimated easily into his new school setting. It is a remarkably diverse school culturally and he seems to have had no problems making friends and getting involved in activities. Pete tells me his grades are very good and he is being counseled to take more advanced courses. Whereas in his old setting Marcus couldn't wait to leave school, and dreaded going home after school, and always called Steven to let him know he got there safely, he now loves school, loves going home, and still calls Steven to let him know he got there safely. Pete and Lois have gently told Marcus that calling Steven is not necessary now, but Steven has said it is not a problem and he still looks forward to the calls. And Marcus is getting cuter by the day. Pete showed me a family picture they took at Christmas and Marcus appears both taller and bulkier. He definitely is more teen now than pre-teen! I wonder if he has any hotty friends at school! Just after New Year's, both Rock and Angel turned 16. They both had very good football seasons and their team went far in the post-season playoffs. They both made the varsity team and whereas Angel played the full season on special teams, Rock played sparingly at tight end and linebacker until midway when the regular starters got injured. He practiced hard though and had great team spirit. When he got his chance to start and then play into the playoffs, he showed his talents, and the seniors voted him honorary team captain for the playoff games. And they are still madly in love. And both now have drivers licenses. They shot me an email recently saying they will be playing in at least one of our tournaments and already have decided they are driving here on their own! The parents don't know this yet, but what the hey, details... details...They will let me know which tournament(s) ASAP. I emailed back with hearts and smileys. I told them of my new duties and that I would not be umpiring their games. I did tell them I very much looked forward to seeing them and that I would make sure we had time to get caught up on things. Mark and Joel seem to be doing reasonably well. Mark lost his job due to the crappy economy and has yet to land something full time. This is putting a real burden on them financially and I sense building stress in their relationship. They had hoped to buy a house in the near future, and would have been able to do so, but now they have trouble at times even paying the rent on their apartment. Joel's regular job seems secure for the present and he is able to supplement nicely with umpiring in the spring and summer. I sent them a heart and smiley around Easter just to say hello and to offer encouragement. The Amigos. We may all be together this summer after all! Angel and Rock will be playing. Joel and Steven will be umpiring. Andy, Mark, and Marcus will be kept busy...doing whatever. I will be humbly trying to wear Pete's shoes. I can hardly wait! Let the games begin!