Rainy Days and ......

We got rained out today.  I hate rain outs.  Baseball is about playing every day.   Whether it is the period from the end of the season to the start of spring training, rain outs, off days, and (sorry Jackie) the All Star break, I can get a real grump on about no baseball.  The drizzle that started on Wednesday afternoon continued into the evening when it started to rain hard well into the afternoon today - canceling any chance of playing today and putting tomorrow's games in doubt.  The forecast is for rain through the night into early morning -- if it ends early enough we may be able to play Friday.  On tap will be a championship game between Team D - Stu Cliburn (the good guys) against Team C - Stan Cliburn -- both teams having a 4 and 2 record so far for the week.  (Team C's only losses have come against us on Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon.)  Steve Liddle said that even if the fields are muddy that still could not "slow down the action in your games."

While we didn't play, Thursday night is the traditional awards dessert -- which features comments from each of the coaches, awards for mvp and Ponce spirit for each team, a "kangaroo court" where fines are assessed for notable or

Victor Rodriguez and Arnie Beyeler

outrageous plays on the field during the week, and -- this year -- comments from Arnie Beyeler and Victor Rodriguez about their experience this year as coaches on the Red Sox World Series Championship team.  Arnie said that what they accomplished didn't really hit him until the Duck Boat parade through Boston, when more than 2 million people turned out -- "It was the whole community not just the 35,000 fans we played in front of every night."  They both talked about how hard the whole coaching staff worked -- most days from 11am to after that night's game -- but how that wasn't a burden because of how seriously the players took their own responsibilities and how hard they worked.  Any potential disruptive issues that needed to be addressed were handled by the veteran leaders on the team and it was a unified team throughout the year.  They both credited manager John Farrell with setting the tone on the first day of spring training.  Arnie said that after 20 years in the game in the minor leagues he felt "blessed to be in the big leagues" and to work with such a great staff and terrific guys on the team.  Victor said that after spending 19 years working as a coach in the Red Sox minor league system it was a great experience for him to go through such a wonderful season with players he worked with when they first entered the minor leagues, such as Pedroia and Ellsbury.  They mentioned that Pedroia played from the first week with a torn ligament in his right thumb -- hindering his throwing and hitting -- and how tough he was to bear that the whole season.  Victor said that as a baseball fan he had always loved to watch the World Series, but "when it is you, it is really exciting and special."

Some of the comments from the coaches:  Rick Knapp said that when the draft of teams took place on Sunday, Steve Liddle told him he had a "push button" team.  Rick said, "Steve was right, the buttons were 9-1-1."

Bill Lee with Paul Basken (and wooden bats)

Bill Lee was touting using wood bats -- at the age of 67 he plays in many wood bat tournaments throughout the year.  He is a part owner of a firm that makes wood bats (from wood grown on land he owns in Vermont) and had bats for display and sale (with part of the proceeds going to the Ponce supported Diamond Dream Foundation.)  He spoke of the merits of using ash or maple for bats.  When asked about the relatively new use of bamboo for bats, Bill said,  "Bamboo is good, but you still are unsatisfied 20 minutes later."

In the kangaroo court, among the two dozen players fined, I was fined for losing my cell phone on Tuesday -- and Steve said because of all the time it took for him to find my phone I had to pay a double fine. While I reached for my wallet for the extra money to pay the fine, I accidentally left my phone on Steve's speaking podium.  When I realized that, he charged me $10 to buy my phone back!  The proceeds from the fines go to the Diamond Dream Foundation (www.diamonddreamfoundation.org.)

The average age of the players this year was about 60, with one player aged 76 and two aged 75 (our 16 year old outfielder was left out of the calculation so as not to skew the results.)  Steve said that for the first time this year he received several pdf files from doctors clearing people to play -- "that's not good."  This year league owner Bob Duff invited a massage and cranial therapist to be available for the players for the week.  Steve said that, after seeing the average age of the players this year, he is thinking that next year he will invite an estate planner instead.

As in previous years, photographer Greg Wagner was here all week to take shots at the games.  For people interested in seeing some of the "action" -  you can go to his website www.wagnerphotography.com and click on the button for Ponce de Leon and look for pictures featuring Team D.

Not baseball! Rick, Jamie and Arnie chillin

During the day -- with no games -- Chris Clark invited folks back over to his house to enjoy the jacuzzi pool and to finish off the pasta and other food left over from our feast on Wednesday night.  It is not why we came to Florida, but it helped pass the time in an enjoyable way -- and once again we were able to chat with Arnie Beyeler about life in professional baseball.  A realization every year when I come to Ponce camp is the universality of the baseball experience.  A clear example was the three generations from the same family playing together.  It is also clear from the professional coaches who live and work at the top of the game but who are still patient with all our mistakes and genuinely admiring of the commitment of the campers to the game.  As Steve said, "it is impressive that these men who have played and worked at every level of the game from the bottom to the top can also teach at this level."  An example of the openness and relationships that get built between coaches and campers is the invitation the coaches give to all of us to contact them when they are going to be in our town with their team during the season -- so they can say hello.  Last September, Victor and Arnie got passes for Elizabeth and me and our friends Flint and Pat and George and Kathy to be on the field for batting practice when the Red Sox played at Camden Yards.  A wonderfully thoughtful and generous action on their part -- and typical of all the coaches.

Here's hoping we play tomorrow.  Frank McAuliffe and I will be flying back in the afternoon, so my final posting will be over the weekend.