Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head...

....and on the field.  So after 4 innings, the first game was called on account of rain and the afternoon game was also cancelled.  Rain -- with persistent showers and thunderstorms -- is expected to last into Thursday morning.  We will report to Terry Park tomorrow by 11am - and if the rain has stopped and the fields have drained - we will try to get in an afternoon doubleheader.  But for today, the saddest sight when you want to play baseball is the rain filled view out of your hotel window at 1pm!  (I know, its not three feet of snow, so I really can't complain!)

With 65 players now in camp (out of 75 who had registered) Ponce created two new teams of 10-11

Just waiting for players!

players each to give each player more playing time.  (Playing yesterday's last six inning game with 17 players meant that many players got only one at bat and only played in the field every other inning.  I was traded to a new team managed by Rick Knapp (Darrin Garner said he did get a bag of baseballs in the trade - they exacted a high price for me.)  Teammates from the Garner team - Chris Clark, Stuart Cohen, Phil Cohen, Pete Shimm and Pete Willis -- were included in the trade, and we are now joined by new teammates from other teams - Bill Arnold, Bob Broderick, John Schneider, Stan Schwartz and Gib Willis.  Rick Knapp is the minor league pitching coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers -- he is a former pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers and longtime minor league pitching coordinator for the Minnesota Twins.

We tried to get games in early this morning and we started a game (on Roberto Clemente Field, Jackie) against the new team managed by Arnie Beyeler.  Meet the new boss, same as the old boss - a continuation of the losing streak seemed imminent as we were behind by a score of 6-2 when the game was called.  Although the statistics and result are unofficial since we didn't get a full game in, our team only had 2 hits - both by Chris Clark.  I was 0 for 1 at the plate, and struck out in the worst way by taking a called third strike (a nice low and inside breaking ball that I think got the corner of the plate even though the pitcher told me later he thought it was inside.  It was a good pitch - don't ever leave the plate with your bat on your shoulder.)  Here was a better effort captured by Chris Clark during one of our games yesterday.

So it was non-baseball activity for the rest of the day.  Jamie Bell, a teammate from my weeknight team, and Paul Basken, with whom I was a teammate here two years ago, rented a house for the week and invited us over for dinner - so long as Chris Clark promised to cook a repeat of the Italian dinner feast that Chris made for us several years ago! So Chris spent the afternoon shopping, preparing, and cooking.  His hard work paid off in a terrific spaghetti and meatball dinner preceded by bruschetta and complemented with a nice red wine.  And a lot of baseball and Ponce talk.

A couple of notes:  Darrin Garner who was in the Seattle Mariners system as a coach for about 20 years is a new minor league coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks working at their extended spring training facility in Phoenix and then managing the rookie short-season team for the Diamondbacks.  I have had him as a coach several years at Ponce and he does a great job of constantly giving tips or pointing out ways to improve your game.  I hope to connect him with my nephew Ben and his son Evan (the baseball nut!) so they can visit Darrin at the Diamondbacks facility in Phoenix where they live.  I have never played for Rick Knapp before but have enjoyed his pitching skills lessons, so look forward to playing for him (if we get anymore games in.)

Victor Rodriguez expressed a lot of confidence in the ability of Jackie Bradley, the outstanding young Red Sox fielding outfielder, to hit consistently in the major leagues - pointing to the terrific streak he had at the plate in stretches last year and the 10 home runs he hit in limited at bats.

This year I am trying to play baseball without wearing eyeglasses for the first time since I played in the South Braintree Little League 60 years ago.  My distance vision has improved - so I am giving it a try.  So far, I seem to see the ball fine.  The only difficulty is seeing some of the catcher's signals when I am pitching.

Today's blast from the past is the Brown University Freshman baseball team from 1965 - I played with a number of these teammates through four years at Brown.  One of them - Flint Taylor, smack dab in the middle of the photo, is a lifelong Red Sox fan, preeminent civil rights attorney in Chicago, and the person who came up with the crazy idea that I do a blog of my Ponce experiences.  While I don't regularly see these folks - other than Flint - I did have dinner (and laughs) several years with John Hefferon, the best pitcher at Brown in my years there.  Some of the others I only keep up with on the grapevine.  So hey - Buzz, Jesse, Tom, Francisco de Wardo, Heff, Bob, Larry, Mike, Eche, and my other teammates from the class of 1968 - it was great playing with you.  (I'm in the front row with the Barry Goldwater glasses - it was 1965 afterall!)

As I post this, the rain is still coming down with a gloomy forecast for tomorrow.  Hopefully we will get at least one game in.  The fields at Terry Park drain terrifically and the grounds crew do an impressive job in preparing the fields.  However, they have to deal with up to 3 inches of water from the last 36 hours, after about 3 inches of rain that fell at the end of last week.  The awards dinner is also scheduled for Thursday night.   Of course, most of us would rather play than have a dinner, but we may have not an option.