Teammates

Banners fly in Terry Park with names of Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who have played there.  Today the Ponce De Leon players also took to the fields, although you can be sure that none of our names will make it onto those banners.

Mother Nature is still in charge with many players delayed getting to Florida.  Normally we would have 6 teams, but with the shortage of players so far we have started the week with only 4 teams.  The delayed arrivals also meant we started today at 1:30 - about 4.5 hours later than normal for the first day of games.  We started with batting practice with our team on one of the fields and the first games then started at 2:30pm.   (All games are scheduled for 6 innings; there is a 3 run scoring limit per inning for the first 5 innings, with the sixth inning unlimited for runs.)

We started the day with 10 players - an additional teammate arrived halfway through the first game and another - Stuart Cohen, one of my teammates back home - came halfway through the second game, so we ended the day with 12 players on the team.  We won our first game by a score of 7-4, beating the team managed by Stu Cliburn.  George Bedford, my DC teammate on Team Cornwell in the 48 years and older Ponce division, played on the opposing team.  He is here this week with his son, also named George - and they play together in DC in the division for players 30 years old and older.  George is a Ponce institution and it is fun to play against him and his son, but I'm glad I didn't have to pitch against him today (he normally is one of my catchers back home so he knows only too well what my pitches can and, more importantly, cannot do.)  We had consistent hitting and fielding throughout the game and very steady pitching from Wayne Horsman, Peter Shimm and Chris Clark.  I was 1-3 at bat - an infield hit that drove in a run, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  The only ball I hit hard was an outfield fly.

Chris Clark at bat

 We lost the second game by a score of 10-8 on the Stadium Field under the lights.  Because of the delayed start to the day, the second game started at 5:45pm - the first time I have played under the lights at Terry Park.  The team that beat us is managed by Victor Rodriguez, the Boston Red Sox assistant hitting coach.  We played Victor's team close throughout the game - falling behind early, tying the game and going ahead, falling back into a tie and then not catching them in the last inning when they went ahead.  Some inconsistent fielding hurt us badly in the game.  Stephan Abbuhl was a hot hitter in both games and Chris Clark - my teammate in the weeknight league back home and roommate this week - was on base a lot and hit a bomb for a triple to drive in two runs.

 I started pitching and pitched two innings and gave up 3 runs.  I felt good about my pitching except for a hard hit 2 run double that put us behind - we caught up and the game was tied 3 to 3 after my two innings.  Pete Shimm and Chris Clark pitched again in the evening - double duty after pitching in the first game as well.  I was 0 for 1 at bat and got hit by a pitch and scored on a wild pitch. 

As more players come to Fort Myers they may make adjustments to the team rosters, but so far of the 11 teammates on my team, I have played with 6 of them in the past and against the rest  -- either here in Florida or back home during our seasons in DC.  One of the great pleasures of playing Ponce is the teammates - old and new - that you have, many of whom develop into good friends.  The shared love of baseball, the common experience of competition, and the camaraderie during and after games and at occasional social contacts develop lasting bonds.

The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship,  a book by David Halberstam, tells the story of the lifelong friendship of Red Sox teammates Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom Dimaggio and Johnny Pesky who played together in the 1940's and 50's and who stayed close as they grew older.  It is a wonderful tale of how baseball can bind people for life - even if they may not have contact over many years.

A theme for me this week is the memory of past teammates and the enjoyment I have with my current teammates in Ponce De Leon baseball as I enter my dotage.  So here is the Al Denly's South Braintree Little League team from 1957.  The players aren't on a Hall of Fame banner like the one at Terry Park, but when I look at the picture I recognize many childhood friends and smile (while confessing to myself that I can't remember who all of them are.)  But they all have been teammates and friends who shared with me their love of baseball.  So to Mike Shaughnessy, Brian Prario, cousin David Morrill, Mike Settino, Dick Kearney - to all those in the picture (some who have died before their time) - it was great to play baseball with you and to have you as a teammate.

Tomorrow, Mother Nature is again in charge.  Due to a weather forecast for torrential rain all day Wednesday and perhaps Thursday morning, the schedule has again been changed.  We will play three games on Tuesday - starting at 9:30am and finishing about 5:30.  The camp director Steve Liddle wants us to get in as many games as we can while the weather permits.  So we will play an extra game tomorrow in lieu of the usual skills instruction sessions and batting practice.  I'll report on tomorrow's games if I am still standing after three games and can stay awake.