12/03/11: The 11th annual Winterball was a huge success, drawing dozens of amateur adult baseball players from local baseball leagues across New England to play a game to benefit Toys for Tots. With a game-time temperature of 39 degrees, the Young Bucks (players aged 18-29) defeated the Aging Stallions (players aged 30+) in a 10-inning contest by a score of 6 to 5.
With the score 6-2 in the 10th inning, the Aging Stallions rallied for 3 runs before the game-tying run was called out at the plate to end the contest. Sgt. Major Rick Peterson of the United States Marines was on hand to collect the toy donations, and even threw out the game’s first pitch. See 2011 Winterball Photos.
Sgt Major Rick Peterson of the US Marines loads the toys.
Carl Rodriguez shows off his hand-made Candy Cane bat.
11/19/11: “What are you thankful for this holiday season?”
Kevin Bell & The 530th Engineer Detachment
It’s a question asked quite often this time of year. Of course, we’re all thankful for friends and family. But this year especially, I’m appreciative for what our troops continue to do overseas as they fight for our freedom back home. Perhaps that is because one guy I’ve played baseball with for seven years was noticeably missing this past season.
Kevin Bell, affectionately known as “K-Bell,” has played in the Boston Men’s Adult Baseball League since 2004. He began his amateur career with the Quincy Grays, swapped to the Boston Orioles in 2006, and found a home with the Boston Blue Jays in 2009. This past season, even though he was still listed on the Jays’ roster, K-Bell missed the entire baseball season to serve as a specialist in the U.S. Army, a firefighter with the 530th Engineer Detachment stationed at Forward Operating Base SarkariKarez, outside of Kandahar, Afghanistan. [Full story: Our National Pastime in Afghanistan]
11/12/11: With 80+ amateur adult baseball leagues and 700+ teams across New England, leagues offer a broad range of competitiveness, from weekend warrior to aspiring professional. Some leagues have short and condensed schedules over the summer, while others are spread from spring to fall. Some consist of young men just starting out life on their own, while others cater to the seasoned gentleman with families of their own. The one thing they all have in common is that they are filled with athletes continuing to live the dream of playing baseball as long as they can.
YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD UMPIRE IS ALBERTO COLLADO Tweet
10/13/11: Umpiring is a thankless profession, constantly standing in judgment of the players, who regularly remind you that you’re no good at your job. Umpires — even the best of them — sometimes are seen as the enemy, another impediment to victory. An umpire often has few friends on the field. Unless you are Alberto Collado.
The October issue of New England Baseball Journal on newsstand has the complete article, or read it online: Your Friendly Neighborhood Umpire.
Alberto Collado making a call on a ball down the line.
BOSTON ROCKIES MAKE IT TO SEMIFINALS AT NABA WORLD SERIES IN ARIZONA Tweet
10/13/11: At the NABA World Series in Phoenix, Arizona, the Boston Rockies went 3-2 in pool play with wins over the Colorado Reds 14-7, Arizona Angels 8-6, and the New York Titans 16-5. The Rockies then defeated the North Illinois Cubs 4-2 in the Quarterfinal before losing to the Colorado Reds in the Semifinals 6-2.
Through all that, the Rockies most notable win was in their first game. Trailing 7-1 in the 9th inning, the Rockies sent three pinch hitters to the plate. Dave Mitrou doubled, Joe Russo plated him with an RBI single and Bryan Misci followed with a walk. The next four batters then reached base scoring 3 more runs, which loaded the bases with the Rockies trailing 7-5. The stage was set for Chris Hartery who delivered a bases clearing double to put the Rockies ahead for good. Ken Luongo followed with an RBI single and the Rockies finished up with 5 additional runs to go ahead 14-7.
Adam Del Rio on the mound for the Rockies
SPACEMAN LANDS IN QUINCY FOR 100 INNINGS OF BASEBALL Tweet
10/10/11: The 8th Annual 100 Innings of Baseball for ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease, this year supported the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on behalf of umpire chief Walter Bentson. Team Lembo defeated Team Rudy, 98-93.
Over the course of the game, Bill "Spaceman" Lee pitched twice, sporting the oldtimer glove and uniform worn by the Hollywood Stars. Gehrig Schilling, son of Red Sox legend Curt Schilling, and named after Lou Gehrig, pitched the 95th through 99th innings with support from his Medfield team, and recorded and the hold in a tight ballgame. About 100 ballplayers participated in the game, including 16 players competing in all 100 innings. Other game highlights include a grandslam by Ryan Bere of the MABL Blue Jays, and the complete game from Bobby DeAngelis of Rutland, Vermont who played a 200-inning game earlier this season to set the new Guinness World Record. [More photos.]
Bill "Spaceman" Lee in Hollywood Stars attire
Gehrig Schilling tossing innings 95 through 99
Walter Bentson catches his inning at midnight
The "Iron Men" who played all 100 innings
WINDSOR CT & NORTH ANDOVER MA WIN SEACOAST NH MSBL TOURNEY Tweet
10/10/11: Over Columbus Day Weekend, the Seacoast New Hampshire MSBL played held their tournament. Windsor CT won the age 25+ division, while North Andover MA win the age 35+ division.
MINUTEMEN TAKE A WEEKEND TO WIN THE CENTRAL MASS 40+ CLASSIC Tweet
10/02/11: The Central Mass Over-40 Baseball League hosted its sixth annual Fall Classic. This year's wood bat tourney featured ten clubs; three teams from the host Central Mass league, one each from Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut, and four other Massachusetts teams, including last year’s champion, the Central Mass Storm. A total of eighteen games were played at Doyle Field (Leominster, MA), Marshall Park (Lunenburg, MA) and Leominster Babe Ruth League fields (McLaughlin Park). The tourney opened with a single game at McLaughlin Park on Friday night (09/30) and ran through the weekend, culminating in the championship game on Sunday (10/02) evening won by the Mass Minutemen over the Merrimack New Hampshire White Sox, 8-2.
2011 Central Mass Over-40 Baseball Champion Mass Minutemen
BROCKTON REDS WALKOFF WITH THEIR 5TH COOPERSTOWN CLASSIC Tweet
08/15/11: The 8th Annual Cooperstown Classic Baseball Tournament was played the weekend of August 13-14 at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Known for holding games at historic Doubleday Field, this tourney has become an annual tradition for teams across New England to participate in each summer.
This year, The Brockton Reds (3-1-0) of the Diamond Baseball League won the tourney for their 5th time, defeating the Middlesex Brewers (2-1-1) of the Boston MSBL by a score of 5-4 in the Championship game. With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Josh McKelligan led off the inning for the Reds with a walkoff home run over the centerfield fence to end the extra inning finale in dramatic fashion.
Noteworthy: MSBL home run leader, BJ White of the Middlesex Brewers, added 3 tournament home runs, knocking each out of Beaver Valley over the course of the weekend.
The other six teams participating in the tournament this year were the Brockton Diamondbacks and South Shore Cardinals (of the Diamond Baseball League), Ben's Dream White Sox, Boston Tigers and Boston Orioles (of the Boston MABL), and Rhode Island Rangers (of the R.I. MSBL). See the Cooperstown Classic history.
2011 Cooperstown Classic Champion Brockton Reds
BJ White of the Middlesex Brewers, hitting 1 of his 3 home runs
OLDTIME BASEBALL GAME BRINGS THE PAST TO THE PRESENT Tweet
08/12/11: The Oldtime Baseball Game is a celebration of our national pastime, played each year at beautiful St. Peter’s Field on Sherman Street in North Cambridge. From its humble beginnings in 1994, the game has grown considerably over the years, yet has remained loyal to its mission of offering a glimpse of what it was like in the old days, when hundreds of fans would turn out to root for their “town” team in various local semipro leagues.
In last night's game, Kevin Salines of the Yawkey League's Malden Bulldogs led off the game with a walk and scored the game's first run. Sam Shaughnessy of the Yawkey League's Brighton Braves was named the game's MVP, as he cracked a homerun helping to lead his squad to an 8-6 victory. See interviews with the both from before the game. See MORE PLAYER INTERVIEWS, including with Boston Red Sox favorite Lou Merloni, and others.
Kevin Salines of the Boston Yawkey League's Malden Bulldogs
Sam Shaughnessy, Alex Lee & James Greeley of Yawkey's Brighton Braves
08/12/11: Most amateur baseball players are no longer living the dream that they may actually play professional ball some day. Yet every once a while, a weekend warrior continues to dream, and turns their dream into a reality. Jeff Bercume of the Intercity League's Andre Chiefs and Jon Shepard the Yawkey League's Malden Bulldogs are two local kids who did just that. Read their stories.
Jon Shepard of Yawkey's Malden Bulldogs (shown in Wheaton College jersey)
Jeff Bercume of Intercity League's Andre Chiefs
DAVE JOSEPH GETTING IT DONE FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME - AND HIS SON Tweet
07/21/11: If you’ve been around the amateur baseball circuit in New England for more than about five minutes, you know about Dave Joseph. For everybody else, he’s the mustachioed 54-year-old pitcher with the rubber arm. At a Boston MABL tryout in the late 1990s, after the JUGS pitching machine failed to start, he memorably threw batting practice to all 100 hopefuls who tried out, probably about 1,500 pitches.
54-yo Dave Joseph of the Brockton A's
Yet, it’s more than Joseph's tireless arm — or his accuracy and consistency— that makes him truly unique. It’s how his playing career even began. Read the full story: For Love of The Game - And His Son.
Dave provides words of wisdom to his son Steven
RIPTIDE TAKES JULY 4TH DOWNEAST WOOD BAT CLASSIC Tweet
7/04/11: The Rhode Island Riptide beat the Rome Bombers, 5-0, to win the MSBL Downeast Wood Bat Classic up in Maine this July 4th Weekend.
The big contributor was inning-eater Steve Hueston. During the regular season, Hueston pitches for three leagues where he dominates for the Brighton Brewers in the Yawkey League (2-0, 0.00 ERA), Cannon Club in the Boston Park League (3-0, 2.21 ERA) and Medford Mets in the Boston MSBL (0-0, 0.88 ERA). Up in Maine, Hueston threw 7 innings in the semi-final game in the morning, then a complete-game 9-inning shutout in the championship. And by the way, he threw a 9-inning complete game the day before in a loss where he was winning 4-0 into the 8th, but lost the game due to some defense miscues.
Congrats to the entire team, and all participants.
Dakota Happas, Rob Linn & Dana Levensaler
Participating Teams:
Maine Diamond Dogs (Southern Maine Men's Baseball League and Westchester/Putnam NY MSBL)
Maine Indians (Southern Maine Men's Baseball League )
FOR THE KNIGHTS, EVERYTHING ON THE FIELD BECOMES A WEB GEM Tweet
6/01/11: For players on an amateur baseball team, a weeknight game typically ends around 11:00PM. For those who run the East Boston Knights in the Yawkey Baseball League, their night is just getting started around then. The Knight's competitive advantage is videotape. By the end of last season, Knights franchise holder, Geoff Harris, had recorded, edited and uploaded more than 2,200 videos from every game and practice and posted them all to the team’s YouTube and Facebook pages online. The entire process could take until as late as 3:00AM before the prior night’s games are done uploading. Read what the team catches on tape in: Web Gems.
EB Knight's Sean Hannon has his no-hitter captured on video.
5/01/11: Jeff Coveney has been managing what is now the Boston Cutters since 1999 and is the winningest skipper in Boston Men’s Adult Baseball League history with five league championships. By day, he holds a “real” job. Coveney manages lead development and marketing for Application Security in Burlington, MA – a high-tech firm that develops security software to protect enterprise databases. Additionally, Coveney contributes to a company he founded called Boston Movie Tours, an organization that takes tourists on a journey to television and film hotspots around Boston. For Coveney, being a strong manager is tied to effective planning, not just around baseball, but at work. Read the full article: Manager's Job Is Never Done.
Jeff Coveney manages at work
Jeff Coveney manages at play
TACTICS TO SUCCEED IN THE COLLEGE BASEBALL RECRUITING PROCESS Tweet
4/13/11: Over the past 20 years, I’ve become an expert in helping athletes land themselves on men’s adult baseball team rosters. I’ve helped develop the first amateur league tryout for the Boston Men’s Baseball League in 1998, and helped initiate the first online registration database for amateur baseball players a few years later. However, I am no expert on getting into a collegiate baseball program.
When I graduated from Lexington High School in 1990, according to NCAA statistics, I was one of the 93.6% of high school baseball players who did not advance to play college ball. I went straight to amateur league.
Dave Galehouse is an expert on getting onto a collegiate roster. Galehouse is a former college baseball player and 1997 graduate of Fairfield University. Today, he is a director with the Lexington Blue Sox of the Intercity League and author of The Making of a Student-Athlete: Succeeding in the College Selection and Recruiting Process for High School Athletes, Parents and Coaches. Galehouse is also director of Varsity Edge, a program that assists families with the college athletic recruiting process.
AMATEUR BASEBALL PREVIEW - CATCHING UP ON OFFSEASON MOVES Tweet
4/09/11: The amateur baseball season has finally arrived. Unlike professional and collegiate teams that kicked off their seasons in March, most amateur baseball leagues don’t begin their seasons until later this month or early-May. Once again, we can look forward to a season of cutting out of work early for a weeknight game, or missing a family Sunday brunch, so we can play another season of hardball.
During the offseason, leagues around town were been busy planning for the upcoming season. Big games have been scheduled, and teams have been on the move. As the amateur baseball writer for New England Baseball Journal, I wrote up a sampling of what leagues across Greater Boston made for moves this offseason. Check out the 2011 Amateur Baseball Preview.
(Photo left: Catcher Carl Rodriguez gears up for the 2011 South End Astros season in the Yawkey League.)
YAWKEY LEAGUE ALL-STARS SHINE FOR NORTHEASTERN VS. RED SOX Tweet
Dave McKay
2/27/11: Thanks to Dave McKay, president of the Boston Yawkey League, for the following report:
Two current Yawkey Baseball League All-Stars and a member of their Hall of Fame played in the Northeastern University Huskies vs. Boston Red Sox scrimmage game on Saturday. City of Palms Park and the Sox have hosted NEU & Boston College in the opening salvo of Spring Training since they moved to Ft. Myers. Northeastern was drubbed by the Sox 13-2.
The bright spot of the day for the Huskies was the 2 innings pitched by JT Ross of the Brighton Black Sox. Ross allowed only a walk and a single and no runs. Al Thomas Athletics All-Star, Ricky Salvucci, also played in the game. He pinch hit and played a few stanzas at 3B. The game was played in front of a crowd of 4,616.
Yawkey Hall of Fame Member and former Al Thomas Club player, Rich Hill was awarded the win. Hill pitched an inning in relief. He allowed 1 hit; 1 run and K'd a batter. Hill is curently a left handed relief specialist for the Red Sox. He has seen playing time with the Cubs and Orioles, having been drafted in the 4th round of the 2002 MLB Draft after attending Milton High School and the University of Michigan.
This is a proud day for the Yawkey League and its administration. We are always proud of our kids, but when they have an opportunity to shine in this type of venue - it makes us feel like we are doing the right thing here in Greater Boston.
Also of note, the Huskies came out of the gate swinging, receiving a first-pitch home run from senior 3B Ryan Maguireto start to contest. Boston College lost to the Sox, 6-0, in the nightcap.
JT Ross of the Brighton Black Sox pitching for Northeastern
Ricky Salvucci of the Al Thomas A's, batting for NEU
2/24/11: The Rhode Island Cardinals won their second straight MSBL Caribbean Winter Baseball Championship in the Age 35+ Division this past President’s Day Weekend in Puerto Rico.
The MSBL Daily News reported that Rhode Island's title was “an impressive victory over the Tropical Thunders Sunday night at Caguas Stadium. Tied at 1-1 after five innings, the Cardinals capitalized on some defensive miscues in the field by the usually solid Thunders and scored 5 runs in the sixth and took a commanding 6-1 lead. The Tropical Thunders cut into that lead two innings later with a rally of their own to cut the lead to 8-6. Rhode Island blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth with 5 more unearned runs. Cardinal slugger John Collins was the MVP, hitting over .500 for the tournament.” The R.I. Cardinals went 5-0 in pool play, outscoring their opponents 41-12, before defeating the Chicago All-Stars, 3-0, in the semifinals, and then topping the Thunders.
The New England Bandits also competed in the Age 35+ division, going 2-3 overall and losing in the semifinals, 14-3, to the same Tropical Thunders team that Rhode Island later defeated in the finals. New England’s wins were dominating, coming against the Puerto Rico Yankees, 18-8, and the Long Island Brewers, 26-5. The Boston Cardinals competed in the tourney's Age 25+ division. While giving it their best effort, these Cardinals did not fly so well, and went down 0 games to 4.
2011 Caribbean Classic Champions: Rhode Island Cardinals
2/17/11: No longer do you need to fear winter or suffer through Spring Training banter. The regular season has arrived for a handful of local college baseball teams. Opening Day for both Boston College and Bryant University is Friday, February 18th.
Boston College vs. Coastal Carolina: For BC, first-year head coach Mike Gambino takes the reins of his alma mater's club beginning at 4PM in Conway, South Carolina. Captains, senior RHP Geoff Oxley and senior C/INF Garret Smith will lead the Eagles.
Bryant University vs. Oklahoma State: The Bulldogs were featured in the Collegebaseballinsider.com as the Northeast Conference "the team to beat", with senior closer Mark Andrews and sophomore outfielder Kevin Brown being key players to watch. Game starts at 4PM in Stillwater, Oklahoma. [Watch the game]
Boston College Senior RHP and Cptain, Geoff Oxley
Bryant University Sophomore outfielder, Kevin Brown
1/19/11: Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox receives the 2011 Dick Berardino Award at the Lowell Spinners Alumni Awards Dinner from Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA on January 19, 2011. This award is presented to a Spinners alumni who has displayed tremendous coachability, determination, dedication, a passionate work ethic and the heart to make it at the Major League level. Buchholz went 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA in 2010 and finished 6th in Cy Young voting.
Clay also took time to get kissed on the cheek from Miss Teen Massachusetts, Kay Tetreault, and Mrs. Massachusetts, Jane Marshall. I'm sure his wife, Lindsay Clubine Buchholz, #26 on "Deal or No Deal," will be thrilled.
Clay Buchholz Accepts 2011Lowell Spinners Dick Berardino Award
Clay gets love from Miss Teen and Mrs. Massachusetts
DISNEY CLASSIC FEATURES THE BOSTON WOLFPACK & BOSTON BRAVES Tweet
1/17/11: Two Boston Boston Men's Baseball League teams participated in the MSBL Disney Holiday Classic in Orlando,Florida.
The Boston Wolfpack went 5-0 before being rained out in the Finals. The 'Pack's won four pool round game followed by defeating the San Antonio Bombers in the Semifinals. But as a result of bad weather, the Wolfack & Tampa Bay DJ's were named 45+ Division Co-Champions.
The Braves went 2-1 in Age 30+ Division pool round play and then defeated the Rhode Island Riptide in the Quarterfinals. The Braves run ended in the Semifinals with a loss to the Birmingham Twins.
Josue Feliciano trots in from the outfield for the Boston Braves at Disney.
