SPORTSMANSHIP IS PARAMOUNT IN MAJOR SPORTS

Just about every year at this time I send out my mandate to the teams pertaining to sportsmanship and field conduct. I know that it is not like it was in 1950's or the 1960's for that matter. I know that Ozzie Osbourne has replaced Ozzie and Harriet. I know that good manners have been lost somewhere in the vortex of the mass media and the culture. Acting foolish and having a bad attitiude seems to be de rigueur (required by the current fashion, culture or custom). It was not like that years ago.

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FIGHTING LIKE CATS AND DOGS

TUESDAY, JULY 22
A match for first place in the conference had the Techno Cats and the Muck Dogs going at it. The Cats just putting up runs just about each inning and the Muck Dogs just could not answer. The Cats won the first game, 10-1 and the second game, 9-5. Oscar's looks strong going into the playoffs. They took a solid Da Mutts team for two wins, 7-5 and 19-9. Gios Pizza is playing good softball they won against the Apaches, 17-10 and 12-11. Audiovox and Highway Homers split. The rains came and knocked out the night games.

SOME COOL ON A HOT SUMMER SUNDAY

SUNDAY, JULY 20
On a hot and dusty day the Sunday divisions were winding down their season. Some teams still need one more week to get their games in and a few teams might start their playoffs this Sunday. I will take a closer look at that today and tomorrow. Anyway, after the Sunday morning teams play in the Town of Islip, I go out and groom the fields for the Sunday night divisions. Sunday is a long day for me and this one a little longer than most, because it was country hot and dusty. The heat does not bother me at all, it is just the tedium of the day to day ritual on Sunday. So, I was down at Brookwood Hall, where an hour earlier their were four teams, fans, umpires, children running around and cacophony of summer softball. It was surreal how quite it was as the sun busted its blow torch heat down on the fields. I was just about to get on my tractor and do the fields and then I heard it. The sounds of a saxophone coming form behind me. I turned around and there was black dude standing under the only shade tree at Brookwood Hall, sweating like a wheel of cheese, blowing a sweet sax. I smiled and took it in for about 5 minutes. Just me and him and the sounds of his saxophone. Then I went over and talked with him for awhile. He runs a halfway house right down the block and we talked about our favorite sax players, Turintine and Getz and then I got back to my business. From now on no matter how hot it gets down at Brookwood Hall all I will have to do is close my eyes and I will hear that sax and it will be... so cool.

Big winners on Sunday were the Wolf Pack, who took Div. 2, Sizzlers, Islip Cardinals, The Meat and the Rockies. Lock & Load split with Evolution, but Evoultion still took Div.1. So I will be calling all the Sunday teams today and tomorrow and get them plug into make-ups and playoffs. Some teams will have byes as they have finished up their season and will go into playoffs on August 3.

Last, but not least, the Bulldogs, who have played in Major Sports for about 10 years, won their first division championship. They beat the Ninja Black Sox in two close games, winning, 12-11 and 8-6. The manager of the Ninja Black Sox, one of my favorite managers, Will Richardson, had some very nice things to say about the Bulldogs. He mentioned what a nice bunch of guys they were and that it was a fun doubleheader. That is coming from a manager, who if his team would have beat the Bulldogs twice, would have won the division title. Now that is sportsmanship.

BIG WINS FOR OSCARS

THURSDAY, JULY 17
As the season runs into its final weeks, Oscar's Ale House, came up with two big wins tonight. The Shamrocks, who usually play on Monday's, came down from Hidden Pond to take on Oscar's. The Shamrocks play good softball and have a veteran team, as does Oscar's, so it was going to be a good match up. Oscar's won the first game 15-10 and then came out and took the second game 25-6. The Reruns met up with the Marauders. The first game was a 21-0 victory for the Reruns. You would think the Marauders would just want to get in their cars and go home. However, that is why you play the games. They came back and beat the Reruns 9-8. The Techno Cats took two from the Neaco Jets. The first game was close and went down to the final inning with a 8-7 win for the Cats. In the second game they put up 12 runs in the first inning to seal the Jets fate. It was over in five with a 18-5 win for the Cats. The Fockers met the AC Generals and split. The Fockers won 11-4 and the AC's 14-13.

FINISHING UP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16
The Twilight and Night divisions are finishing up their regular schedules and those divisions will get into make ups for the next two weeks and then playoffs. There were some good games last night. The Gas House Gorillas, always ready to play on Wednesday down at Venetian, took on the Weekend Warriors and it was a good doubleheader. The House won the first game 8-3. The Warriors had some opportunities, but a couple of close plays, one at home, took them out of it. However, in the second game they took the initiative and came out swinging in the first inning and one of their players hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 5th for a 15-3, win. Double R took a pair from the Apaches, 14-7 and 19-5. Audiovox, playing some good softball these days, took two from the Meatballs, 7-5 and 14-5. G.S.E. took on CB Crew and won a pair, 19-7 and 16-3. The umpire who did TJ Finley and Take It Deep, said their second game was as good a softball game as he has seen all year. It was back and forth all game and in the end, TJ's won two, 7-2 and 12-10.

In Nassau, Sal's Place won two over Showtime, 2-13 and 21-16.

SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE!

TUESDAY, JULY 15
After playing in Major Sports for 16 of the 17 years I have had this league, the Pall Raiders cannot muster a team for the rest of the season. Their manager, Joe Moir, called me yesterday before they were scheduled to play PCI Services and told me to pull them for the rest of the year. They missed two other double headers this season and after playing for all of those seasons it may be their swan song. I have a feeling they may be back next year, but for now, so long, Joe...

Gios Pizza took another pair of games yesterday against the Highway Homers. The first game was tied after one inning, 3-3, but some dubious fielding cost the Homers the edge and the Gios scored 13 runs to win, 13-6. In the second game the Homers were shut out, 6-0. Da Mutts came out and slammed the Bulldogs, 13-1 to win in 5. The Bulldogs got the message that the Mutts came to play and answered a, 13-11 win of their own. The Manamals took two over at Hidden Pond.

CLEVELAND STEAMERS SWEEP

MONDAY, JULY 14
It was a good match at Hidden Pond last night. The Rockies and the Cleveland Steamers. The teams were meeting for the first time in a season that started in April. The Steamers came out with an impressive, 15-6 win. However, in the second game it was back and forth for 7 innings and in the end the Steamers had taken a pair, 15-6 and 14-13. The Mariners met Kramerica at Seamans Neck and the teams split. Kramerica won, 9-5 and the Mariners bounced back for a, 24-15 win.

SUNDAY DIVISIONS FINISHING UP

SUNDAY, JULY 13
It seemed like it was only a week ago when we got this started on April 20. Even though we had to play around some rain on some Sunday's, not one Sunday was completely rained out. Some teams did not play in some of the morning divisions on some Sunday's and the same with some of the Sunday night divisions. I kept the machine working on some of those Sunday's getting some fields cleaned off so teams could play. So, here we are. The middle of July and some teams have finished their schedules already. We will have two weeks of make ups so some of the teams that need games can finish up. Some teams may get an extra double header so they are playing the week before the playoffs.

In the Sunday night divisions a big double header sweep was M & J Limo beating the Ninja Black Sox. The scores were, 6-2 and 10-5. Those losses for the Ninja takes the buzz out of their match up with the Bulldogs this Sunday. The Islip Cardinals and Paddy Macdoogles split. The Cardinals won, 25-12 and Paddy's won, 16-4. Prime Time took two from the Heavy Hitters.

Only two teams played in Nassau and that was Johnson & Hoffman vs Waiver Wire. J&H took two. Two other Nassau teams played, but they played in Suffolk. Lock & Load took two from Eight Men Out, 17-5 &18-6. The Raging Bulls played the Rebels and split, winning, 17-4 and losing, 18-2.

In Suffolk the Outfield Pub split with the Sizzlers, winning, 9-6 and losing, 11-10. The Gorillas split with Road Kill as did UTI and Bu Tang. The Diamondbacks put 9 up in the top of the 7th to beat the Bone Crushers, 18-17. The Crushers won the first game, 22-8. The Titans back off a long vacation took two wins against the Brentwood Yankees and both were won in the 7th inning. Two great games, with a lot of back and forth action. The scores, 14-13 and 8-7. The WolfPack took two from the Platnium Hits. The knuckle-headed Chargers did not show against the Panthers. Nothing gets me going like the disrespect of a team not calling up to say they are not going to show up. The Panthers were ready to go and the umpire was there and no phone call from the Chargers. The Motor Boaters came up with two wins against The Kore, 22-10 and 14-7.

BULLDOGS TAKE TWO

FRIDAY, JULY 11
I do not have many games on Fridays these days. However, last night the Bulldogs took on the Mariners and took two games, 14-13 and 11-9.

RERUNS, CONVICTS AND MEATBALLS SWEEP

THURSDAY, JULY 10
Three sets of double headers and three sweeps. The Reruns took on Double R, I had to move some teams around to get some good match ups, and won the first game, 10-5 and the second game, 9-5. The Meatballs met the Neaco Jets and won a pair, 14-4 and 21-17. The Fockers met the Convicts and dropped two, 11-3 and 12-0.

SOME PLAYERS RUIN IT FOR ALL

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9
Some players just do not get it. I can post article after article on bad sportsmanship and bad conduct and it means nothing to some players. If some of their own players do not take the initiative and tell their teammates that bad behavior is not going to be tolerated, some teams are going to suffer the consequence. Umpires are not going to be abused by players. They are out there attempting to do the best job they can. Are they perfect, of course not, but they are out there doing a tough job. I am instructing my umpires to tell teams at home plate that if there are any profanities directed at the umpire by a player that player is to be immediately thrown out of the game. I will be monitoring it as best I can.

The Weekend Warriors took two from the AC Generals, winning, 9-1 and 12-2. The Higway Homers and Audiovox split. The Maraurders made the trip from Nassau County and took on the Gashouse Gorillas. In the first game, they came up with 9 runs in the top of the 7th to win, 11-9. They took the second game, 8-5. The Raiders cancelled on the Apaches, so the teams did not play.

Kudos to the Oscar's Ale House for doing the right thing in stepping up and apologizing profusely for an incident that put two teams on Tuesday night in face to face postures. The umpire did a good job and nothing got out of control. Thanks to PCI and Oscars. Good job. Thanks, Frank and thanks Paul.

PCI SERVICES TWO BIG WINS

TUESDAY, JULY 8
For years PCI Services has played on Tuesday and it just so happens, so does a bunch of very good teams. So, over the years the Service could not break through with tough opponents each week. Well, last night they took on a tough Oscar's Ale House and took two big wins home. The first game was a 14-9 win and the second went down to a close, 9-8 victory. Some tempers flair up at the game, but the umpire got things under control and the teams shook hands and all will play another day. Gios Pizza took on the Techno Cats and came up with two big wins. The second game was won in the bottom of the 7th with a long hit to drive in the winning run. Gios won, 7-3 and 6-5. The Bulldogs gave the Shamrocks their first loss of the loss of the season. Beating the unbeaten, Shamrocks, 17-5 in the first game. The Rocks came back for a, 18-6 win in the second game. Down at the wind tunnel at East Islip, the Fockers and CB Crew scored 73 runs in the first game, with a Crew win, 30-34. The second was not completed so both teams will get wins. The Mamimals split with The Zoo last night. The Manimals came out and took a, 22-4 win in the first game and then The Zoo jumped out of their Gorilla bag and won the second one, 17-10.

A dust up at Shell Creek. It never pays to take on a town worker even if he is wrong. The lights went out and tempers blew. Gallery won the first game, 20-19 and were ahead when the lights went out, 20-18.

MONDAY NIGHT SOFTBALL

MONDAY, JULY 7
It was a sultry night for softball. The first games after the July 4th break. Here is one for the dogs. Da Mutts vs Muck Dogs. Da Mutts got back to playing some softball. For two weeks in a row, their opponent cancelled a few hours before game time. This week they got to play and they played the Muck Dogs. Da Mutts took both of the games, 15-2 and 31-12. Audiovox took on Fed Ex and got two wins. Fed Ex played their best games of the season last Thursday, but did not hit a lick in two games against Audiovox. The Vox will also play on Wednesday against Highway Homers. Take It Deep split with the Rockies. The first game was a, 2-1 win for the Rockies and then the Deep came back for a, 15-10 win. The Convicts took two from the Brewers. My apologies to the Nassau night teams for having to canel their games on Sunday for Monday at Baldwin. The Town of Hempstead took their field back for a tournament. We will make them up. In the Suffolk night division. The Ninja Black Sox are playing their best softball of the season. At a good time, too. The playoffs are right around the corner. The beat The Contenders for two wins.

In Nassau Sunday morning, Evolution took two from the Rockies, both by one run in two barn burners. The Fuzzy Biscuits beat the Raging Bulls, 14-8 and 20-8. The Meat and the Untouchables split with the Untouchables taking the first game, 18-17 and The Meat winning, 14-13.

JULY 4TH WEEKEND

SUNDAY, JULY 6
Usually, there are no games on this weekend. However, some teams said they wanted to play and play they did. Road Kill, bouncing back with a very good team after last years drop off, took two from the Rebels, 20-8 and 11-7. The Brentwood Yankees split with the Panthers. The Panthers beat them by about 8 in the first game and the second game was a 9 inning win for the Yankees. Bu Tang took on their friends The Kore and took a close first game, 13-10 and rocked them, 19-0 in the second. Blue Balls won their games, 15-11 and 11-7. The Outfield Pub and the Predators split.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

THURSDAY, JULY 3
I just want wish all the players and umpires and mangers a enjoyable 4th of July. To me it reminds me of my youth and I always reflect on how proud I am to be an American. It is just a feel good day and we all have so much to be thankful for. The United States of America, Happy Birthday! What a great country!!! Also, my thanks to anyone who has served or is serving in the military. Thanks for your courage, conviction and relentless pursuit of protecting the citizens of this wonderful country. George Orwell who wrote, "1984" said, "We sleep peacefully at night, because rough men stand ready in the night to visit harm on anyone who would do us harm". I could not agree more. Fed Ex, seem to get a little better every week. They went into Thursday's games with two or three wins. I know the Meatballs scrambled to get players down to the field. However, I have done a few of Fed Ex's games and they came up with their best games of the season. They took two, 9-1 and 13-5. The only other game on Thursday night was the Mariners and Kramerica. Both teams went home of a win. Kramerica won the first game, 5-3 and the Mariners came back with a, close 15-12 victory.

APACHES WIN, GAS HOUSE AND GENERALS SPLIT

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2
The AC Generals met up with the Gas House Gorillas and at first it looked like a mismatch with the Gorillas looking formidable in warm ups. The Gas House team, down at the field early, warming up, the Generals getting there at game time and taking the field cold and without loosing up. However, the AC's jump out to a 5 run lead in the first inning, but the House answered with, 12 in the 3rd and 6 in the 4th, to seal the Generals fate, winning, in five, 20-5. The Generals looked down and out. The smart money would have been on the Gas House, but the Generals came out with 6 in the first and kept putting up 2's for a couple of innings. The Gorillas tied it with 7 in the bottom of the 7th and it looked like it was over. However, once again a tenacious AC team came back with 5 in the top of the 9th for their biggest victory of the season, winning, 16-11. The Weekend Warriors met the Apaches and Warriors played well, but the Apaches played better, winning, 10-2 and 6-4.

SOME GOOD MATCH UPS

TUESDAY, JULY 1
On the first day of July, there were some good double headers. Oscar's played the Marauders and went home with two wins. However, they had to earn them. The first game was a, 26-22 win, with long balls being sprayed all over the field at Brookwood Hall. They took the second game, 14-5. PCI Services met Gios Pizza. When teams can only play on one day a week, they will play each other a few times during the season. PCI took two, 2116 and 25-16. The Neaco Jets and the Techno Cats split their games. The Technos had one bad inning in the first game. They had two outs and a ball was dropped by the first baseman that would have been the final out. Eight runs later the Jets had their big inning and a win. The Cat's came back for a second game win. Double R and the Bulldogs split. The R won, 10-5 and the Bulldogs answered, with a 15-3 win. In the night division their was a big match up with The Zoo and the Manimals. The Zoo took the first game, 15-8 and the Manimals bounced back with a, 10-6 win of their own. CB Crew, who got off to a slow start during the season played the Brewers last night, CB won the first game, 13-10 and then they were winning the second game, 13-12 when the lights went out. Both teams will get victories for the second game.

THE LAST DAY OF JUNE

MONDAY, JUNE 30
June went out with a nice night for softball. In Nassau, Sal's Place and Showtime split. Sal's won the first game, 17-5 and Showtime came back for a,18-10 win. Take It Deep won two against the Muckdogs at Hidden Park. The Cardinals were schedule to play Da Mutts. The Cardinals have been playing for a long time,10 years. However, they called me at 4pm and cancelled. That was the second time this year they had to call it off. It was a long run for them, but their race has been run. They are off the schedule, because the manager does not think he can put a team on the field for the rest of the year. The Shamrocks remain undefeated, by taking two from Audiovox, they won 12-8 and 14-4. The Convicts looked good against a good team the Cleveland Steamers. They took two, 21-9 and 16-4.

MEMO TO ALL TEAMS

To my fellow Major Sports softball players:
My name is Paul Burke and I am a member of the Sizzlers. As you may or may not my friend and teammate Kevin Mieschberger was seriously injured in an industrial accident at the Canada Dry Bottling center in Melville. I am hoping to raise some money for him to cover bills that his job and his healthcare won't cover. I hope to have a softball tournament or maybe a home run derby. Anything that I can do in hopes of raising some money for him.

Any suggestions are more than welcomed as I am not very experienced at doing this. If you have any ideas or would like to help, please contact me at 631.671.1963 or via email at diamondkid42@yahoo.com or holyman42@aol.com.

Thank you very much--
Pual Burke of the Sizzlers

COURTESY RUNNERS, OUT OF CONTROL

THURSDAY, JUNE 26
Over the course and evolution of this softball league I have come to witness and have had several managers bring to my attention the, abuse of the courtesy runners rule. This is the true intent of the courtesy runners rule. If someone is hurt during the play or if someone is really playing a position and is playing with an injury and has a hard time running, than I have no problem with a courtesy runner. However, it is not for the purpose of getting a faster runner on the field in place of a slow one. I have always given the teams the benefit of the doubt in monitoring this aspect of the softball game. I f and when I umpire a softball game what I tell the teams at home plate is that you cannot put a faster runner in for a slower runner for that purpose alone. That is abusing the rule. If a player can run out a ground ball or fly ball, than he can run for himself. I understand just about every argument someone could have pertaining the courtesy runner. Before I start to implement any changes I would like the teams to take the initiative and take care of this problem themselves. I will be monitoring it and if I have to I will change the implementation of the courtesy runner. Remember, if you can run out your ground balls and fly balls, you run the bases for yourself.

Oscar's Ale House met up with Double R and this rivals have been going at it for a long time. Even though Oscar's won the first game, 15-3, it was close until the end. The second game went to Oscar's in the bottom of the 7th, 8-7. CB Crew took on the AC Generals and took two. The Marauders call me at 5:30pm and cancelled against The Zoo.

RERUNS TAKE TWO

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25
A good match up was the Reruns and Apaches. The Apaches came out of last years night division and have done well playing in the Suffolk Twilight division. The Reruns always play good softball. When the night had ended it was the Reruns taking two good games, 7-4 and 9-6. The Gashouse Gorillas came over from Venetian and took on the Raiders. The first game was a back and forth affair with the Gashouse G's taking it, 12-10. The Gorillas came out in the second game and had a couple of early good innings to take a, 14-6 win. The Highway Homers took the first game against the Meatballs, 8-5 and the second game ended in a tie, so both teams will get a victory. T.J. Finley's took on Take It Deep and beat them twice, 19-5 and 16-12. The Rockies showed up at the wrong field, but got up to Hidden Pond to play two. G.S.E. took them in a pair, 27-2 and 25-3.

PCI, NEACO JETS AND MANAMALS SWEEP

TUESDAY, JUNE 24
PCI Services had a little two much for the Techno Cats. Sometimes due to days teams can play and who shows up on any given day, there will a mismatch or two during the season. PCI won, 15-3 and 17-0. Gio's Pizza came up with a big win. They beat a tough Bulldog team, 7-4 in the first game. The Bulldogs settled down in the second game and won, 13-1. The Muckdogs played Neaco Jets. The Jets won their first game last Thursday. The first game was back and forth until the top of the 5th when the Jets put up 6 to finish off the Muckdogs. In the second the Muckdogs had them going into the bottom of the 7th. The Dogs were up by 4, but gave up 5. The Jets won both, 8-4 and 10-6. The Manamals took two from the Brewers, 16-2 and 4-6.

WEEKEND WARRIORS, FED EX SPLIT

MONDAY, JUNE 23
Once again, it rained all around us, but the teams played softball. The Weekend Warriors got their first win against Fed Ex in the first game, winning,8-6 and the Fed' came back for a, 8-5 win. The Shamrocks took two from the Cardinals, winning, two 8-5 and 8-5. The Convicts rolled for two victories, beating the Cleveland Steamers, 12-8 and 18-2. The Fockers got their batting practice in thanks to me. I had them down for a 7P.M. game, it was a 8:15P.M. start. they won the first game, 25-24 and Chicos Balils Bond came back for a,18-6 win.

THE FIRST GAMES OF SUMMER OF 2008

SUNDAY, JUNE 22
The summer solstice rolled in on June 21, so the first games of the summer of 2008 was this past Sunday. As the weatherman called for rain Saturday and Sunday, for the first time in a couple of weeks, no games were rained out. In Nassau the Bellmore Knights keep winning. The Raging Bulls gave them a good game in the second game only losing, 10-9. The Knights took the first one, 22-9. It was about this time last year that Johnson and Hoffman upset Lock and Load with a sweep. Not this year. The Load came out and took two, 27-8 and 18-16. The Rockies and The Meat had a nice match up. The Rockies took the first game, 16-12 and The Meat returned the favor, 22-17. Evolution met up with the Untouchables for a pair and Evolution won the doubleheader, 19-7 and 19-17. Waver Wire played the Fuzzy Biscuits and lost two. The Wire had to leave a little early to get to some affair they had.

In the Suffolk morning divisions the fields were perfect and they played ball. The Diamondbacks lost the first game to Road Kill, 14-7, but bounced back and beat a strong Road Kill team, 9-5. The Sizzlers and Platium Hits split their games at Brookwood Hall. The Wolfpack met up with the Outfield Pub. The first game was a well played game by both teams with the Pack winning, 11-6. Then the Pack put on their hitting shoes and took the next one, 37-8. The Kore won a doubleheader against their dear friends from Bu Tang. Some of Bu Tang played with The Kore last year. The Kore won, 5-4 and 8-5. Eight Men Out split with the Brentwood Yankees. The Yankees won, 6-5 and the Eight bounced back for a 11-10 win. Blue Balls split with the Rebels. The Balls won, 8-2 and the Rebels, spanked them blue, 18-9. I have seen UTI many a time over the years, but Sunday they hit like I have never seen them. They played a great couple of games and beat the Motor Boaters, in a pair. Both teams played well and had a great afternoon of summer softball. The Gorilals beat the Bonecrushers, 13-6 and 17-1. The Panthers split with the Predators, losing, 8-3 and winning,11-10.

I do not have all the Sunday results yet, but here is what I have. The Contenders took two from Prime Time down at the wind tunnel that is East Islip Marinia. The Cousins and Bulldogs split. The Dogs won, 10-7 and Cousins came back for a, 21-11 win. The Beavers took two from the Heavy Hitters, winning 10-1 and then, 10-6 in 8 innings.

AC GENERALS AND NEACO JETS SPLIT

THURSDAY, JUNE 19
Two teams that have not won a game this met, so something had to give. Both teams have come close to wins the whole season, but they have not been able to close the deal. The Neaco Jets took the initiative in the first game and put 5 up in the first inning. From there it was the Generals trying to catch up. They tried, but could not pull it off. Neaco won, 8-6. So, the Generals thought that getting out in front early worked for the Neaco's and that is what they did in the second game. By the end of the game it was a, 7-5 victory for the Generals. Now both teams are in the win column.

Oscars's Ale House, looking good so far this year, beat the Luscious Meatballs in a pari. Winning, 9-4 and 31-5. Victory and the Marauders split again. The Marauders won, 14-13 and Victory came back for a 12-4 win. The Zoo played TJ Finley's in the tough night division. Two good games and two victories for The Zoo, 8-4 and 15-10.

APACHES, GAS HOUSE AND G.S.E. ALL WIN

WENESDAY, JUNE, 18
It was the least number of double headers on a Wednesday night that I can remember. No teams played at Brookwood Hall and that is the first time that has in Major Sports since I have had the fields. The reason is most teams that play on Wednesday's played Monday or Tuesday or they will play tomorrow. The Weekend Warriors had trouble getting a couple of guys to the field on Wednesday and had to forfeit the first game. Gashouse took the second game, 10-7. The Apaches opened up with a 7 run first inning in the first game and the Highway Homers never got over it. The Homers put up four in the first game, but the Apaches won, 11-4. In the second game the Apaches put up another 5 in the first and even though the Homers chip away inning by inning they could not surmount the 5 run 6th the Apaches had. In the end, a good game by all, but a, 10-7 victory by the Apaches.

CALM AFTER THE STORM

TUESDAY, JUNE 17
From a black clouds and a stormy night on Monday to a perfect night on Tuesday. Teams played in summer perfect weather and their were some good match ups. Double R and the Bulldogs played and the Bulldogs took the first game, 16-10. Double R had to reach down deep and they did in the second game. Winning, 10-9. PCI Services played the Pall Raiders. PCI had just a little two much power and speed for the Raiders on this night. The won the first game, 10-4 and close them out in the second game, 8-2. The Reruns met their pals Gios Pizza. The Reruns, old veterans at this, took the pair from Gios, 8-1 and12-4. The Manimals met up with their pals the Brewers. Some players on both teams play on the same team on Sunday mornings. The Manimals came out smoking and took the first game, 17-5. However, the Brewers snuck up on them in the second game and came out of it with a, 12-11 win. The Fockers and CB Crew played against each other for the first time and they split. The Crew blasted the Fockers, 20-1. I had to ask the umpire if that was the score. It was. Then the Fockers got Focking and came back with a nice, 14-13 win. Old rivals met in Nassau. Sal's Place and the Mariners. Sal's Place opened up on the Mariners the first game and took it, 17-1. Then the Mariners got their sea legs and came back for a, 17-14 win.

LOOKS LIKE KANSAS

MONDAY, JUNE 16
They said the rain was coming and when I saw that dark grey and green cloud come over the trees at Brookwood Hall I knew it was time to pack it in. At least we got most of the twilight games in. Fed Ex took the first game from the Techno Cats by scoring a run in the bottom of the 7th to win , 5-4. The second game went 5 innings and Fed Ex took that one, 5-3. The Shamrocks and Da Mutts are a good match up. The Shamrocks seem to be playing some great softball the last couple of weeks. Last night they took the first game, 10-2. Since the second game was one out from being a complete game I will give both teams a win as I usually do. Audiovox and the Muckdogs played at Hidden Pond. The Vox took the first game 16-4 and in the second game the Dogs were ahead by 12-4 with one to go, so both teams will get a win, because it was not completed. Giving each team a win in a game not completed has worked for 16 years.

WE GOT MOST OF THEM IN

SUNDAY, JUNE 15
When the skies opened up on Saturday night I knew that some teams would not be playing on Sunday. As it poured I was thinking no morning teams would get games in. However, when I started checking Suffolk fields out at 6 A.M. I thought that we could get some games in and we did just that. I knew East Islip Marina would be a disaster and it was. Some of those teams moved up to Hidden Pond. Venetian in Babylon has been a rain soaked problem this year and my hands are tied, because they will not allow me to work on that field. All in all we had a good day of softball. Lets start with the Sunday night divisions. The Beavers moved up to Hidden Pond and played the Degenerates. Both teams went home with a victory. The Bulldogs, now at, 11-1, beat the Heavy Hitters in a pair. The Islip Cardinals beat they arch rivals the Cousins in a pair.20-8 and 7-6. Paddy Macdoogles took out The Contenders, 15-3 and 22-3. A nice match up on Father's Day was Prime Time and the Ninja Black Sox. Prime Time has about 3 sets of father and son's playing and I umpired that game and it was a pleasure. Two gracious teams that enjoy just getting out there and having fun. The Ninja Black Sox took the pair.

In Nassau, two teams were rained out, the Raging Bulls and Waiver Wire and the Fuzzy Biscuits forfeited to The Meat. Johnson and Hoffman hung in there against a touch Evolutioin team, but dropped two, 17-5 and 11-3. The Untouchables were looking for some redemption against the Rockies, who beat them the first week. The first game was a one run victory for the Rockies, 7-6 and the second game was a well played, 14-9 win for the Rockies, too. The Bellmore Knights and Lock and Load did not play because of Father's day.

In Suffolk the Wolf Pack and Platinum Hits(the former Solid Gold)got there games in after a little dust up. For all teams who play in Major Sports, just get out there and play the game. Enjoy the competition and keep the mouthing back and forth out of the game. It just leads to problems and i will not tolerate it. After a mid game hand shake the teams got back to the game and the Pack took two, 11-0 and 6-2. Rocco Gregorio of The Kore pitched a, 8-0 shut out against the Brentwood Yankees. You do not see many of those. However, the Yankees bats woke up in the second game and they won, 11-6. The Motor Boaters, dropped two to Bu Tang, 19-5 and 15-3. The Chargers finally got to their game with the Panthers and dropped the first one, 11-2. They bounced back in the second game for a, 6-4 victory. The Predators and the Gorillas moved to Hidden Pond and the Preds won two, by the identical, 11-10 score. Eight Men Out won the first game against Blue Balls, 17-6 and the Balls bounced back for a, 4-3 win. The Outfield Pub took two from the Bone Crushers, 14-2 and 20-11. The Rebels won two against the Diamondbacks, 14-9 and 17-6. Road Kill and the Sizzlers did not get their games in.

THE ZOO WIN BIG

THURSDAY, JUNE 12
Chicos may not have had all their players, but The Zoo looked good in putting up two big wins. Winning, 14-2 and 28-13. The Fockers and Neaco Jets met up for a pair. The Jets had them on the ropes in the first game, but the Fockers had a big 5th inning and came back to win that first game, 13-11. The second game was a good one, too. Both teams going back and forth at each other, but in the end the Fockers went home with a sweep. The Techno Cats mauled the AC Generals, 20-0 and 14-2. Double R and the Luscious Meatballs played and the R's took two, 7-2 and 7-4. Over in Nassau the Marauders won the first game against Victory, 6-3 and then Victory came back for a 11-6 win.

RERUNS AND CLEVELAND STEAMERS SWEEP

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11
The Reruns look like they are getting into their grove. They played a tough Gashouse Gorillas team at Brookwood Hall and took two games, 17-5 and 22-4. The Cleveland Steamers took two from T.J.Finley at East Islip, winning, 6-2 and 9-7. At Hidden Pond Park two of the old veteran teams got it on last night. The Pall Raides and the Highway Homers, 30 years of playing in Major Sports between the two teams and as always it was a nice matchup. The Raiders took the lead in the first game, but the Homers came back in the middle of the game for a nice, 12-9 victory. In the second game the Raider's pitcher, Dennis Powers got into a nice grove and shutout the Highway Homers, 5-0.

GET WELL SOON KEVIN

TUESDAY, JUNE 10
Before we get into softball I want to take this time to reach out to one of my favorite managers of all time, Kevin Mieschberger of Still Smokin, in hopes that he heals well and gets back to playing some softball with the Sizzlers. Kevin was burned badly in an industrial accident at the Canada Dry Beverage Company on Monday. There was an article in Newsday about it. A good friend, a great father and a damn good softball player. I hope all is well and get back soon, Kevin.

The Bulldogs had a little two much for Gios Pizza. Gios hung in there and were tenacious, but the Dogs just had a little two much. They won, 13-6 and 22-10. Oscar's Ale House played PCI Services in another well played double header. Two well played games and Oscar's came out on top in both of them, 12-9 and 11-9, winning that last one in the 8th. My apologies to the Techno Cats and AC Geneals. A mistake on my part had the teams mustering, but not playing. The Manamals took two from CB Crew, 22-11 and 7-2.

Correction from an earlier post: Sal's Place took game one from Gallery 18-4. Gallery won the second game 10-0.

SWEEP CITY

MONDAY, JUNE 9
There were six double headers in Major Sports last night and six teams walked away with sweeps. A good night for the winners. Da Mutts took on a formidable Cardinal team and took two, 9-3 and 12-0. The Muckdogs took two from the Weekend Warriors. The first game was a 12 run rule. The Shamrocks got back to playing softball and took two from a game Audiovox team, winning 17-10 and 9-1.

In Nassau the Bulldogs dropped two to Showtime, 10-6 and 21-11. In the Suffolk night divisions the Convicts played well and beat the Rockies, 17-5 and 14-2. Take It Deep has turned it up a notch the last couple of weeks and tonight they beat the Brewers, 13-5 and 9-4.

HOT TOWN SUMMER IN THE CITY...

SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Well, for me it felt good. Some good old country heat. Nothing like working up a sweat and getting it done. The hottest day on record for this century, 93 degrees. It was 95 degrees on this same date in 1999, but that was the last century. Anyway, all teams played except the Bonercrushers and Titans. I pulled a message off my phone early Sunday morning with a message from the Titans saying they were not going to muster. Sorry about that Crushers, you will get two wins.

A big day for the Untouchables, who took two from Lock & Load for the first time. They won, 10-8 and 12-0. The Rockies and the Bellmore Knights played. There may have been a little confusion about the field at Seamans Neck, my field for the teams that play there from now on is Field #4 on Sunday mornings and Field #3 for the night teams. Anyway...the Knights won the first game, 14-3 and the Rockies bounced back for a 27-3 victory. The Fuzzy Biscuits came up big and had their first sweep of the season. They beat the Raging Bulls, 21-9 and 8-7. The Meat misread their schedule and showed up late against Evolution. However, they took the first game, 20-8 and Evolutiion took the second game, 27-5. It was nice seeing Sal from Evoultion before the game. His old team the Terminators where on of the first teams in Major Sports in 1992. Johnson and Hoffman and the Waiver Wire split. J&H won,16-15 and the Wire came back for a, 14-9 win.

In Suffolk the Wolfpack are playing some good softball. The beat Road Kill for a pair of victories. If Road Kill would have hit a little more in that first game they could have pulled it off. However, the Pack did hit and hit in both games, winning, 11-6 and 21-3. The Gorillas and Sizzlers split with the Gorillas winning, 15-11 and the Sizzlers bouncing back for a, 17-5 win. Blue Balls came out hitting and took two from the Diamondbacks, 12-5 and 11-2. The Predators beat a good new team in the Panthers, 10-0 and 10-6.Eight Men Out took two from the Rebels the second game in extra innings after the Rebels came back to tie it up in the 7th. The Eight won, 19-1 and 27-15. The Chargers and Brentwood Yankees met for a pair. The young Chargers and the old school Brentwood Yankees. The teams split with the Chargers winning, 11-5 and the Yankees winning, 15-6. UTI took two from The Kore, winning, 16-4 and 13-9. Four teams could not play in Suffolk in the morning divisions....weddings, baby showers, parades and graduations. All games will be made up.
As the blowtorch heat pounded the morning teams, the rains rolled in for the night divisions on Sunday. The only games played were the two double headers played at Hidden Pond Park. Prime Time beat their pals the Heavy Hitters for a pair of wins as they played through two rain down pours. The next double header had Bulldogs taking two from M&V, 10-0 and 4-3. The Bulldogs are having their best season ever. They are now, 9-3.

DOUBLE R AND THE ZOO SWEEP

THURSDAY, JUNE 5
Well, we got 2 of the 3 doubleheaders in yesterday. The rain came the night before and knock out East Islip#4 and Kennedy Park. However, Double R took two well played games beating Chicos Bail Bond, 16-15 and 11-10. The Zoo, looking like they are the team to beat in the Suffolk Night division, beat the Diamond Cutters, 29-4 and 14-2.

APACHE NATION

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4
The rains knocked out all but two double headers, both played at Hidden Pond. The Pall Raiders met the Apaches and it looked like we would only get one game in. The first three innings took almost 45 minutes with both teams rocking the ball. In the end the Apaches won with a walk-off double in the bottom of 7th by Rob Ruestle. In the second game the Apaches jumped on top with 20 runs in the first 4 innings and took it 21-2. In the night game, T.J. Finley split with G.S.E. Finley won the first game 12-11 and then G.S.E. came back for a 22-10 win in the second game.

WINNING UGLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 3
The Techno Cats and the Neaco Jets have been mixing it up for about 13 years now. The Techno Cats have won more of those games over the years and they won last night. However, their win in the second game was down right country ugly. They won the first game 27-8 by putting up 15 runs in the top of the 4th down at the wind tunnel at East Islip #2. In the second game they did the same thing with a 15-run bottom of the 3rd to go ahead 17-3 and were ahead 21-3 going into the top of the 5th. The first batter hit a feeble pop up to third that was not played and the flood gates opened after that. 13 runs later the Neaco's were back in it. The Techno's will be the first to tell you it may have been their worst inning ever defensively in 13 years of softball. Six more runs for the Jet's, but not enough for the victory as the Cat's went home with a 26-23 win.

In other action, PCI Sevices split with Gios Pizza, winning, 12-3 an losing to Gios, 20-5. The Bulldogs took two from Audiovox, 19-4 and 15-7. In the night divisions, the Manamals beat the Cleveland Steamers, 19-11 and 15-7. Take It Deep took two from CB Crew, 27-15 and 19-18. In Nassau, Showtime beat Gallery, 28-17 and 17-12.

SOME GOOD SOFTBALL

MONDAY, JUNE 2
Back to a full week of softball and we had a bunch of activity. Unfortunately for the Shamrocks, they were ready to go, but the Cardinals could not muster a team. As I was out doing fields they called and left me a message at 5pm that they would not have a team. By that time it was to late to call off the Shamrocks. They were gentlemen about it and want to make it up. The Cardinals have been playing for 12 years and I think that is the first time they had to cancel.

The Muckdogs had Fed Ex on the ropes in the first game. They were up by 4 going into the bottom of the 7th. Some dubious fielding led to a big 5 run 7th and a victory for the EX Men. The dogs settle down and took the second game for a split. Da Mutts met up with a night division team the Convicts. They had to be two good games to watch. The Convicts won the first game, 13-12 and the second game, 17-12. The Rockies have won 3 of the last 4. They took the Brewers, 8-7 and then the Brewers took the second game from the Rockies,13-3. Sal's Place dropped the first game to the Bulldogs, 18-17, but had their way in the nightcap, 12-0.

SOME TEAMS DISAPPOINTED

SUNDAY, JUNE 1
At 6AM the weather report was for sunny skies and a beautiful day of sunshine. Unfortunately, the night before it rained enough to knock out two of the fields down at East Islip Marina. I always dislike being the messenger of bad news, but reality is reality. The fields were not playable and to have 60 softball players drive down to two fields and find them under water is unacceptable to me. So, as nice as it was Sunday morning, some teams did not play. On top of that, one team took it upon themselves to call off their game and not let me know about it. Eight Men Out were at Nichols Road ready to go, but no opponent showed. Most teams got their games in on Sunday morning, so it was a good day. There will be so many perfect summer days to play, so there is no need for teams to try and play in quagmires.

Let's start in Nassau. The Rockies handed Evolution their first defeat of the season. The took them,14-11 in the first game and then dropped the second game, 19-7. Johnson & Hoffman and The Meat split. J&H won 26-21 and The Meat won, 25-13. The Bellmore Knights seem to be a hot team this year. They beat the Untouchables,25-4 and 21-20. Lock & Load and the Fuzzy Biscuits split. The Load dropped the first game, 12-11 and bounced back for a,19-10 victory.

In Suffolk the Wolf Pack are starting to mark their territory. They took two from the always tough Sizzlers, 8-4 12-8. That is a toughest conference team for team in Major Sports this year. Road Kill got hit by the Predators this week for their first loss. However, they scraped themselves off the road, brushed off those tire marks and took the second game. The Preds won, 13-5 and Road Kill, won, 10-5. Bu Tang and the Brentwood Yankees had the longest doubleheader of the year. They were going at it for 3 hours on Sunday. The nice thing about it was they both went home with victories. The Tang(I like saying that)won, 16-4 and the Yankees answered, 16-10. UTI dropped the first game to the Motor Boaters, 9-4, but came back to win the second game, 9-4. The Chargers looked good taking on the Titans. Two good games, but the Chargers took control and won them both, 11-8 and 9-2. The Panthers and Bonecrushers split. The Crushers won, 18-11 and the Panters took the second game, 23-9. The Kore split with the Waiver Wire, losing, 13-1 and coming back for a, 8-7 victory. The Gorillas and Outfield Pub always play two good games against each other. The Pub took the first one, 16-15 and the Gorillas came out of their Gorilla bag and took the second one, 9-7.

Sunday night had a couple of teams cancelling late. Look I have mentioned it a few times on the site about cancellations. However, softball is a recreational sport. Some teams have things that come up game day and have to cancel. That is part of this game. I am just glad they called and could deliver the message to the opponents. Both teams that cancelled probably spent hours on the phone that day trying to get a team down to the field. It is just part of the softball dynamic. Prime Time took two from their old friends Prime Time, 15-3 an d15-4. Congratulations to the Bulldogs, who are having their best year ever. They took two from The Contenders, 24-17 and 10-4. The A's and McBrides split, the A's won, 16-4 and McBrides took the second game, 19-5. My thanks to Scott and Dan and however else clean up Venetian from McBrides. That field was a no-play zone until they took the initiative to get it cleaned up. The Town of Babyon forbids me to work on the field. Thanks guy's. The Blue Balls were washed out Sunday morning against the Diamondbacks, but wanted to play at 5pm, so we hooked them up and they took two from The Beers, from this point on the The Beers will be the Heavy Hitters. They changed their name. The BBs won two. The Islip Cardinals prove that practice makes perfect. They were haveing batting practice 40 minutes before M&V showed up at game time. The scores, the Cardinals took two, 25-3 and 15-3. Paddy Macdoogles had a game opponent this week in the Silver Bullets. The Paddy's went to,9-0 winning the first game, 11-4. However, the Silver Bullets were in a spoiler mode and gave the Paddy's their first loss in the second game, 10-4.

DOUBLE R AND ROCKIES SWEEP

THURSDAY MAY 29
The weather could not have been better, a little two much wind, but not bad. Double R met up with the Apaches at East Islip and took the pair. they won, 12-0 and 8-3. The first game would have been much closer if the Apaches did not have two innings of bad fielding. Overall they made some nice plays, but those two innings in the first game cost them the game. The Rockies took two from the AC Generals, winning, 15-2 and 8-7.

SUNNY SKIES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
Well, here it was May 19 and it felt like March 19. Man it was cold. However, we got a full slate of Monday games in. The Cardinals took on a good Chicos Bail Bonds team and won two well played games, 13-11 and 11-6. The Muckdogs met up with Fed Ex and took the first game, 11-3. Then Fed Ex got into it's grove and 12 run ruled the Muck's, 18-6. The Shamrocks, the Shamrocks II are now the Shamrocks, took on a tough Da Mutts squad and beat them in a doubleheader 18-11 and 10-8.

In Nassau, Sal's Place took on their old friends the Bulldogs and walked away with two wins, 24-16 and 18-6. The night games in Suffolk had the Convicts winning a pair, 22-21 and 18-5 against the Diamond Cutters. Take It Deep and the Brewers split. The Brewers won, 9-3 and Take It Deep won, 3-2

MEMORIAL DAY BREAK

SUNDAY, MAY 18
Just about every team got to play, except two and those teams were suppose to play at E.I.M.#4 at 9am. I spent 5 hours on Saturday getting water off the Town of Islip fields, so the teams could play. However, #3 was a wash out at 8:30am.

There were some good match ups as we go into the Memorial Day break. It is the weekend I will complete all the schedules. It has been like this for 17 years. Major Sports is a one man show and with doing fields, answering every phone call and getting all teams up and running, Memorial Day weekend has always been the weekend I complete all schedules. The Sizzlers and Outfield Pub got going a little late. One of my umpires decided drinking and partying on Saturday night was what he wanted to do and then he tells me he was text messaging me all morning to tell me he had lost his voice. I do not text message or receive them and he knew that. Now he will have the rest of summer to get his voice back, because he has umpired his last games for me. So, I had to start the game and the Sizzlers came out and smoked the Pub for the first couple of innings building up a nice 10 run lead and the Pub looked as if they were not going to do a thing. Then Junior opened it up for the Pub at the six inning and when it was over, the Pub had come back to take an, 11-10 win. The Sizzlers took the second game, 18-12. Road Kill, the old Oscars team, looks like they are back. They played Eight Men Out and won a pair, 23-0 and 23-11. The Wolfpack and Predators played two good ones. I was at the other field at Brookwood and it looked like a barn burner from there and it was. The Pack took the first game, 12-11 in 8 and the second one, 17-13. The Blue Balls took on the Rebels and won the first game, 14-2 then the Rebels came back for a, 11-9 win. A new team the Panthrs looked nice against the old verteran team the Brentwood Yankees. The first game was a real close one with the Panthers winning, 11-9 and then they took the second one, 8-0. The Bonecrushers got back on track this weekend and took two from the Chargers, 13-1 and 16-1. The Motor Boaters won their first games this year by beating Bu Tang, 10-3 and 17-8 The Gorillas and Solid Gold split a pair. The Gold won, 14-10 and the Gorillas, 14-12.

In Nassau, where that division is full of good teams all teams played on some nice dry fields. I wish the under achievers at the Town of Islip would take a drive and see what good fields are like. The Rockies took on Lock and Load and dropped two, 14-2 and 17-10. Two big wins for L & L. The Untouchables are playing good ball. They beat Johnson & Hoffman, 15-8 and 22-10. Evolution came from behind and beat the Bellmore Knights, 10-9 in the first after trailing most of the game. They took the second game, 21-9. I have not received the Meat vs Fuzzy Biscuit scores.

I was out doing the fields for the Sunday night games when it started raining. I knew it would be stopping soon, but would the fields be rained out. Each field is different. It did stop, but some times teams do not check in and do not show up as did M&V Limos, who were a no show at Hidden Pond against Prime Time. The only field that was not playable was, Venetian Shores, those games were rained out. The Brookwoods were slushy to say the least, but the teams played on. The Ninja Black Sox and the Contenders split. The Sox won the first game and The Contenders the second game. The Degenerates beat the Beavers for a pair of wins as did Paddy Macdoogles, who beat the Cousins for their wins. The A's and the Bullets split. The A's won, 30-29 and the Bullets won, 19-17.

Enjoy the holidays and just take some time and reflect on what it is for: our fallen heros.

GREAT FIELD AT KENNEDY PARK

THURSDAY, MAY 15
The Village of Hempstead completely redid the fields at Kennedy Park. They used the same firm that will do the field at the new Met's ballpark. I wish the Town of Islip would take a look at what real softball fields are suppose to be like. Perfect!!! Great job, George.

Victory Engine #4 played the Marauders, a team that will play some in Suffolk County and some in Nassau County. Victory looked a little sluggish in the first two innings and then they busted out. In the end they won the first game, 17-14. However the Marauders, a tight team and a great bunch of guys, busted out in the second game and won a big one, 14-4. In Suffolk the Reruns took the first game against Double R 16-3 and tied in the second game 8-8. Both teams will get wins for those ties. The Zoo took on the Fockers and won two, 16-4 and 16-10. The AC Generals dropped two to the Diamond Cutters, 18-5 and 20-13.

MANAGERS: STAY AWAY FROM THE KOOL AID

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14
I have run this league for 17 years and the last 24 hours have been unprecedented. Four teams cancelled their games hours before game time. Every one of those teams have played in the league for years. Two of those teams have played with me for 15 and 16 years. I know things come up, especially with company teams, but all I am asking is to just try to stay on top of it. Calling hours before game time when I am out doing fields handcuffs me and almost insures that a team will show up that could have been contacted and called off. I called off all the teams, but could not reach the Apaches on the phone. So I met up with them and told the games were cancelled. Being the gentlemen there are, they took it in stride.

We did play a couple of double headers. The Meatballs took on Audiovox and won the first game, 12-4. However, the Vox came back for a 22-5 win to even things up for the night. The Cleveland Steamers lost the first game to T.J. Finleys, but came back for a close 7-6 victory. Showtime and the Mariners played in Seaford and both teams walked away with a win. Showtime shined 17-8 in the opening game, but the Mariners came back for a big 32-5 win in the second game.

RESPONSIBILITY

TUESDAY, MAY 13
I know softball is a recreational activity, but more times than not, with night teams, some players give up work to participate on certain nights. I also know that with any team something can up at any time and cause a team to forfeit. All I ask is that for any team to give me at least a few hours notice, hopefully a days notice, if they are not going to play. When I get a phone call an hour or so before game time it is going to create chaos. Especially when I am out doing fields before game time. A team cancelled last night and I did not pick up the call until 7pm for an 8:30pm start. I know the manager is caught in a tough spot when his team bails. The manager is always the guy that wants to play, he put the team in. Just try and remain cognizant of the fact that if you feel that you will not have a team give me the time to get a team to fill in. I want to thank the manager of the team that I had to call and tell him his game was cancelled for being a gentleman about it. I know it was tough for the other manager too, he has played in the league for years and wants nothing more than to get out there once a week and compete and have some fun.

Then there is irresponsibility. A team, the Red Devils, has told me for three months that they were going to play in the twilight league. They were schedule to play today vs the Gashouse Gorillas. Last night at 9:45 I pick up a message that they are not going to play. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. However, they get no quarter from me ever again. I feel bad for the Gashouse Gorillas a team that has been playing for 13 years in Major Sports and has not missed a game. I will make it up to them somehow.

Last night we had the Techno Cats, veterans of 14 seasons. They met their old friends the Neaco Jets, who have been around for 10. The Cats had a little two much for them and won a pair. The Irish Bulldogs met up with PCI Services and got the best of them. Oscars came out hitting and did not stop until the doubleheader was over. Beating Gios Pizza, 11-4 and 13-0. Take it Deep came up with two good games and beat CB Crew, 32-7 and 16-3. In Nassau County Kramerica took a pair from Gallery,23-21 and 23-17.

RAINY DAY GAMES

MONDAY, MAY 12
It felt and looked like November. Big Ten weather and here it was May 12. Needless to say, the phone started ringing around 11am and by time we got the games in, strangely, the only games not played was Merrick in Nassau and those games should have gone off. The only thing I got accomplished was refining my phone answering skills. Anyway, the Cardinals met DaMutts and split. The Cards winning 4-3 and losing 11-8. Chicos Bails Bond looked good picking up two wins against the Muckdogs, 12-5 and 11-8. The Shamrocks II look better each year, as they dispatched Fed Ex, 34-5 and 16-2. In the night games, the Convicts took two from Prime Time, 9-8 and 14-1.

MOTHER'S DAY AND SOFTBALL

SUNDAY, MAY 11
Once upon a time just about every team played on Mother's Day. Not these days and this Sunday that was a good thing for Mother's and some teams. Some of the fields would not have been playable, playable by Major Sports standings that is. The rains that rolled in on Friday left some of Islips fields like quagmires. What do you expect from the Town of Islip. It is just business as usual for them.

Anyway, some teams played and here is how they did. Outfield Pub and Solid Gold split. The Pub took the first one, 9-2 and fell asleep during the second game and woke up, 7-5 losers. Bu Tang and their friends The Kore split games. The Tang won, 12-9 and The Kore answered, 19-4 The Chargers looked good against the tenacious Brentwood Yankees, who did not give up until the last pitch. The Chargers won, 10-7 and 6-4. The Predators were on fire and took the Bonecrushers, 34-8 and 38-9. Th Blue Balls played and took out the Motor Boats, 19-4 and 17-8. Eight Men Out split with the Diamondbacks, winning, 14-12 and losing, 9-8.

In Nassau, Johnson & Hoffman took on the Raging Bulls and they won the first game, 12-10, but the Bulls got theirs in the second game, 23-11. The Bellmore Knights handed the Rockies their first loss of the young season, 19-12 in the second game after the Rockies won the first, 8-3. The Untouchables took one of their arch rivals by beating the Meat, 26-13 and 18-17. Evolution took on and beat Lock & Load, 16-8 and 11-10.

The Suffolk night teams got their games in, but it had to be cold down at Venetian and East Islip Marina. The Islipl Cardinasl took two from M & V Limos, 19-4 and 19-7. The Bulldogs beat Prime Time, 17-5 and the Prime came back with a 20-17 victory. The Bullets empty the jacket on The Contenders, 25-13 and 33-21 down at wind swept EI. The Silver Bullets had a little two much for the Cousins and beat them in a pair. The Ninja Blacksox took on an improved Beers team, but the Blacksox took the games, 12-6 and 14-2. The Beavers won two, 24-12 and 16-13. True Green almost had that second game losing by only 3 runs.

OLD TEAMS AND NEW TEAMS

THURSDAY, MAY 8
Once again, a beautiful night for softball. I had the pleasure on a busy night of driving around and dropping game balls off to some teams and to do see some games. In Suffolk, the old veteran team Double R, they were Golden Hammer for years, played a new team the Marauders. Now the Marauders had some players on that team that have played in my league for years. Ron Land-Wheatley, managed the B52 Bombers in the Sunday Nassau league for 6 years and he is on the Marauders. In the end, the Double R took two, 14-9 and 12-4. From Suffolk County I drove into Island Park at Shell Creek , a great field on the water and it was a starry night, to say the least. Here we had the Mariners, a team that has been in the league for at least 10 years. They matched up with a new team, the Gallery, a nice bunch of guys, who will fit in well with the league match-ups. In the first inning the Mariners opened up with a run and Gallery, in the bottom of the first, put up 13. Some decent hitting, but some dubious fielding led to the 13 runs. Now, the Mariners are a veteran team, so the 13 runs did not seem to faze them in the least. So, in the next 6 innings the Gallery scored 2 runs and the Mariners scored 14 to tie it in the 7th. The Mariners scored one in the top of the 8th to go ahead and looked pumped as they took the field. However, the Gallery got some men on base and with a shot to the gap that the two Mariner outfielders had a shot at the catch, but it fell out of one of the outfielders glove for the winning run. The Gallery took the night cap, 16-3. The Mariners will be in the thick of it to end as the season progresses.

The Zoo took on the Diamond Cutters and took a pair, 15-3 and 21-3. TJ Finley's beat the AC Generals, 9-1 and 16-4.

THE PALL RAIDERS 16 OUT OF 17

TUESDAY, MAY 6
I have been running Major Sports for 17 years. The team that has been in the league for the longest duration is the Pall Raiders with 16 years of competition. The Highway Homers are the next team with the longest duration, 15 years. The Gashouse Gorillas are the third team with the longest duration and that is 14. All those teams opened up their seasons tonight.

The Pall Raiders played a new team the Meatballs last night and the first game was a good one. It went back and forth for 7 innings with a lot of offense on both sides. At the end of 7 innings it was tied at 15. Then the Raiders had a big top of the 8th and put up 7 to take it. The second game only went 4 innings due to time constraints so both teams will get wins. The running Reruns, also a tough team to play, opened up with the Highway Homers. The Reruns took the first game 7-6, but the Homers came back to show the Runs that they can play too. They posted an impressive 18-5 win. The Gashouse Gorillas played the Apaches tonight. The Apaches played in the night division last year. Both teams played well, but the Gorillas scored two more run in the course of the night and won two, 12-11 and 6-5. The Cleveland Steamers opened up with Sal's Place, who came over from Nassau County. The Steamers won the first game 24-11 and Sal's bounced back for a 14-12 win. G.S.E. took on Take It Deep, the old State Property team and G.S.E. won 12-0 and 17-12.

A PERFECT NIGHT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
I had the pleasure of umpiring a doubleheader last night at Hidden Pond. It was a perfect spring night. No wind and 70 degrees. Audiovox played the Brewers, who did me a favor by playing at 6:45pm instead of the usual 8:00pm. Audiovox beat them in 9 innings in the first game, 10-9. In the second game, due to time constraints, both teams will get wins. Audiovox jumped out to a big 12-0 lead after 2, but after Brewer Cody hit a sweet grand slam HR in the 3rd inning to lead an 8-run rally for the Brewers. The game had to end after only 4 innings, so both teams will get wins and I want to thank both teams for their understanding and sportsmanship.

Oscars and their pals the Bulldogs split with the Dogs winning 11-7 and Oscars came back for a 17-6 win. PCI Services took on the newcomers Gios Pizza. PCI took a 18-6 first game win, but Gios came to play and won the second game 17-12. The Manamals took two from CB Crew, 29-4 and 15-5. In Nassau, Showtime took two from Kramerican, 16-4 and 15-7.

SUFFOLK TWILIGHTS KICK OFF

MONDAY, MAY 5
The last division of the summer leagues started last night and that was the Suffolk Twilight Division. At Hidden Pond, the Shamrocks II and the Muckdogs played their first games. The Shamrocks won, 7-4 and 10-6. Da Mutts, back for their second year in the twilight division, played a new team, FedEx. The manager of FedEx, Vinnie Perri played years ago for about 5 years. Da Mutts took them, 21-9 and 16-6. A mismatch in Nassau County had Evolution, not the Sunday morning Nassau Evolution, taking out the Bulldogs, 35-1 and 17-5. The Convicts took on the Rockies and won, 18-0 and 21-9.

A WET, FOGGY START TO SUNDAY

SUNDAY, MAY 4
All indications pointed to a wash out on Sunday morning. As bad as the days following up to Sunday were, Saturday was a nasty, cold and raw day. I did a few fields late Saturday and they were not in the best shape and hoped for the best on Sunday. I got up early on Sunday and the weather channel said by the afternoon it would be 70 degrees and sunny. So, the early teams played on some wet fields, but they dried as the day went on. By the late games on Sunday, it was like summer.

I will start in Nassau where Evolution, the old Terminator team from the early and late 90's, returned for a summer season. They look as if they are back with a something to prove. The beat up a very good Untouchables team, 14-2 and 15-2. The Bellmore Knights took on and beat the Fuzzy Biscuits, 16-8 and 19-7. The Knights remain undefeated at 4-0. The Rockies and The Meat played and this is a short rivalry, but an intense one. They started playing against each other last year in the Autumn Classic League. The Rockies came up on top this past Sunday, 11-10 and 19-11. Lock & Load took on Johnson and Hoffman. The Load came out smoking with a 13-6 win and then just got by with a well played 16-15 win. J&H almost pulled it off.

In Suffolk the Nassau Raging Bulls played out of county because they were an odd amount of teams in Nassau and they liked the field and the outcome. They beat Bu Tang 13-1 and 17-1. Eight Men Out split with the Diamondbacks, losing 9-6 and winning 12-1. The Outfield Pub took on Blue Balls and won, 15-2 and 16-10. Road Kill, the former Oscars Ale House, beat their old rival, Solid Gold. I think Solid Gold is changing their name also. Road Kill won, 11-5 and 9-3. The Titans beat the Chargers, 6-2 and 8-5. The Gorillas dropped two to the Wolfpack. The Rebels sunk the Motor Boaters, 16-4 and 16-3 and the Bonecrushers beat the Brentwood Yankees, 19-0 and 12-2. UTI and the Kore played with UTI winning two, 14-0 and 18-6. After the Sizzlers realized they were playing at 11:15am and not 9am, they mustered and came up with two good games against the Predators, 7-4 and 9-5.

The Sunday night divisions played in beautiful weather and the fields were ideal. M&V Limos took on True Blue and won two, 17-7 and 19-7. Paddy Macdoogles looks good in the early going as they took two from the powerhouse Islip Cardinals, 20-6 and 17-14. The Ninja Blacksox came up with two big wins against the A's, winning 16-10 and 13-10, two good games. The Beavers and Silver Bullets got it on Sunday and split. The Silver's won, 16-14 and the Beavers won, 16-11. The Bullets took on and beat McBrides, 14-13 and 12-10. Two barn burners. The Degenerates beat their pal's, Prime Time, 19-17 and 13-1. The Bulldogs took on The Beers and won, 21-1 and 20-7. The Contenders and Cousins played and the Cousins took the pair.

NIGHT GAMES

THURSDAY, MAY 1
The Zoo had a little to much for the Rockies. Winning two, 16-4 and 17-3. The Zoo is a new team, so I was not sure how good they would be. They seem to have a competitive team, so the schedule will reflect that from here out. The Rockies will win their share before it is all over. The Folkers are back and they dropped two to the Diamond Cutters, 7-2 and 17-3.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
Well, hopefully, April goes out with its showers for the last couple of days. T.J. Finley, last year's Ballbusters, split with G.S.E. Finley's took the first game 12-7 and the G.S.E. took the night cap 20-11. In Nassau, Showtime and Sal's Place split their games. Showtime took the first game 5-3 and Sal's won the second game 17-5.

PLAYING AROUND THE RAIN

SUNDAY, APRIL 27
The talk all weekend was of rain, but we luck out. It held off until late Sunday night, so all the games on Sunday were played.

In Suffolk, Oscars took on Rebels and took two, 5-3 and 20-8. The Sizzlers played Solid Gold and after beating them, 17-3 in the first game, almost got beat in that second game, winning in the end, 8-7. The Outfield Pub and the Wolfpack played two good games. The Pack won the first one, 11-9 and Outfield Pub, had the Pack by about 8 runs at one time, but almost lost the lead. The Pub won, 12-11. Blue Balls bounced back from losing two on opening day to winning two against UTI, 20-9 and 12-5. Eight Men Out and the Kore met at Hidden Pond. The Kore loves to play softball and this year may have their best team in 4 years. The Eight won the first game, 24-5, but the Kore came back to win the second game, 14-12. A big win for the Kore. The Panthers took two from Bu Tang, 16-12 and 21-10. The Diamondbacks and Team Polis(Chargers) split. The Backs won,16-7 and the Chargers won, 6-5.The Brentwood Yankees took a pair form the Motor Boaters, winning, 12-11 and 20-8. The Gorillas took on the Bonecrushers and won two, 15-2 and 11-10. The Titans moved from the night division to Sunday morning and opened up this Sunday by dropping a pair to the Predators, 18-10 and 14-2.

The Nassau division got started this Sunday with 8 or the 10 teams playing. Kennedy Park looks great. They completey re-did the fields. The good part is that they are perfect infields and a fence is going up on #3. The bad part is that Major Sports is losing field #2 to a short Little League fence. We will make the adjustments. The Meat beat their old rivals Lock and Load, 19-11 and 14-13. The Untouchables took two from the Fuzzy Biscuits, 20-8 and 20-10. The Bellmore Bombers won a pair of games beating Johnson and Hoffman, 20-8 and 18-6. The last doubleheader of the day saw the return of the Rockies. A team that played in Major Sports for 10 years from the early to late 90's. Welcome back, boys... they took two from another team that returned to Major Sports, the Raging Bulls, 23-7 and 30-6.

All sixteen teams played at night in Suffolk. M&V took two from the Beers. Cousins took two from the Bulldogs. The Contenders, (the old Cock Diesels) came back to take the first game from True Green, 9-8 and won the second game, 14-2. The Beavers split with McBride, winning, 15-14 and losing 7-3. The Silver Bullets go to, 4-0 by winning two from the Bullets. Paddy Macdoogles looked good taking on the Degenerates, winning, 17-3 and 8-5. Prime Time took two from the Ninja Blacksox. A couple of good teams got it on at Brookwood Hall. The Islip Cardinals and the A's. The Cards won the first game, 8-4 and the A's bounced back to win the night cap, 10-7.

Only for teams in Suffolk have played at night. The Convicts beat State Property for a pair of wins and Prime Time took two from the Rockies. In Nassau, only four teams have played. Kramerica dropped a pair to the Rockies and Evolution beat Showtime in one game and then there was an injury to one of the players, so the second game was never completed.

The rain did come on Monday and Tuesday, so all games on those days were rained out.

MAJOR SPORTS OPENING DAY #17

SUNDAY, APRIL 20
I remember the first Opening Day in 1992 like it was yesterday. Running around in an old Ford pickup the night before cutting the grass on some fields and putting down foul lines with the light from the head lights of my truck. Some of the Sunday morning teams had played on fields that I had to roto-till the infields myself and rake out, Long Acre in Commack and a field in Islip off Commack Road, so they could be playable. Well 17 years and 3,400 teams later, Opening Day is still a busy time, but not like it was in those days. All the fields are as perfect as we can get them and these days those times are just some sweet memories.

The nice thing about this past Sunday's Opening Day was getting to see the return of some of the veteran teams from the past. The Sizzlers are back and with them managers and players like Bob, Paul and Steve and the rest. Also, playing with the Sizzlers is the former manager of aonther one of the renowned veteran teams, Kevin from Still Smokin'. It was nice seeing them all again and they can still get after it. The Sizzlers played for 11 years and Still Smokin for about 13 years. The Bonecrushers are back with Dorian and his crew, the Islip Cardinals, who have enough championship hardware to sink a small boat, are back with Michael at the helm. Last, but not least, is John Mann and his Brentwood Yankees, back for a good time and some softball. Half of the Sunday morning teams have at least 10 years or more in Major Sports. I am very glad to have you all back.

The Sizzlers started off by beating the only team in Major Sports history to go undefeated in 16 years, the Wolfpack. The Sizzlers rallied from behind being down 10-1 and took it 14-13. The Pack came back...for a 7th inning win to split the doubleheader, 10-9. Road Kill, the old Oscars team, took two from the Blue Balls, 9-4 and 7-3. The Rebels played well and beat the Kore, 13-4 and 9-3 The Diamondbacks sunk the Motor Boaters, 9-8 and 9-3. The Outfield Pub, took the first game against Eight Men Out, 12-6. However, the Eight came back in the second game for a 17-16 win. The Predators and Gorillas split as did Team Polis and Solid Gold. The Bonecrushers beat their friends and foes UTI for a pair of wins. Bu Tang took the first game against the Brentwood Yankees, but the Yankees answered with a, 8-6 come from behind win.

The Sunday night division had 12 of the 16 teams in action. The A's looked good beating the Degenerates for a pair, 10-6 and 12-8. The Bulldogs and The Contenders split at Hidden Pond. The Islip Cardinals look tough in the early going beating their rivals the Cousins, 13-1 & 8-2. The Beavers one the first game against the Ninja Blacksox, 11-1 and then the Blacksox answered with a, 9-6 win. The Silver Bullets looked sharp taking two form McBrides. Primetime split with M&V, winning, 14-10 and losing 8-6.

The Nassau Sunday division will start on April 27.

GETTING READY

TUESSDAY, APRIL 7
Well, it is almost that time. Within a couple of weeks all teams will be playing softball.

Here are some updates on starting schedules:
Suffolk Sundays, Morning, Twilight and Nights will start on April 20.

I will call all teams by Monday and tell them were the meeting will be. It will probably be Wednesday or Thursday of next week.

Suffolk Week Nights will start on April 21. There may not be a meeting for the night teams, because I can meet them at the fields on game day with balls and schedules. I will call them by Tuesday to let them know when their first game is.

Nassau Nights some teams will start the last week in April. I will call all teams in the middle of next week.

Nassau Sunday Mornings. They will start on April 28. Work is being done on Kennedy Park and it will not be done until the week before the 28th. They are re-doing the softball fields.

Suffolk Twilights will start the week of May 5.

I will be away for the next 5 days, so if you need me call me at, 631.666.1360. I will not have internet access.

Looking forward to a great 17th year of softball at Major Sports for all the teams.

MARCH MADNESS

THURSDAY, MARCH 20
This is the month the managers and players realize that April and the start of the softball season is almost at hand. The phone and the applications come in slow and steady during February. However, when it gets to the middle of March the phone messagres, emails and applications flood in.

I hope that everyone has an enjoyable Easter Sunday and I will be speaking to you all very soon.

WELCOME TO MAJOR SPORTS FOR 2008

This will be the 17th year for Major Sports and I am looking forward to getting started and having a great 2008 softball season. For the 16 previous seasons my mission has been to provide the softball teams and the players with the best softball experience possible. Each and every year all I try to do is get a little better at what I do in running Major Sports.

This is the first year that Major Sports will be a one and one count league. About 30 to 40 percent of the games have been played with a one-and-one count over the last couple of years. I hope that the teams will understand the switch and will be able to enjoy the games just as much as they would if it was a regular-count game. The switch is just a sign of the times. Most leagues have been one-and-one count for years.

REGISTRATION FOR 2008

This year I will be sending out hard copy of the application to all the teams for the 2008 season. In the next two weeks I will sending them out and I will be calling the managers to make sure I have their correct addresses. If anyone would like to email me their address, please do.

When the mangers receive the hard copy they are to fill it out and mail it back to Major Sports with a $250.00 deposit. This year I will also have meetings a few days before the start of each division as I used to do in the past. At the meetings the teams will get a few weeks of schedule, game balls, score books and some other league information and the league fee will be paid in full at that time.

The times and dates of the meetings will be posted on the website and I will also contact the managers by phone.

SUFFOLK NIGHT DIVISION 2008

This is the first division that fills up and since I can only take 18 teams, for those who want to play in it I suggest you get your applications in with your deposits as soon as you can. When I reach 18 teams I will not take anymore. With 18 teams two teams will have a bye each week, but it gives me more flexibility with the schedule for the teams.

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