DAMAGE, INC. TAKE TWO

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1
The rains came, the rain went, a likely start to July. However, we got the games in. Damage, Inc. took two close games from the Gas House Gorillas over at Venetian, 6-4 and 6-5. The Horsemen and Master Batters got to play. With one team not being able to play, I had to change some games around. These two teams played each other last week, but at least they played. Two teams had to sit yesterday, because their opponents could not make the games. The Horsemen won the first game, 11-8 and the Master Batters came back for a 8-5 win.

A few teams said they want to play this week, but it is looking bleak. Some teams has already said they want to play and then they don't want to play. I just do not want to be the messenger if I set up two teams and one of those teams backs out two hours before game time. It happened on Memorial Day weekend twice. So we will see.

WARRIORS TAKE A PAIR

TUESDAY, JUNE 30
The last day of June was dry and the teams played on well-groomed fields. The Warriors took two games from PCI Services, 14-2 and 17-10.  Ken, the manager of PCI, says he is having a tough time getting players down to the games. Sometimes teams just cannot lock in players. Gios took one of their games against Oscars after they dropped the first one. Oscars won 14-8 and the Gios won 5-4.

MUCKDOGS SWEEP

MONDAY, JUNE 28
It was a beautiful night for softball. After last week when one of the teams mis read their schedule the poor Muckdogs were left all dressed up with no one to play. By game time yesterday it looked as if they might be all dressed up with no one to play again. The AC Generals only had 4 players at game, because sadly, the manager had to put his dog down. However, the sun was shining and it was shining on the Muckdogs. The AC's mustered with 8 and the Dogs, yes there was still life left in these dogs, went on to take two,18-10 and 19-7.

GSI and the Silver Bullets met up at the Pond and GSI came out with some offense and took the first game, 9-7. The Bullets bounced back and took the second game, 9-7.

The Kore and the Diamondbacks split in their Suffolk match up. The Kore won, 5-1 and the Diamond's won going away, 18-4. The Gorillaz had two big games against the Road Kill, winning, 11-6 and 11-6. UTI came out smoking and took two from the Butang, 22-8 and 14-9. The Rebels took a big win from a tough Predators team in 9 innings, 13-12. Then the Predators got predatory and took it out on the Rebels, 13-1. A Suffolk-Nassaau match up had two teams facing off for the first time ever and these teams have at leat 28 collective years in Major Sports. Evolution and Platinum Hits. The Hits kept coming for the Platinums, winning two from a very good Evolution team, Blue Balls took two from Prime Time, 9-4 and 7-2. Outfield Pub was ready to play the up and coming Panthers. The Panthers never had a chance to roar in the first game, losing, 9-0. Not much offense in that second game for either team, but the Pub won, 5-3. Two old friends met up for a pair a games Keep It Green and the Brentwood Yankees. Mutual friends on both teams, mutual fans on both teams. It was like a mutual admiration society get together. Of course, the teams split by the same scores, 7-6 and 7-6. A perfect end to a perfect day of softball.

THE 4TH OF JULY BREAK

SUNDAY, JUNE 28
Before I get into the scores of the games for this past Sunday I want to post this. I was going to call all the teams and try and put together a schedule for those teams that want to play. However, I know what will happen on one or more of douleheaders. One of the teams will call me two hours before the game and cancell it. So, no games this weekend. We might triple up on two of the make up weekends. Plan on doing so.

The Degenerates took two from the Smithtown F.D., 8-5 and 4-2. Two big wins for "5150" they took two from JJK, 6-3 and 5-3. The Slackers split with The Go Hards, winning, 18-8 and losing, 12-11. McBrides took the fist game from 12 Angry Men, 20-8 and both teams will get a win, because they tied, 17-17, before the umpire and his laziness decided he did not want to finish the game. I will take care of him. He is a NSA umpire, not mine.

In Nassau, the Diamondbacks and Untouchables split. The D's won, 9-6 and loss, 9-6. The Rockies looked strong aganist the high flying Bellmore Knights. The Knights came in with 1 loss, but the Rockies pierced their armor and hung two losses on them. Winning, 12-5 and 17-5. The Meat had a little two much for the Ballbreakers, winning, 9-3 and 22-12. Lock & Load and the Raging Bulls traveled into Suffolk for a pair at the Homer Dome, The Load was hot and took two from the Bulls, 13-3 and 14-4.

THANKS SILVER BULLETS

THURSDAY, JUNE 25
PCI Services called me at 11am and told me they could not get their team down there (This happen three times this week, I got two teams to muster in 5 hours, but please, try and give me a heads up the day before you cannot play so I can get a team to replace you) With one call to the manager, Vinnie of the Silver Bullets, he said he could get his team down to play Double R. After having to move the teams, because the Town of Islip, once again giving no clue as to what they are doing had teams on my field. We made the move and got them in. Double R took two, 20-8 and 13-5.

Sportin' Wood had a good week. They played Monday and Thursday, they were one of the teams that filled in with not a lot of notice, they won all four games. They beat Organized Chaos, 10-5 and 6-4.

THE GROUNDS CREW AT WORK....

Before....

And After.....


Play Ball!

HORSEMEN AND GAS HOUSE SWEEP

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
I mean are you kidding me. When is the rain going to stop. I am out of town, but never far from the phone or computer to look in on the weather channel. I see no rain in the forecast, I go out for a long run and when I return I have 8 messages on my phone asking me if the games are rained out. I do the little chinese fire drill, calling umpires to get local updates and at 5pm it is the point of no return, I just have the teams show up at the fields and hope for the best. We did get them in, but down at Venetian it was a wet two games. The Gas House Gorillas beat a very good Reruns team, 7-6 and 9-1. Two big wins the the House. Up at Hidden Pond the Horsemen met up with the Master Batters. Two close games with the Horsemen galloping to two wins, 14-12 and 11-1.

The Weekend Warriors did not play because the Highway Homers could not get a full team down to the field. I want to thank the manager of the Weekend Warriors for being a gentleman about it when I passed that message on to him. Look, teams want to play and some players take time off from work to play. So, when the messenger tells some teams that their game is off because a team cannot muster I can feel the frustration coming through the phone. Thanks, Gary.

APACHES ON WARPATH

TUESDAY, JUNE 23
The first year the Apaches were in the league was three years ago. They played in the Suffolk night division. At that time I had some real good teams in that division and on the days the Apaches could play they had to match up with the best of those teams. So, their first year was a little tough. Not many wins and a lot of frustration. They came into their own last year playing good softball in the Suffolk twilight division. This year they are taking on the best in the division and coming up with impressive wins. Tonight they beat a formidable team in the Warriors, 11-10 and 16-9.

The Renegades are another team that are playing their best softball in a couple of years. Last night they did not win two, but split with a hungry Gios Pizza team. The Renegades won, 7-3 and Gios took out a couple of weeks of losing some real close games by beating the "Gades, 13-0.

SHAMROCKS AND SPORTIN' WOOD SWEEP

MONDAY, JUNE 22
First things. My apologies to the Shamrocks and Silver Bullets for the field not being done. I am out of town, but always make arrangements to have the fields done. The individual who said he would do it and he did do the Brook Wood fields, plane out saw the rain and copped out. He thought it would rain out the game and it did not and he did not do his work. Then he tried to tell me the fields were not playable. I know different. Again, my apologies. The poor Muck Dawgs were ready to go, but Gios Pizza read the schedule wrong. When I got the call from Keith, the manager of the Mucker's saying there was no team at the field I knew that is what happened. The manager of Gios got to me about 7pm and was very apologetic and felt bad about missing the game. Gios like the Muck Dawgs, show up about a half hour before the games. So, when there were no players at all at game time I knew what had happened. Life goes on...

The Shamrocks took two from the Silver Bullets on a ruddy Hidden Pond field, 8-5 and 7-4. Sportin' Wood took their first double header by beating the AC Generals, 7-1 and 11-7.

MOTHER NATURE OR MOTHER F&%$@#...

SUNDAY, JUNE 21
Well, I have seen fire and needless to say,I HAVE SEEN RAIN... What a wet spring and wet start of the summer. I reflected back to last fall and the Autumn Classic league of 2008 and if you all remember it was rain out city the whole fall. I had teams doing 3 games two weeks in a row to make up some games, I will do that for the Sunday teams in the next couple of weeks. So, it has without a doubt been the rainiest four months ever for Major Sports.

With all that said, some teams did play on Sunday. It says a lot about at Town, that is the Town of Hempstead that will go out and work on fields early Sunday morning to get games in. The 8:30am starts were a washout, but the Diamondbacks and Ball Breakers got two in at 12pm, The Backs took two, 14-2 and 12-4. In Suffolk all morning games were washed, but I saw a window of opportunity to work on some fields and I got two fields up and running. Hidden Pond was one of them and the Degenerates took two from the Beavers, 15-7 and 5-4. The night game was a split with the Bulldogs winning, 14-2 and Smithtown F.D. winning, 11-10.

The only other field I got up to speed was Brook Wood North. I was working on that field for two hours bucketing clay onto the really wet spots. One of the players showed up an hour before the game saw the field and looked at me and said, "No way is this field going to be playable". I had to make a believer out of him. The Grand Sorcerer of the the Toro Tractor, the Marquis de Sod would not be denied.

At 5pm it was ready for a double header,looking real nice I might add,  to much thanks from both teams for a job well done. The poetry of it all was both teams won a game each by one run.

WASHOUT CITY

THURSDAY, JUNE 18
Well, it is hard to believe, but we had another wash out. Mother Nature is pounding us and it does not look promising for this weekend. However, the grounds crew (that would be me) will be ready and diligent in hopes of getting some games in this weekend.

GSI LOOKING GOOD

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17
GSI has been in the league 3 out of the last 4 years. This year they have played their best softball out of those 3 years. They beat the Highway Homers, 13-1 and  8-3. The Masters Batters, the newest team in the league, three weeks, and the Raiders, one of the oldest teams in the league, 16 out the 18 years of Major Sports, played last night. The Batters got the best of the Raiders in the first game, 19-14 and both teams got a win in the second, because they had tied after 6 innings, 9-9.

My apologies to the Gas House Gorillas and the Weekend Warriors for the condtions of Venetian Shore. The Town of Babylon does not let me do it and it was very rough yesterday. It is amazing, because they have a machine right in that little shack of theirs and they do not have the common sense to take 5 minutes to do the field. I have been there many a time and have been denied when I have asked to do the field, as they sat in that shack in the middle of the day doing NOTHING. I will look into it and will sneak over again if I have to.

WARRIORS AND APACHES SWEEP

TUESDAY, JUNE 16
It was nice to see the sun for a change. The twilight division is moving along with most of the teams getting all their games in even with this wet weather. The Warriors met up with PCI Services and the Warriors were on their game. They took two, 16-9 and 11-10. That second game was a heart breaker for PCI. A one run loss. The Apaches in their third year with Major Sports, are collecting some scalps. They took two from Gios Pizza, 16-9 and 8-6. Gios has a nice team, but playing most of their games on Tuesdays is tough, because some of the big guns play on Tuesday, also. They always hold their own and will get their share of wins as the season moves on.

SHAMROCKS, RENEGADES AND SILVER BULLETS SWEEP

MONDAY, JUNE 15
As bad as the weather has been, we are still getting a lot of games in. To me, that is all that matters. The Muck Dawgs took on the Silver Bullets and the Bullets got the best of them for a two game sweep,18-6 and 11-4. The Shamrocks look good taking on a Damage, Inc. team. Two wins for the Shamrocks, 14-2 and 17-2. The Renegades met up with the AC Generals and took a pair, 15-6 and 22-16.

WE GOT THEM IN AGAIN

SUNDAY, JUNE 14
More rain than I can remember and I have been doing this for 18 years. I woke up early Sunday to look at the weather channel and looked at a huge rain storm just passing north of Long Island. We lucked out. After working on the fields all day on Saturday I would have been a little annoyed if Mother Nature would have knocked out those games. However, we played in the morning and by the afternoon it was a sunny day.

The Kore and Diamondbacks split. The Kore, won, 6-4 and the Backs, won, 11-2. The Panthers are coming of age and playing real good softball. They took two more this Sunday against a veteran Platinum Hits team, 12-6 and 20-9. Road Kill ran over Eight Men Out for two wins, 22-4 and 17-8. Blue Balls took the first game from the Outfield Pub, 15-12. The Pub came back for a,9-7 win.The Rebels took two from UTI, 10-4 and 17-5. Prime Time and Butang split. Prime won, 13-6 and Butang won, 17-9. Friends on the field, friends off the field. Keep It Green and the Brentwood Yankees split. The Green won, 3-1 and the Brentwood Yankees won, 8-6. A big game was the Predators and Gorillaz. Two good teams and both teams went home with wins.

In Nassau, the Untouchables took two from their pals the Ballbreakers, winning, 13-1 and 13-1. Lock & Load and the Bellmore Knights split two good games. Evolution came back to return the favor from two wet wins for the Rockies over at Shell Creek in a rain soaked doubleheader. The Rockies won in April and Evolution won today, 18-5 and 23-15. The Diamondbacks got two wins from a depleted Raging Bulls team, who only had 9 players. The Backs won, 22-16 and 21-0.

It was a long day for the Heavy Hitters. They played 4 games to catch up with some of the other teams in games played. Unfortunately, they dropped all 4 of them. Losing two to Smithtown F.D. and the Bulldogs. McBrides took a pair from Top Gun in a pair of good games. McBrides are coming on. Top Guns were, 7-1 going into that doubleheader. JJK took two from 12 Angry Men. The Degenerates took two, as did "5150". Old friends met up at for two The Go Hards and the Beavers. The Go's won, 12-9 and the Beavers won, 13-3.
    

OSCARS AND RERUNS ROLL

THURSDAY, JUNE 11
A wet, rainy week, but we got most of them in. Tuesday was the only wash out. The fields were game ready last night and so were Oscars and Reruns. Oscars took on Sportin Wood and won, 13-1 and 18-6. The Reruns met up with Double R and took two from them, 10-5 and 5-4. Even with all the rain this year, we are in good shape with the amount of games played. A couple of teams are behind, but with the weather we have had this could have been a real disaster. So far, so good.

RENEGADES & WEEKEND WARRIORS SWEEP

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10
After a long afternoon of getting the fields ready we got them in. The Weekend Warriors played the Horsemen and took two. Winning, 20-8 and 19-7. A note to all teams, if you get run ruled after the 5th inning you do not get your final at bat if you are the home team. There was a question about that in this doubleheader. The Renegades came out strong and took two from the Master Batters, 14-0 and 18-4. Over at Venetian the Gashouse Gorillas took the first game from Damage, Inc.,11-4 and the Inc. came back for a stunning, 3-0 victory.

MONDAY, MONDAY

MONDAY, JUNE 8
The week got off to a good start, I think Tuesday's games will be a washout and Wednesdays could be rain-out mode too, we will see.

The Warriors filled in for Chaos, who could not play, and took on a hot GSI team. The Warriors evened up their record at 4-4, taking two from GSI, 16-7 and 13-1. The Muck Dawgs got back to playing softball and split with the AC Generals, winning 18-6 and dropping the night cap to AC 18-17. The Shamrocks took the first game from the Silver Bullets 8-3, and then both teams tied when time ran out 10-10. Both teams will get wins for the tie.

SUNNY SUNDAY

SUNDAY, JUNE 7
After the deluge on Friday, I knew my work was cut out for me on Saturday,all day, and Sunday morning getting the fields game ready. The nice day on Saturday dried the fields up and I did the rest.

M&V Limos is out of the Sunday night league. They forfeited last week and after me calling him 3 times, talking to the manager each time, but he kept telling me that HE was HIS brother and that HE was not in. Thanks for the money and enjoy the summer...

Road Kill met up with the Gorillaz in a good match up. The Gorillaz were winning in the first game but the Kill came up with a bunch of runs in the top of the 7th to take the win. The Gorillaz came back for a, 10-6 win. It was nice talking to the boys on Keep It Green. I asked them what the name meant and they told me. Keep It Green and Keep Up The Good Work, guys. They split with the Diamondbacks. The Kore took on their pals Butang. The Kore is playing good softball and took two from the Tang, 28-5 and 12-7. UTI took two close games from the fun loving Brentwood Yankees, 12-10 and 7-6. Two good games. The Panthers came out real slow against Eight Men,The Out had  them in the first game until the 7th when the Panthers got their hitting shoes on and put up 13 runs for a 20-8 win. They took the next game, 18-13. Blue Balls met up with Platinum Hits. To competitive teams, two good games, one win each. The Balls won, 12-9 and The Hits won, 18-7. Prime Time took two from the Rebels, 6-4 and 10-8. The Outfield Pub took two from their rivals the Predators, 19-7 and 5-3.

In Nassau, the Bellmore Knigths are playing the best softball they have ever played in this league. They could always compete with any team, but this year they have cut through some tough teams. They took two from the high flying Rockies, 9-4 and 7-5. They are now 8-0 Lock & Load took a pair from the Ballbreakers, who were the Wizards of Oz. The Untouchables took a pair from their dear friends the Raging Bulls, 18-7 and 10-9. Evolution and The Meat played two and each team went home with a win. Evolution won, 17-5 and The Meat won, 12-8. The Nassau schedule is done and will go in the mail on Tuesday.

Sunday night divisions had some nice match ups. The Slackers and the Sluggers split at Brookwood Hall. Smithtown F.D. took on The Go Hards and both teams went home with a win. The Hards won, 7-6 and F.D. won, 7-6. Old fores the Denerates and JJK met up and as it happens most times when two good teams meet up the teams split the doubleheader. The D's won, 20-16 and Zillaz's won, 15-13. McBrides took two from the Beavers, 18-12 and 19-18. "5150" split with the Bulldogs. They lost 24-16 and won, 15-13. 12 Angry Men took on Top Gun and the teams split. The 12 won, 12-10 and Top Gun came back for a, 8-7.

A little side bar. McBrides has been playing some good softball lately. They have come back in the 7th inning of a couple of their last wins. This week they won one of their games with a 2 out homer in the bottom of the 7th. They may not have the talent they use to have, as they brought to my attention, but they are having as much fun as ever. Before it is all over, McBrides will be a team to contend with.

WE GOT TWO IN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3
With even a hint of rain on any given day the phone starts ringing. Is the game on...Is it rained out... The rain is cominm, etc. etc. That is what I do all day if there is a threat of games being rained out. I just try and assess if I think we can get them in. Last night was a good call for the teams that played in the south of Long Island. Venetian and Brookwood Hall games were played. The Hidden Pond games were not. All the teams mustered, as they should have, and we got in two out of the three. The Apaches are playing good softball, they took two from Damage, Inc. 24-14 and 16-15.  The Gas House Gorillas met up with a team that just got started, because of college, the Master Batters. The House took the first game, 12-9 and the Batters came back for a, 13-10 win for their first victory. The Highway Homers and Raiders showed up at Hidden Pond, but decided it was to wet to play.


PCI SERVICES SWEEP

TUESDAY, JUNE 2
A tough team that because of the days (day) they play most of their games on, always matches up with a tough opponent, and that team is Gios Pizza. Tuesday is their day and on that day most of the toughest teams in Major Sports play. Oscars, Warriors and PCI Services. Now, there are other teams in that Suffolk Twilight that are as tough as those teams. However, all of those teams have Tuesday as their day and so does Gios Pizza. PCI took both games, one was by the score of, 3-2 and the second game was a barn burner, 17-14. Gios will win their share of games before the season is over. The Renegades split with the Warriors. Two low scoring games. The Warriors won, 4-3 and the Renegades won, 3-1.


SWEEP CITY

MONDAY, JUNE 1
The first games of June, I just like saying that month, JUNE...It is usually the end of the real nasty spring weather even though it is not quite the summer solstice yet, that would be the first day of summer June 20. Six teams played and three teams walked away with two wins. All good games and all good match ups. The Muck Dogs got back to doing what they love doing and that is playing softball on Monday nights. The met up with Organized Chaos, who have played some tough teams their last two weeks. So, it was a nice match up and the boys from Chaos took two, 23-4 and 16-11. The Horsemen took on the AC Generals and they took a pair, 17-5 and 7-5. The Horsemen's first sweep of the season. Up at Hidden Pond Park GSI, who are playing as good as anyone in the twilight divisions took two from a game Silver Bullets team, 14-10 and 15-10. Let's hope the rain holds off for Tuesday.

BACK TO PLAYING SOFTBALL

SUNDAY, MAY 31
I am always glad when May passes into history, because it is always a busy month getting all the teams up and running and you never know if it is going to be 85 degrees and sunny or 45 degrees and raining. Well, the last Sunday in May was a nice one, but not the Friday leading up to it when the rains fell and the winds whip. One or two fields were a little slushy on Sunday, but we got the games in. My apologies to the Rebels and Sluggers. Keep It Green only had half a team, so they forfeited to the Rebels and M & V Limo called at 1pm to say they would not have a full squad. I started calling the Sluggers manager at 1:15pm, put could not reach him. I kept calling and calling, but no luck. The Sluggers showed up, but had to be told they had no game. They were very nice about it and they told me their manager was in Cancun and that is why I could not connect with him.

Also, my thanks to the Rockies and Untouchables for going into Suffolk to play. With a lack of one field in Nassau they were nice enough to make the trip in. I get my field back in Nassau in a week, so now I can send out the schedules to those Nassau teams. Once again, thanks to those all managers and players for their kindness and patience.

The Outfield Pub took two from Road Kill on a slushy field at Brookwood South. They won, 11-6 and 15-7. The Predators had two much for Prime Time, taking two, 21-5 and 12-2. UTI got back to playing ball and split with Blue Balls. They won the first game, 13-4 and dropped the second game to the Balls, 18-11. The Brentwood Yankees took the first game against The Kore, 5-4 and The Kore bounced back for a close and well played, 9-8 victory. Platinum Hits played their old foes, Eight Men Out and both teams went home with wins. The Hits won, 16-9 and the Eight won, 14-13. The Panthers have only been in the league for two years, but in those two years have proved they can play with the best of them. They met up with the formidable Gorillas and lost a hard played first game, 17-12, but came back for a big, 13-6 victory in the second game. The Diamonbacks and Butang, split their two games.

In Nassau, Lock & Load dropped two to a tough Evolution team. These teams have been going at it for 14 to 15 years. The scores, 13-11 and 9-6. Always close games and good games. The Bellmore Knights had two much offense for the Diamondbacks. They took two, 15-1 and 23-11. The Meat took two from the Raging Bulls, 30-5 and 21-7. The Rockies won their games against the Untouchables, 7-3 and 13-9.

The only scores I have from the late games are the Degenerates taking two from the Heavy Hitters, 16-5 and 96. JJK taking two from the Smithtown Fire Department, 11-7 and 11-3. Down at Brookwood, 12 Angry Men beat The Go Hards in the first game, 7-5, but Hards came back in the second game for a sweet, 12-5 win.

SILVER BULLETS ARE
PLAYING GOOD SOFTBALL

THURSDAY, MAY 28
The Silver Bullets have come a long way in two short years. Last year they played as Fed Ex and had a bunch of up and coming players, not a strong team at all, but they could hold their own every now and then. This year Vinnie Perri, the manager told me they had step it up a notch and their schedule reflects his call for some more competition. So, far this year they have split with two of the top teams in the Suffolk Twilight divisions. They split with the Warriors, for years the Bulldogs, and yesterday took a second game, 13-12 from the always formidable Reruns. The Runs took the first game, 12-2. The Shamrocks took two from Double R, 13-8 and 13-5.


GSI SWEEPS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27
GSI took on Organized Chaos and put up some offense against them. Organized Chaos is a new team and with no point of reference you never know what competition level they will be comfortable with. Anyway, GSI took two, 18-6 and 21-5. The Gas Hose Gorillas split with the Weekend Warriors. They won the first game, 10-8 and the Warriors came back for a, 13-12 victory. The Horsemen and the Raiders split with the Raiders taking the first game, 19-12 and the Horsemen came charging back for a, 10-9 victory.

UPDATE: APACHES TAKE TWO
FROM PCI SERVICES

TUESDAY, MAY 26
Sometimes you just get the scores wrong. With cell phones these days it is hard to hear the scores. I made a mistake by saying the Apaches split, when in reality they took two. They won that second game, 18-10. So, it was a very good night to be an Apache!

NOTHING LIKE BEATING YOUR DEAR FRIENDs

TUESDAY, MAY 26
In the annals of sports there is nothing like beating your someone you are close to. Oscars and the Warriors met up last night, the Warriors are last years Bulldogs, and both teams were juiced before, during and after the games. Jay Finneran, one of the big dogs for the Warriors plays with Road Kill, the old Oscars on Sunday morning. As do one or two of his children. So, when the teams meet before the game it is handshakes and pleasantries before the first pitch, but after that the competitive fire starts to flame and it is, "Katie bar the door"... Last night with good pitching from Gary Smith, Oscars took two, 10-3 and 17-7. As the sun set the teams mingled and reflected on a nice night of softball among friends.

The Apaches thought they were going to be out gunned as they got to the field. PCI has a formidable team, put so do the Apaches when they play well. The Apaches drew first blood and got a,7-6 win. Then PCI settle in and bounced back for a 18-10 victory.

THE NASSAUS SUNDAY SCHEDULES

TUESEDAY, MAY 26
All the schedules have been completed except the Nassau Sunday morning schedule. Since the beginning of the season we have been on a week to week schedule, as were some of the teams in Suffolk County. At the beginning of the year it is impossible for me to complete all the schedules at the same time. So, my main priority is making sure all teams know where they are going a couple of days ahead. All the schedules are now done and sent out, if one or two teams do not have them as of yet it is because I do not have their address. All the schedules, except the Nassau Sunday morning schedule.

For ten years the Town of Hempstead has given Major Sports at least one slot with a 9:00am starting time(usually Seamans Park or Newbridge Park)and on every other Sunday I have two slots with 9:00am starting times. This year when I went to pick up my permits, I was told that they made a mistake and handed out my allotment to someone else. Now, the individuals who run the Town of Hempstead are the nicest and have always gone out of their way to help me out and I am sure other leagues, too. So, my first reaction was to just see what could be done to work things out. They said they would reel some back in, but it would be in the middle of June and on through the summer. They asked that I call each week to find out if someone had given back a Sunday morning field and if they did I would get it. However, week in and week out for the last month there were no fields given back. Honest mistakes are made and they said I would get my fields back next year, but this year it has been a little disconcerting for me and the Nassau morning teams. I few said they would not mind coming into Suffolk for a doubleheader or two and we have done that. So, the update is I will start to get my one and then two fields back soon enough. I have Newbridge Park every Sunday at 1:30pm, but teams did not sign up for and afternoon league and I understand that. So, I hope the Nassau teams can bear with me for another two weeks and then I will start to get at least one of the fields back each Sunday starting June 14(except, June 28) and on a few of those Sunday I will have two fields and Kennedy Park for morning games. Thanks for your cooperation and I appreciate the respect and patience you all have shown. So, I will call the teams this week and get this schedule finished up.


TOP GUNS  AND PLATINUM HITS SWEEP

MONDAY, MAY 25
There were suppose to be four doubleheaders go off this weekend, three did in Suffolk and the one in Nassau did not. The Top Guns took two from the Slackers. The Top Guns started late because of some players in college, so they made up a doubleheader.  The Panthers split with the Rebels and Platinum Hits took a pair from The Kore.

A NICE WEEK FOR SOFTBALL

THURSDAY, MAY 21
After what seemed like weeks of rain, we had a great week of weather and all the twilight teams got their games in on dry turf. Double R and the Reruns took advantage of the great weather and posted two wins each. Double R took on and beat Organized Chaos, 22-6 and 18-5. Organized Chaos is a new team and I think I put them up against some teams that were a notch better. I will adjust that schedule a little for them. The Reruns took on Sportin' Wood, the hybrid ex Techno Cats team, made up of some old and some new players. The Runs were the sporting wood on this night beat S.W., 13-1 and 16-9. Likewise with Sportin' Wood, I think I will have to adjust their schedule a bit. With a new team you never know how they shape up until you see some scores come across. Both teams will do fine as the season moves on.

DAMAGE, INC. AND THE RENEGADES SWEEP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20
Damage, Inc. one of the few new teams in the Suffolk Twilight division took two from the Raiders at Brookwood Hall. Winning, 11-10 and 8-7. Two good games for Damage and the Raiders, even though the Raiders came up on the short end of both games. My thanks to the Gas House Gorillas for taking a bye this week at Venetian when they were schedule. They vacated so that the Weekend Warriors and the AC Generals could get their first games in against each other. The W. Warriors took the first game, 17-5 and the AC took the second game, 5-4. The Renegades, last years Brewers, have turned it up a notch. They added a few players and took two from a formidable Highway Homer team, 14-4 and 16-3.

PCI SERVICES TAKE TWO

TUESDAY, MAY 19
PCI Services met up with Gios Pizza and took a pair. Winning, 24-5 and 15-9. The Apaches got started after a couple of weeks of rain and the Town of Islip going back and forth with field allocations. They played Oscars and both teams went home with a win. The Apaches won the first game, 10-9 and Oscars came back for a, 15-9 victory.

ALL TEAMS ARE UP AND PLAYING

MONDAY, MAY 18
After what seemed like non stop rain for three weeks it looks like a good week for softball. The Silver Bullets, last years, Fed Ex team, has added some good softball players and are playing good softball. Any team that can go toe to toe with the Warriors, last years Bulldogs, shows that they are a solid team. The Warriors took the first game, 10-2 and then the Bullets came back for a. 15-4 victory. The Shamrocks split with GSI, with the Rocks winning 10-2 and GSI winning, 15-3. Both teams were without some of their good players, so it worked out fine. The Muck Dogs got two wins because their opponent showed up with 7 players.

WE GOT A FEW GAMES IN

SUNDAY, MAY 17
I was in Florida the whole winter and I think it rained five days in five months. I have been here about 35 days and I think it has rained about 20 of those days. Even with all the rain we have still had the opportunity to get a lot of softball in around the rain drops. Now, we have been able to do that, because I have been able to work the fields with the machine and get some of the fields just playable for some of the games.
     In Nassau we got 3 doubleheaders in during the morning and in Suffolk no games were played in the morning. The Bellmore Knights are smoking. They took two from Evolution last week and took two from Lock and Load this week. They beat Lock & Load, 11-5 and 14-3. Evolution got in the winning column by beating The Meat in two games, 9-7 and 7-6. The Raging Bulls played the Wizards of Ox again, just because they match up well and they could in Suffolk. What I did on Saturday was check out the small field at Kennedy Park, the one on the left when you get to the fields. There is that Little League fence in left at 210 feet, but 70% of that outfield is open. Here is a little side bar for you, the old Polo Grounds where the Giants use to play and the Mets played back in 1961 to 1963. Do you know what it was down the foul lines? 259FT and 262ft.That was a Major League stadium.So, that secondary field is short in left, but it is a nice field. The Raging Bulls took two from Oz.
     In Suffolk 3 doubleheaders were played in the evening, 4 doubleheades had to be cancelled due to field conditions. The Degenerates took two from M & V Limos, 10-9 and 6-4. The Bulldogs took it out on 12 Angry Men, winning, 15-0 and 12-0. The Top Guns got their first games in with The Go Hards. They took two, 15-3 and 17-5.
     Schedules are done and will go in the mail today and tomorrow and I will call all the Sunday teams to see who wants to play this week. A few teams will, must teams do not want to.
     Have a nice Memorial Day weekend and think of and thank our men and woman who defend us and who have defended us over the years of this great country. As George Orwell, who wrote, 1984,said, " We can sleep peacefully at night, because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us." Well put, George.

RERUNS AND SPORTIN' WOOD SWEEP

THURSDAY, MAY 14
We got the games in around the rain and darkness. The Reruns won, 14-13 and 9-7 in two games. The second game did not go a full 5 innings so I will work something out for the teams. Sportin' Wood, which in reality is the core from the old Techno Cats, that is Lew Cordina and his sons, took two from Organized Chaos,14-2 and 18-8.


GAS HOUSE GORILLAS AND HIGHWAY HOMERS WIN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
The Suffolk Twilight division is starting to get some games in. I hope I can get them in on Thursday as rain is in the forecast. Last night the Horsemen gave the Gorillas a fight in the first game, but lost a close one 8-7. Then the Gas House got going and took the night cap, 18-6. Thanks to Anthony and the Horsemen for making the trip to Venetian. Anthony Manco is one of many real gentlemen managers. My type of guy. Damage, Inc. a new team that is a pleasant addition to the league, split with GSI. GSI took the first game, 15-14 and Damage can back for a, 4-1 win. The Highway Homers met up with their rivals the Raiders, taking two, 9-7 and 19-5.

SCHEDULES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
First, I want to thank all of the teams for their patience in waiting for their final schedules. All schedules will be done by this Friday, May 15. I will be calling all Sunday teams for their games this week, Sunday, May 17. Then I will be sending out those schedules that I do not drop off on Sunday. For the Suffolk Twilight teams I will call them for their games next week and drop off or mail out their final schedules. It took a little longer to finish them due to waiting for my final field allocations.Once again, I want to thank all the managers and players for displaying their flexibility and patience.

All standings will be posted by Monday and updated two to three times a week.

WARRIORS TAKE THEIR FIRST TWO

TUESDAY, MAY 12
The Warriors, last years Bulldogs, got off to a good start on a cloudy night at Brookwood Hall. They took the first game, 9-1 and the second one, 8-3. Two old foes, PCI Services and Oscars, met for a pair. PCI took the first game, 9-8 and Oscars bounced back for a,12-10 win.

Twitter and Lance Armstrong: A Winning Strategy


Lance Armstrong and friend Kevin Lynch training in Kona, Hawaii

Also see: Mike's brother Kevin mentioned on Lance Armstrong's Twitter blog.

MAJOR SPORTS SOFTBALL 2009

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15
Well, gentleman, I hope you all had a nice holiday season as 2008 faded into the history books. It seems like it was only yesterday when I returned from a trip to Florida in 1992 and decided that I would start Major Sports Softball. That was 18 years ago and over that span of time 3367 teams have played in Major Sports.

The evolution of softball on Long Island since 1992 has been epic in more ways than one. First, back in 1992 there were so many more softball leagues it was hard to believe. It seemed that every year there were  leagues that came and went with the bigger and better ones getting most of the teams. At least 50 leagues have come and gone since, 1992. If my memory serves me correctly without doing any hard research, there must have been 30 to 40 softball leagues operating each year. The big guns in those days were Wesco Sports, Spartan Sports and Alliance, which did modified only. I know for a fact that Spartan Sports had over 300 teams in one of their summer leagues around 1986. Leagues came and went as fast as the pretenders who ran them realized it was a work intensive running a good softball league.

I started in 1992 and I believe ABA Sports started the following year, 1993. My first year I did not start advertising my league until the middle of February and I still got 90 teams for that first season. That is 90 teams with no night teams. All the teams played on Sunday or Twilight. Some of the fields I used were given to me as afterthoughts by some school districts. Commack,  Islip and Copiague gave me  fields that were like cow pastures and I went out there with a roto tiller and turned three fields over completely. Those fields were Long Acres in Commack, Copiague Junior High School and one more that I cannot even remember the name of it. It was an Islip elementary school on Commack Road.

New Alliance came around about the time I started and a league that flew out of the ashes like the mythical Phoenix was Island Sports. Island Sports was around for years going all the way back to the mid and late 1970's. I think the gentleman who ran it was Joe Matarazzo. I hope I got the name right. He ran it for a long time, but gong into the mid 90's  he did not have many teams at all. I think he may have been down to 12 to 16 teams and then the late John Balbi took it over from him and then Mike Alicea, who managed a team in my league for a year or two, joined Balbi and now Island is a power house softball league along with ABA Sports, Wesco and New Alliance. I am proud to say that Major Sports can be included in that august company.

When I started Major Sports I promised myself I do would go the extra yard for the teams to enhance the softball experience, because I played in some dubious leagues to say the least and was appalled at how they treated the teams and players. I put down the foul lines each week no matter what field it was. I roto tilled 20 infields over he years until I started getting better fields. I sent out a newsletter,The Rebel Yell, that got better every year and that went out every week to every team for years, until the next epic change... the internet.

As you all know now it seems like the 19th century as to what we were doing only 10 years ago as to what we can do now by clicking away.  The computer and the internet have streamlined the industry and now we all have so much information at our finger tips. Sign ups, daily updates, paying by credit card over the internet and so much more.

All the big softball leagues that operate now have to run good leagues to compete with the rest. That has made it better for the teams and the players. As I reflect, I remember writing down some things that winter back in 1992 just before I started Major Sports. What is the perfect softball experience day in and day out for a team? I wrote in my manifesto that it was team going to a nice playing field with the infield dragged and smooth with foul lines, knowing that there would be a competitive opponent on the other bench, with a good umpire. Also knowing that if something did happen that the manager could contact me at any time and I could resolve that problem if one did occur. Finally, at  the end of the game, shaking hands with the opponent, knowing that whether you won or lost that it was a joy to be playing a game you love to play.

I am looking forward to 2009 and the softball season and I am sure you are, too.