Duffy Field, Watertown, New YorkWhat a game. 698 fans at four bucks an adult and one buck a kid. Out team were actually in purple…and I wore blue. And we won! “We” meaning the nearest team in the New York Collegiate Baseball League, the Watertown Wizards. The two buck program says:
The NYCBL was founded in 1978. It is a summer wood bat league partially funded by Major League Baseball. College players who have not yet signed professional baseball contracts are given the opportunity to develop skills at a higher level of play and are evaluated by major league Scouts…
Apparently Tim Hudson of the Braves was a NYCBL player. So there you go. I had thought the game would feature players from around New York state universities but there were players from across the US, including one on the Wizards from Hawaii. It was lots of fun, spotted two local Watertown TV sports personalities (as well as one news anchor later in the grocery store – kinda odd), ate a pretzel and some peanuts leaving a pile of shells behind. The $1.25 bag of nuts also bought three innings of peace as the kids focused on perfecting their peanut opening technique. It was a great game on the field as the team’s website report explained:
It wasn’t over until the final out on Sunday afternoon at Duffy Field as the Watertown Wizards defeated the Saratoga Phillies 6-5 in a thrilling NYCBL Eastern Division game. The Wizards improved to 5-1 while the Phillies fell to 4-5. It was a Father’s Day game that saw the lead change hands three times with Watertown taking the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-out two-run RBI double by Vinny Pennell (Franklin Pierce) making it 5-4 Watertown. Pennell ended the day going 1-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Pennell then scored the game-winning run on the next at-bat as he was stealing third when Saratoga catcher Kevin Pratt launched his throw into left field allowing Pennell to come home.
One guy, #11 for the Wizards, Sean Conley, a freshman at Pittsburg, stood out as a great base stealer. There were a few double steal attempts as well. Pretty entertaining level of ball. Certainly better fun than I have had, for example, at a Jays game what with the real grass, the perfect day and the immediacy of it all. The municipal stadium, Duffy Field, was in great shape which made the day work and the choice of shade or sun with the east-west orientation of the battery made it comfortable for albinos like me. The team worked it hard with kids competitions of some sort between most innings; continuous and generally ignored requests made to those pesky pre-teens out behind the visiting dug-out to return shagged fly balls to the concession counter; knowledgeable and focused fans, many keeping their score sheets. One poor sap on the other team was tagged as “pizza guy” which meant everyone got a coupon for a pizza slice if he struck out. He struck out. We did not shout at pizza man or any of the other players but we did sing “Take Me Out To The Balllgame” at the seventh inning stretch. Great value for money and I may head back for another game before the short June and July NYCBL season ends. Maybe a mid-week night game. Baby.
Bonus comments
– August 28, 2006 7:43 PM
As one of the owners for the Wizards (and the PA announcer) I’m so pleased you had a good time. Hope you don’t mind if I forward this to the other team owners. Come back again. And its OK to razz the K-MAN (thats the opposing team cleanup hitter who by striking out allows the crowd to get a pizza slice coupon courtesy of Cams Pizzeria in downtown Watertown… the official pizzeria of the Watertown Wizards…see I really am the PA guy)
– August 28, 2006 8:31 PM
Am one and got one.
My old man was blitzed as a child, immigrated in his mid-20s, raised a family while making a career change to the ministry, dragged us around Altantic Canada homes and travelling around North America and the UK growing up including Stonehenge (as illustrated), tag-teamed with Mom on we wee three to read like madmen (the one lifeskill which brings success) as his socialist politician mom taught him when she bought the first Penguins as they came out monthly, watched me and pushed me to play basketball, football, soccer and even, oddly, one season of baseball in grade four – they throw that thingright at your head!. I still clearly recall in undergrad soccer at “The Pit” in the north end of Halifax hitting the cross-bar with a massive crack at goal from way beyond where I should have thought possible, turning around and seeing him on the ridge with his face in his hands over the “almost, almost” of it. In recent years, I have been impressed with my father as something of a medical marvel, having survived a number of thingies that are the sorts of thingies that scare the hell out of you. And did it with a certain plucky easy style that you really would think would come with being a man of the cloth but maybe you never thought would play out when the rubber hits the road…for the third time. From my Dad I can quickly see I have got a love of sport – both playing and watching – a healthy distaste for a certain sort of political theory of the few as well as reliance on humour in formal situations – not to mention the importance of a wee bickie with your tea. Critical things.
Rolling all that up, he being 1500 km east shivering at the cottage in frosty PEI as he reported on the phone last night, I am making my own demands clear amongst my own here and we are off on an international junket, going to see the 4-1 but oddly yellow Watertown Wizards take on the Saratoga Phillies, who actually play on the Doubleday field at Cooperstown which is kind of cool. After that we are in search of frozen custard and I have a couple of leads already. Dinner perhaps at Sackets Harbour Brewing or maybe back to Attilo’s pizza in Clayton. Back across the border with a stack of Sunday papers and maybe a growler. It is a tough old life.
Hey Ted! You may have well been the guy that gave me the pay out on the 50/50 draw we won. We attended three games this year: Genesee Valley, Little Falls and the Rochester Royals. We had a great time each game, brought friends to the last game and will certainly be back in 2007.