Happy ReCap : 2009 Robert Trillo Charity Game

Forget the Olympics.

Forget the Super Bowl.

Forget the World Series.

They all pale in comparison to the annual Robert Trillo Charity Softball Game.

This year the elite athletes were pumped

Forget the good cause and memories this was hardcore competition as the Snow White team led by fishing hat manager Juan "Blonde" Moreiras was stacked

and ready to show off their POWER

which left the Softball Insider worried and scrambling to sign talent like his former chain smoking softball idol from the 90's Tommy Higgleson
With Tommy in the fold
the Big Red Machine (more like the little red wagon) was ready for action.
and the fans went wild

these elite athletes

gave it their all.

The SoftballInsider.net team tried to go yard

but after losing game one settled for two back to back dramatic comeback victories

to win the good hearted series.

The Big Red Machine couldn't have done it without special between game coaching from Mrs. Top Ten

who made a rare softball appearance.
After the game was the After Party
Where Knockout Legend Aaron "Haroooooo" Fernandez enjoyed quality family time

More importantly, this was our greatest turnout ever. Juan and I would like to thank everyone as we raised over $3,000 to donate in name of Robert Trillo to his ( and mine and Freddy Martinez, and future supreme court justice Sotomayor's) alma matta Cardinal Spellman.

Please view complete pictures from this event at

http://picasaweb.google.com/citysoftball/Trillo_2009?feat=embedwebsite

again thank you and always remember it's more than just a game

TRAP

You know you write way too many blogs when people in the park tell you what to title your next blog. Today's title was easy ... Trap




On paper 9-7 Hk was playing 7-11 Diesel. HK was coming off a big victory over undefeated Choice Parts and Diesel was on a losing streak. To compound matters Diesel was without Alex Goldman, Juan Parra (quit) , and only had one pitcher Jimmy Bitros.

On paper it looked like a sure win.
Yeah Right. Not even close.
Diesel beat our ass ALL DAY LONG. Quite frankly we were fortunate to get out of dodge with one victory. Classy Big Apple veteran Jimmy Bitros


shut us completely down ALL DAY LONG.
He never panicked.
Never quit.
All he did was throw strikes and win.

In game one, Diesel capitalized on a their opportunities to cruise to a easy 7-3 victory behind the resurgent Jimmy Bitros and in game two, Diesel took us to the brink of getting swept before we scored 7 in the top of the ninth to survive the split.

Hell Tidbits


They say “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell” this so true when it comes to HK as in game 1 the unprofessional umpires called a forfeit on HK's for arguing and terrible behavior. We have met the enemy and it is us. This has become a weekly occurrence and is embarrassing and pathetic ... Despite playing shorthanded Diesel never quit, played hard, and played well - HK should learn .... Game 2's victory has dedicated to Jimmy Meyers ..... Brothers Tommy and Martin Colon hit clutch sacrifice flies in game two to seal the W .... Ricky managed Game 2 b/c John Sheppard couldn't take it anymore. Afterward Ricky retired with a 1-0 record as HK manager thank god ... Ricky made a nice catch in game 1 where everyone said he slide was unnecessary .... HK continues to make base running blunders week after week ... Edgar Jr continues an amazing renaissance season by throwing a gem in game two ... Angelo broke out of a tough slump with a couple of hits in game two including the 9th inning rally starter ... Ed "Chino" Cancel had 6 hits and pretty much carried us offensively ... Ryan and Gubi looked terrible in the OF in game 1, Meyers was hurt by bad luck in game one ... Unfortunately sponsor Wolfie Enqriquez quit Sunday

SB Compensation Operations : On the Down Low : A Users Guide

OK let's do away with all the politically correct bullshit and get right to it.

When a top SB player is paid you can't just do it in front of everyone. I mean you don't just write a check you have to be discrete about it and as the King of R&B R Kelly would say

Keep it on the Down Low ...Nobody Has to Know!!!!!!! (Let's keep R Kelly laughable legal problems out of this for now)

Top Ten Ways to properly compensate someone to play SB On the Down Low

10. Handshake - Oldest Trick in the Book. Put the money in you hand, then while shaking hands pass it on to your employee. Shiesty but effective. Spin off of this maneuver is sliding the money into the players back pocket.

9. Hidden Hat/Glove Trick - Pretend to be looking at his hat or glove and place money inside of it when you hand it back to him. Pathetic but realistic

8. Professional Services - OK now we're getting to more creative Quid Pro Quo stuff. Performing legal, medical, accounting work for someone in exchange for SB service. This is funny, I mean at face value professional services like the ones I mentioned above seem so much more valuable and important than the ability to play SB. In any case, this form of compensation by it's very nature is very private and discrete.

7. Provide Free Room and Board - No cash is exchanged, I mean who would know that your just letting someone out of the kindness of you heart stay with you or someone you know for absolutely free in NYC a long as they play ball for your team of course

6. Dinner - Softball for Food. What would caveman think if they knew we had evolved this way

5. Employment - Hire someone as an employee with the sole intention and condition that he MUST play Softball for the Company. Again its all legal and it's not exactly slaverybut honest Abe Lincoln
would not be happy

4. Drugs & Liquor - OK this is like a boomerang way of "taking care of someone". You both get drunk and high at the same time, except you pay for it and the general public doesn't really care who pays for it b/c they see everyone is so happy.

3. Free Entertainment - tickets to Broadway shows, sporting events, and concerts are a great way to pay a player b/c they can go to the event without you so no one can connect you to this form of compensation. If you own your own business you can probably write this off as well - ghetto

2. Middleman - send an employee or some sucker you know to hit off the player. If he gets caught deny deny deny

and the Number One way to compensate someone to play softball for you on the Down Low

1. Prepay!!!! - Pay ahead of time while no one else is around.

I strongly recommend against this!!!!!!! Pay for performance as you go, day by day, week by week, otherwise the player could take the money and run - keep it corporate

Mr. Perfect!!!!!!

No this blog isn't about old school Wrestling legend Curt Hennig

It's about former old school manager Mickey Peckins

Mickey has earned the reputation as a softball winner, quality player, and top notch defender. Over the last couple of years Mickey has been working very hard on developing his modified pitching skills. He has paid his dues and taken his lumps, but all that determination and effort has paid off big time this week. Sunday he answered the emergency pitching phone call against HK throwing 4 solid innings, but that's nothing compared to yesterday achievement of PERFECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you think of Perfect games you think of legends like David Well'sor David Conebut the beauty of baseball is the element of the unknown, as people like Kenny Rogers

have thrown perfect games out of nowhere.

Yesterday, Mike's Monday afternoon league was playing a makeup 5 inning game and Mike faced and retired the minimum. SBI's sources said that a diving catch in RC in the 5th helped seal the perfect outing and transformed an obscure Monday summer game into a special memory.

Mike would be the first to tell you he didn't exactly face the 1927 Yankees murders row, but achieving pitching perfection, especially for a relatively new hurler, is still a worthy accomplishment worth recognition.

Congrats Mike and continued success except against HK of course :)))

HK + CP + Mr Magoo = No Boredom

The Champions of the two previous Big Apple Campaigns squared off in mid summer battle on Central Park's Hecksher Field 6 today as 2008 Champion Choice Parts "CP" met 2007 winner Hells Kitchen "HK" for an entertaining early afternoon softball tilt.

CP kept their 2009 undefeated season alive in game one thanks in large part to the yo man's effort by spot starter Mickey Peckins. With Doc and Lou 22 unavailable and John Brown "JB" still in Red Hook, Mikey answered the break glass in case of emergency call by his manager and limited the HK offense over the first four innings until JB arrived to sling... I uh mean save the day (Sorry I couldn't resist). Mickey's gun ho pitching effort was backed by a consistent and gritty CP offense that made HK pay for a defensive meltdown. These say good teams make you pay for your mistakes and in the 2nd inning HK let Choice Parts veteran Clay escape from a run down play and paid dearly soon thereafter as Lorenzo blasted a 3 run line drive homer to give them a commanding 4-0 lead. CP added on a pair of tack on runs and behind JB improved to an impressive 17-0 with a clean and neat 6-3 victory.

In game two, HK's balanced and scrappy offense set the tone early by scoring 5 runs in the first two inning off of Brown, not John Brown, rather his talent brother Eddie Brown. JB was inserted in the 3rd, but HK's offense grinded out a few of their own tack on runs to help their starter and Ultimate Gamer Jimmy Meyers earn a well deserved 8-4 victory and improve to 9-7 overall.

Hell Tidbits

MLK once said “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.” so I won't remain neutral on head umpire Mr. Johnson AKA

I've said it before I've say it again he's confrontational, terrible and an outright cancer/detriment to the league. Both team hated him yesterday. Not disliked, Hated!!!! I wish Vegas had a money line on who was going to umpire the HK-CP game yesterday. Magoo was a lock. Get rid of him..... Much kudos to HK for ignoring Mr Johnson as much as possible yesterday I think the SB gods rewarded us for that ... HK turned a triple play in game one..... Aaron Fernandez hustle and hitting provided a nice lift for HK in game two ... Speaking of Aaron he asked to be taken out of the game early b/c he was leaving and then ran into the beer cooler and stayed another 2 hours .... HK had a very good turn out yesterday and manager John Sheppard did a good job of getting everyone in the game ... JB's change up is filthy .... Eric Z on CP can hit line drives to RC in his sleep ... Jack Steinman looked good at the plate ... CP stud shortstop Vic pulled/hurt his hamstring in game one that was a big loss ... Eddie Brown is a completely legal modified pitcher and has good stuff ... HK and CP have allowed the fewest runs, 58,in the Big Apple League ... HK second baseman Lou Verges 2 key rbi hits at the bottom of the order off of JB were huge and goes to show it's not where you bat it's how you hit ... The arrival of JB on the mound changed HK offensive outlook, we became more gritty and hustled more, it also helped that we had like 5 swinging bunts off of the JB change up... they say “Each of us bears his own Hell” and Ricky misplayed a ball in RC and pressing has created his own inferno... CP players had mixed feelings about their undefeated season ending... The HK vibe wasn't so much about giving CP a loss rather it was about earning a competitive win against a quality team. In other words, we needed the split.

Small Ball Derby

Tonight is the MLB Home Run Derby and all the Big Boys will be out to mash

Ryan Howard will be out to win another HR Chip

Josh Hamilton will be out to prove last year's show was no fluke

The Machine Pujols will destroy baseball's first and ask questions later

Often the long ball gets all the attention. Heck didn't MLB once have an ad that "Chicks dig the long ball" ???? Go ask the lovely baseball enthusiast Actress Alyssa Milano

if she feels that way.

Anyway, in Softball I've seen a couple of HR derby's and I'm sure the Ricky Nen's, Anthony, Wayne's, Jaime's, and Castillos of the SB world would put on a good show.
But what about the guys that do the little things? Don't the get there own derby?

That's what the insider is for ....

Top Ten Small Ball Derby Categories and Winners

10. Breaking up double plays - Winner Me!!!! Yeah I might take forever to get there but I take pride trying to cleanly break up double plays. Slide straight. Slide Hard. But most importantly you have to slide. Far too often many players just don't slide

9. Hitting to RF to advance runners - Winner Gil Gonzalez - Gil is a top notch SB hitter but he will move runners over in key situations. In fact Gil swears by it's importance.As Gil would say ¿Es fácil, poner panti's a una culebra? - translation is it easy to put panty's on a snake??? - funny but it means it ain't easy and requires skill

8. Cutting Balls off in the OF- Mickey Peckins gets to balls and fires them in before runners can advance. This saves runs and keeps the double play in order.

7. Taking the Extra Base - Hector Hernandez - yes Hector is fast but his instincts are uncanny. Bloopers are double, goes from first to third on hits, excellent base runner

6. Hitting the Cut-off Man - Eric Zarbarkas. If I saw Eric throw to the wrong base I think I would faint on the field. Anyone, can make a bad throw, but Eric would never throw to the wrong place on the field.

5. Catching Bloopers - this is a high skill small ball job. For years I though Jose Carrion was the best I played with but now that I have played with Georgie Munoz on Wolfpack I'm convinced he's awesome and fearless at it. Honorable mention Hector, Mickey, and Eric.

4. Taking pitches and drawing walks - I hate to admit it b/c I never thought he would make the blog but Little Dave Bergmann is the man for drawing walks. Unless he's facing a top notch pitcher he can purposely foul off pitch after pitch and draw a walk. Deep down I know this ain't right, but it's his thing.

3. Hitting Sacrifice Flies - this is a category where a power hitter can play small ball by using a big fly. Winner - Tie George Colon, Gubi and Castillo could hit sacrifice flies in their sleep.

2. Backing up Fielders - Gil wins again. Gil is one of the few pitchers he backs up and cut-off throws all game (sometimes too much). Also, he will cover 1st base on grounders. Little things that add up.

and the Number One Small ball Derby Categories and Winners

1. Tie - Keeping the Book and Positioning Fielders

Keeping the Book - John Sheppard - dude HK/West's score book penmanship is amazing, he knows what everyone did, where the play, and who's up next. Little things that help

Positioning Fielders - John Rosenmiller - quietly knows where he wants his guys to play and lets them know without offending anyone - shiesty but more often than not this subtle move adds up.

2009 Robert Trillo Softball Tournament.. SB All Day Long

Hello Everyone:

Its that time of year again as the The Robert Trillo Softball Tournament will be on this year Saturday July 25th 12:00 PM at Inwood Park Field #2.
A must attend event so mark it on your calendar!
This event is a lot of fun as we play lob ball all day long!!!!
If you show up you will play/bat/pitch as much as you want all day long!!!!!!!
T-Shirts, food, and beer will be provided all day long !!!
All Day Long!!!!!!!!!!!! . dude that's really good

Donations for the event will be made to the Cardinal Spellman High School Football Program in memory of Robert Trillo. Robert was a star running back for Spellman back in the day and this event is his friends way of remembering him and keeping his spirit/memory alive. This is year 5 and every year we have a blast.

Please call me at 646-337-3535 or email me or Juan at either Rickysoftball2@yahoo.com or jm212nyc@yahoo.com for more information or see evite link below :
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=WUFUTLMNZGEPDVMNDQUJ&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

Like my new blog email says "b/c it's more than just a game"

100 Mile Man Foundation b/c its more than just a game

The email below is from avid NYC softball player Kenny Walsh whose sister is dealing with serious issues.

Please read and help if possible.

Thank you


Dear Friends,
On Saturday, September 12, 2009, I am planning to join ninety-nine cyclists to complete a “century”, as it’s known in the cycling world, a 100 mile ride from New York City to Southampton, “City to Sand”. The 100 Mile Man Foundation is an organization that provides inner-city children the opportunity to go to college. The Foundation has teamed up with the Fund for Public Schools in an effort to provide 100 students with four full years of college tuition, a total of $10,000. I have decided to do this ride for two reasons. For one, I am a parent of two public school children and would like to be able to give other children in our community the same opportunities that I have for my own children: a secure future which can only be accomplished with a solid education. My second reason is more personal. I am joining the foundation on behalf of my sister, Monica. As many of you know, the physical and emotional challenges she faces after her stroke and removal of a brain tumor are huge. The financial and emotional demands that come with home care and rehabilitation are difficult. As you all know, Monica is a superb athlete and if she were able, she’d be riding right next to me (maybe next year!!). In conjunction with the 100 Mile Man Foundation, we’ve established the Friends of Monica Fund with the purpose of contributing to Monica’s home health care costs. We all face difficult challenges, however, together, we can help Monica, Kevin, and their children with this burden. The 100 Mile Man Foundation has generously offered to take a portion of the proceeds that I raise and donate them to the Friends of Monica Fund. Any contribution you can make on Monica’s behalf is greatly appreciated. We can all be role models for children. I am partaking in this challenge to teach my children about family, responsibility and charity. Please join me. Donations can be made online at: http://www.active.com/donate/the100mileman/kennywalsh
The website is secure, fast and easy to use.

The 100 Mile Man Foundation is a 501 C3 Charitable organization.

You can also donate via check to: THE 100 MILE MAN FOUNDATION230 Park Avenue, Suite 850New York, NY 10169 (Be sure to put Monica Walsh Watson in the memo line at the left hand bottom of your check).

With extreme gratitude, Kenny “G.” Walsh“Gold Rider”

b/c it's more than just a game

800 Pound Gorrilla

They say well there is an 800 pound Gorilla on the Softball Diamond that I'm not ignoring. Their name is Choice Parts and they are currently a perfect 14-0 in the Central Park Big Apple League http://esportsdesk.com/leagues/standings.cfm?leagueID=2106&clientID=1322

Let me repeat that 14-0!!!!! That's the softball equivalent of the New England Patriot 18-0 mark back in 2007.

While the Big Apple League is not the NFL it is still very competitive and the NFL mantra of any given Sunday most certainly applies. As defending champions they are not sneaking up on anyone but they have changed.

Yes I know they still have dominant non-modified John Brown throwing for them, but in the past there was a perception that they relied on JB to carry them, but that is no longer the case. Not by a long shot.

They are fast......They are balanced offensively and defensively...... They are smart..... They are prepared...... They in no way rest on their past laurels. Don't get me wrong they are beatable and they know it and that's what makes them even better because they take nothing for granted and play hard on every single goddamn pitch.

Lou "22" Gonzalez once told a team we played on together that winning one championship was like being a one hit wonder like Milli Vanilla and that true greatest was putting together multiple titles. That's how they play .... Hungry

I once called them the Evil Empire

but I no longer feel that way. They are an 800 pound gorilla coming right at you

This is their excellent roster

1 Eric Zabarkus
2 Artie Klausner
3 Jason Duko
4 Paulo (Petie) Napoleoni
5 Kenny Walsh
6 John Brown
7 Kip Demogenes
8 Clay Chalem
9 Mike Peckins
10 Vic Boccarossa
11 Jack Steiman
12 Lou Gonzalez
13 Lorenzo Gracia
14 Paul Maniscalco
15 Steve Moschell
16 Eddie Brown
17 Mike Culoso

18 Doc

19 John Rosenmiller

don't ignore them