Un SB Verano En Nueva York!!

Arguably the greatest salsa music band of all time is El Gran Combo and perhaps their best song ever is "Un Verano En Nueva York" (a Summer in NY) where they sing that the best time of your life is a summer in New York.

It captures what a great place New York is to live, especially in the summer time. The spirit of the Gran Combo was alive and strong at Dewitt Clinton Park (54th street) last night as the best softball summer you could ever spend is a summer in New York.

54th street has quirky field rules
and unique teams
but what I like most about it is the old school fans who enjoy the night to the fullest.

and the players join in of course

Heck even softball version of Eric Estrada

umpire Lootcho

stopped by to acknowledge everyone

The party went on well into the night

as there is no better place than a SB Verano en NY


I'm glad I stayed. Great time. On a side note I almost left early and missed the party but lead softball analyst John Sheppard
and I cut a deal. The deal was : I would stay as long as he wanted as long as long as he jogged around the Park once with me. He kept his word, ran around the whole field in flip flops. Hilarious!!!!! Very cool - much props

Great way to begin Un SB Verano en Nueva York !!!!!

SB Hot Topic Faceoff

I figure if the TV political types can Face Off on issues why can't Softball players do the same? So I've decided to add a Softball Face Off feature to the blog.

Today's Hot SB Face Off Topic is "Is a Baseball and Softball Swing the Same or Different?"

To debate this issue I've enlisted two softball legends Tony Baseball and John Cordero,

Tony's Take (bad pun intended) is

while John stance (worse pun intended ) is

and when they Faced Off on this great topic

I think Tony's aggressiveness put John in a little bit of a defensive hitting position (corny metaphor I know). Either way I want to thank both my guests for their insight on this is a very interesting topic.

Now I want to know what do you think? Please fill out the poll I've put up on the blog.

Thank you.

Jimmy Luck

A good game was on tap in Jersey City last night as West NY was going to take on last year's champ Pershing at 8pm at Mary Benson. West NY would be missing several players for this game including pitcher Jimmy Meyers (left below) who was away on vacation. Early Monday morning Jimmy sent me an email saying "I'm praying for rain". It was a glorious day yesterday so I just laughed and recognized his love for softball b/c he hates missing games, but deep down I knew that the 8pm scheduled game would be played. Game time approached and as I parked near the field I received a phone call from head umpire Pat Ryan who stated that b/c of work being done on the firehouse next to the field all power on the block was completely shut off. Meaning the lights wouldn't come on and the game was cancelled. A park's department official on the scene confirmed Pat's statements. Game off. Unreal !!!!!

This morning I received the following email from Jimmy "As my wife would say: "Jimmy Luck" and I am known for this kind of shit happening a lot. I won the super bowl box pool this year and I win office lottery pools at least once a year, rain outs happen when I'm away or the other team forfeits, my football game gets cancelled because field is to damaged from rain the night before so many other little things. "Jimmy Luck" its been a running joke for like 20 years and my friends like Wolfie know about it. On my honeymoon during playoffs back in 2000, down in 28th st league no umpire showed up, now that's 1 in a million shot and since it was 1st round there was no way to reschedule until following week, but this is a new one for the books!!! Haha. "

Jimmy Luck - Unreal !!!!!!!!!

4 Inning Rule ... hmmm .. Nah

I had no game scheduled today so right after I finished working for the Man, I took a ride out to Prospect Park and officiated a game in probably the league with the best sportsmanship I've seen http://www.ppwsl.org/. During per-game field dimension administration, I applied some of the umpiring skills I've learned http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/05/softball-diary-may-4th-2011-little-baby.html
and got all set for a Crescendo and Rebels match-up that did not disappoint.

Crescendo Ace Lesley was dominant

striking out 9 over 4 innings and also hitting a home run. Unfortunately, league rules classified her as "Type A" dominant and limit he to throwing only 4 innings per game. After Lesley was pulled from the game the scrappy Rebels rallied and earned a 3-2 walk off victory. Good Game

The 4 inning Type A pitching rule employed by this league got me to thinking: Why don't men league's use a 4 inning rule for "dominant" pitchers?

Top Ten Reasons Men league's Don't Use a 4 inning Dominant Pitcher Rule

10. Dominant pitchers get paid and 4 innings work would fuck up the pay scale
9. Too many lawyers in Softball http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/02/kill-all-sb-lawyers.html who would argue about who is and who isn't dominant. The reality is that the real Bitches are in the Men leagues, not the women's league
8. 4 innings would be too complicated to keep track off
7. Stud pitchers wouldn't show up to only play 4 innings
6. Non Dominant pitchers wouldn't show up to only play 3 innings
5. Makes too much sense. I mean who needs competitive balance
4. Too many morons would ask questions and we would waste a lot of time explaining it to them. I mean we've been stuck on "What's the inning? What's The Score? What's the count ? for over a century
3. Just another rule people would find a way to cheat and beat the system on
2. Honestly, the rule is a little bit too league. What's next pitch counts?

and the Number One Reason Men league's Don't Use a 4 inning Dominant Pitcher Rule

1. Ego

Don't Quit Your Day Job

Between working for the man again
,rain, byes, umping, softball websites, Jersey City Softball administration, and just having mad other shit to do I've fallen behind on the blog lately. Now while I won't quit my day job, I do have numerous topics in the cue that will be coming out shortly.

Topics include:

• Sb Prequel
• Little Rascals
• Interview
• Cheaters
• Breakdown
• Vivir Los Nuestro
• Till I collapse
• Scrub Abuse
• Players I miss playing with
• Players I don't miss playing with
• Metamorphosis
• Video interviews with working class, finish line, other Big Apple players
• Player Profile Video/Pictures
  
• LawyerTime Champ Belt
• Sb Administration
• Protesting all Protests
• Monday Night Softball
• North Meadow - The Undiscovered Country
• and Voice over imitations
  

and more. So I apologize to all my readers out there as I promise to get focused again - god damn day job

Two for One Special : Big Poppas and B-Day All in One!!!!!!!

Yesterday was a true real wold doubleheader for me. In the 1st half of the DH it was Father's Day and with the help of all my Westie's teammates

I just wanted to wish to give a big Big Poppa's Day shout out

to all the Father's out there.The second part of reality twin bill was my Birthday as I caught up to Jackie Robinson and turned the BigA cool part of my birthday was that other softball players like Neal, Little Louie, and Ed "Whimpie" Colon all shared the same Birthday as I do,June 19th, and I was able to share/spend some of the day with my fellow birthday brother's. Ironically, I also share the same birthday as the legendary Iron Horse Lou Gehrig

and while my playing skills will never be confused with the Iron Horse, "I do consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth"
Finally, as is my Birthday Blog tradition I will post Gwen Stefani's morbid but cool 6 Feet Under Birthday song, b/c while a Birthday is one day closer to the end, it makes you appreciate all the wonderful things and people in your life while your still 6 feet over.

Risky Move Breaks Slump

FIGHT THE POWER !!!!!!

The Man may have been keeping me down

• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/06/91-is-real-humbling-enemy.html

• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/06/91-is-real-humbling-enemy.html

but I've fought back to break the unemployment slump by securing a consulting position with a new team - Digital Risk

(Ironically they have a softball team - funny)

I have a manager
and work with some talented rookies
and while this is only a temporary part-time positing in which I won't be winning any trophies
it is a beginning and it is survival.

Late last week I hit the road and lived on beer and peanuts for a few days for training
but it felt sweet spot good to break the work slump

Respect the Permit - A96 does it right

Don't you hate when people aimless wander across your field when a game is going on? I mean c'mon they are fucking clueless. Same thing goes for people who layout on blankets or play football/soccer in the outfield when a game is going on. Why can't they respect the permit and let you get your softball swerve on in peace. Very frustrating and rude.

I've seen a lot of ugly Below 96th street Jeffrey Dahmer style responses to this type of permit violation over the years that involves yelling, fighting, ugly confrontations, and threats. Recently, I was about to play a doubleheader Above 96th Street that had football players invading the field. But instead of sic in' the pit bulls on them Diplomacy Above the 96th (A96) street barrier prevailed. Below is my A96 Video Coverage of this incident

Video #1 Football Players issue Identified by league commissioner Mario

Video # 2 Management begins A96 Diplomatic negotiations

Video 3 and 4 - ongoing A96 street management efforts



Video 5 & 6 - Issue appears resolved




But wait there is another permit violation - Video #7


A96 Mangement quickly and clamly acts - Video 8


Video #9 - A96 Management gets the football players to leave the field for good


With the field clear of trespassers, Hustler Management
and the players got down to business
to earn two sweet victories. After softball was over, Mario had a BBQ A96 style

to relax and unwind. B96 players have a lot to learn from A96 Mario as he handled this messing issue very smoothly.

Holler!!!!!!!!!

Déjà Vu All Over Again

A little over a week ago, I was involved on the losing end of a game that ended in a triple play:

• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/06/wild-west-ending.html

However, there must have been divine intervention from the softball gods
yesterday as I sort of experienced "Déjà Vu All Over Again" except this time I was on the winning end of a game ending Triple play
as with the the go ahead run at the plate and runners at 1st and 2nd, the batter grounded the ball to the third baseman, who then threw to second, who then fired to 1st to complete the around the horn game ending web gem. The play helped Old School hand undefeated Q & A their 1st loss. Final Score Old School 4 Q&A 2 .

The sweet win helped erase last week's disappointing effort vs. Turtle Rock and afterwards Old School Alumni Jack Oppenheimer had the following happy (happy for sometimes Grump Jack anyway) words to say about the victory

There's no School like the old School

Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne doesn't share his bat
why should you? He keeps his inner demon (bat) to himself, so why should you share your bat.

I've noticed a lot of non pitchers don't own a bat and I've asked other players how they feel about this.

Bottom Line: Unless your a pitcher or a coach you should have your own bat.

It's equipment.
It's personal.
It's yours.
Get your own bat

Heck, some players personalize their own bats b/c it's a reflection of self or their image


This got me to thinking as to why people don't have their own bat

Top Ten Reasons a Non Pitcher/Coach Softball player doesn't have their own bat

10. Ghetto
9. This is the same motherfucker that will try and steal your girl
8. Grifter
7. Loser
6. Cheap Bastard - Go to Paragon and Buy a bat

5. Grass is always Greener on the other side
4. Poor
3. He is contemplating stealing your bat
2. Too stupid too understand points 10-3 above

and the Number One Reasons a Non Pitcher/Coach Softball player doesn't have their own bat

1.The player in question is either so good or so bad that it really doesn't matter what bat he uses. So not owning a bat isn't really an issue.

True Bravery : Chris Edwards

The name of our team on Monday's is Bravery and no one embodies that more than
Chris Edwards. The following is a short humble video interview Chris gave me today

The guy is a not only a money player but more importantly a hero and inspiration to all of us.

It is my honor to know him.

Softball Players Proudly Celebrate Puerto Rican Day Parade

Besides a full day of Softball, Sunday June 12th was the Puerto Rican Day Parade
and even though many players missed the parade b/c they were playing ball
They still found time to jam before


and after the game




Great fun and Peaceful time

Goldman Hotline "Happy Belated Birthday"

The Insider would like to wish Living Softball Legend Joel Goldman
a belated Happy Birthday !!!!!!!!!! Love this guy!!!!!!!!!
As a special Birthday Present I ejected Joel from a pickup game


Joel is like a father to me, I appreciate this living softball legend each and every day.

Love You

The Family That Blogs Together Stay Together - Special Wife Ghost Writer Edition

Softball Blogging is not limited to the males of this family
as today my wife Astrid
is ready to step up to the plate, I uh mean keyboard. Her Topic? Me of course ... enjoy

Top 10 excuses from Ricky as to why he's running late:

10) "I have to drive Aaron, Guby and Dio home." (translation- I'll be 2 hours late)

9) "I'm still playing softball." (translation- extra innings)

8) "I'm grabbing a quick beer with friends." (translation- go to sleep, I'm drinking. Time is irrelevant.)

7) Lincoln Tunnel traffic... no need to explain.

6) "I'm grabbing dinner at Malecon." (extra hour late- no parking, bad service)

5) "I'm still at the Mets game." (see translation for number 9)

4) "Can I play one more game?" (translation- I'm not coming home anytime soon)

3) "It's a beautiful day out today." (translation- don't make any plans for us)

2) "Would you mind walking Jazzi when you get home?" (translation- don't wait up for me)

and the Number One excuse as to why Ricky is running late...

1) He's Hispanic. "I'll be home at 8 pm" means 10 pm in real time. .. Hispanic Time.

Known NYC Softball Players Capture the Spirit of NYC Paragon Sports

Avid Softball Players Big Tony and Mickey P , capture the competitive spirit of NYC softball in the following:

Paragon Sports Commercial

Great job... well done and deserved

Catcher Web Gems Sparks Rebels in PPWSL

Tonight in stunningly beautiful Prospect Park the Rebels of the http://www.ppwsl.org/ earned an 11-7 victory over the The Thunder. The Rebels got out to a big lead 8-1 and then inexplicable pulled their ace starter Heather "Heat" (left below), The Thunder took advantage of this move by scoring 5 runs and loading the bases. That's when Heather had to come back in relief and save the day. As everyone knows behind every starter there is a catcher and the Rebel catcher Lisa (right below) made three outstanding defensive web gems to help her teammate out.

Excellent Work

On a side note, after playing many games in the old Wall Street league with Tony Ferrazzo as the official, this game marked my first time working with him.

It was an honor

Biggest Softball Losers

A lot of softball players have the stereotype of being fat and out of shape.

OK there are a lot of fat guys in softball, but so what that doesn't mean you have to accept it. You can get up and be a man and do something about. I did just that and so can you.

A lot of people have complemented me on my weight loss this year and asked "

"What's you secret"?

The secret is that it's not a secret. It's basically comes down to what is best for you.

On January 23rd (picture below) I weighed 219 pounds
the next day (Jan 24th after the Jets lost) I had my physical and weighed 219 with a cholesterol level of 210 and high blood pressure of 130/90. The doctor advised me that if in six months my blood pressure wasn't normal 120/80 I would go on medication (2nd year in a row it was a little high). My dad had a heart attack almost 4 years ago and I said fuck this, it's time to jog and eat right fat boy. I had to do this for me. It was therapy. It was recovery. I needed it.

The good news is I was active before I started dieting and that really helped me gain momentum and lose weight. My initial goals was to get under 200 pounds, so I made sure I only ate low cholesterol foods,did cardio 6 days a week, and gave up hard liquor/beer. I took my next physical on March 31st and I now weigh between 186-190
with 150 cholesterol and normal blood pressure. I now drink wine like everyday (yeah I know metro sexual) and have a beer once or twice a week (after a game). I'm happy where I am now and I am never going back to where I was

As the season started I was pleasantly surprised that I was not alone in the Biggest Softball Loser club
as several other players have taken steps to improve their health:

Here is my salute to their accomplishments and Membership in the Biggest Softball Loser Club:

Dio Jackson - lost 15 pounds and counting - don't stop brother

Juan "Siehe" - lost 15 pounds and counting - I know you will get there

Mario - Lost 15 pounds and counting - Holler!!!!!

Berg Reyes - lost 30+ pounds and counting - amazing!!!!!!!

Edgar Jr - lost 40 pounds and counting

(P.S I know there isn't Diet Coke in that can Edgar)

On a personal note, I never ever thought Edgar could make such changes. I am so happy I was wrong, It takes a strong man to take a stand, face his demons, and change. I salute you. Don't Stop until you get to your weight destination.

Alex Rivas lost 80 pounds - reached goal !!!!
(before)

After
Fucking Amazing Brother you can do anything!!!!

and the biggest Softball Loser of them all Jeff Marcus - 115 pounds overall !!!!!
In an exclusive interview Jeff Marcus commented on his joining the Biggest SB Loser Club

Congratulation and good luck to all of you.
You are all the Man - Maximum respect!!!!!

If your interested in making a change I suggest go the doctor 1st (if you haven't already) and get your medicals, and his OK/thoughts/suggestions 1st, then just make small changes :

• 1st b/c the weather is really hot so drink mad water - you will pee but that's OK
  
• never skip a meal, Never!!! In fact have small healthy meals all day - fruit, protein bars, yogurt. I don't like salad but it's good for you. Love carrots and hummus
  
• Limit liquor and beer - Sundays is OK
  
• Cut soda - even diet, try seltzer and/or crystal light
• Forget sugar
• Drink Tea with Honey
  
• No fried foods, wings, and limit cheese. I love cheese but gave it up, have low fat cheese instead in small portions.
  
• Eat whole wheat bread in morning only, but since you play ball for lunch is cool
• Forget rice for now, or just have once a week before 7pm
  
• Eat low fat meat, chicken, fish

Someone as active as you will get results fast and don't even stress getting results fast.
It's about feeling better.
It's OK to be this type of loser.