Perfectly Imperfect A96 Field

In New York City Central Park has 3 main areas to play softball.

1. Hecksher Fields - located approximately 63rd street
2. Great Lawn - 81st-85th Street
3. North Meadow - Above 96th Street (A96)
   

North Meadow gets no love among most players, but in my opinion it is the nicest field.

Except for the slight hills in the outfield and the poor drainage, I prefer these fields as there is a better chance for parking in the neighborhood, the dimensions are softball regulation (there is no way you can tell me infield at Hecksher field 2 is the same size as field 6 ), and separation between fields is better (less crossover).

Unfortunately, there are no tourists, few hot girls, no stands for the fans and that all adds up to a poor hangout factor which makes it unpopular among many players. Oh yeah and how could I forget the fact that its all the way up on 103rd street. That's too A96th for most.

Too Bad - Great fields

SB Weekend at Bernies ... I uh mean Mark's

In the late 80's one of my favorite movies was Weekend at Bernie's where a couple of guystry to convince everyone that their dead boss is still alive. Well softball has a living sleepy version of Bernie in Mark Rosenthal
who while not dead (thank god) is always asleep on the Hecksher bleachers
it doesn't matter how much action and noise is going on. He is always asleep. The guy can't help but remind you of Bernie from the classic comedy.




The insider salutes SB version of Bernie - can't make this up
-

22 Crew

Thanks players missing due to injuries
and personal matters a somewhat shorthanded LawyerTime team had to break out the forfeit avoiders for last Thursday's split doubleheader
but no worries as they
easily swept the Bombers and Renegades to improve to 9-0 overall and kept on collecting championship belts in the process
Belt leader Lou 22 was locked in the zone all day as even his outs were loud

as his team fed off his focus, preparation, and performance.

9-0 ... but we want more .. and not just belts/awards

As American As Apple Pie, Baseball, Fourth of July (& Fireworks)

It's 4th of July weekend and it's time to celebrate this wonderful country's birthday with

Apple pie

ugh I meant

awesome barbecue food

Fireworks

and playing baseball.

Yeah you read that right, I played baseball today
and it was fun. I participated in the Inwood coaches vs kids baseball game

Baseball above 96th street isn't perfect

(nice role model)

but it is official

intense

and real

A very cool experience as the pace of a baseball game is so different from a softball game.

(that's me with mini me Inwood version's of Doctor Dre and Eminem)

This year the coaches finally got into the W column thanks in large part to a rare appearance by Inwood Legend Tommy Higgleson

You still got it Tommy.

Special Thanks to Juan "Blonde" Moreiras for all his hard work with this event and his kids. He's found a new home in little league, a much better place than softball.

Too Much of a Good Thing : Please SB Reply to One

Over the last 15-20 years Email has become a daily part of almost all our lives. It's an effective tool for quick communication in business, personal, and of course softball matters. For years managers have used emails (or text messaging) in softball for the following reasons:

• Notify players about the season
• Communicate costs
• Headcount
  
• Notify players of game/schedule changes
• Discuss strategy
• Recruiting
  

and their are many more positive aspects that emails have helped make organizing the softball experience a better place. I applaud all managers that use emails to these ends. However, much like anything in life, too much of a good thing is sometimes bad for you. In the softball email world, this is most evident in the dreaded Reply to All message.

Why do people love to Replay to All in Softball? If your CEO/boss sent out a company wide email, would write back a message to the whole company saying

• "I'm In"
• "I don't know"
  
• "Maybe"
  
• "You da man"
  
• "OK Boss"
• "Let's Kick Ass"
• "What are our stats looking like?"
• "Who we playing?"
  
• "Make that Money" or
  
• "Holler!!!!"

You would never do that as it would make them look at you like you were some sort of moron. I understand that softball is recreational and less formal, but that doesn't make replying to all acceptable. Whenever one of my skippers sends out a team email update I Never Reply to All. Check that I sent out one Reply to All message this year b/c it was my birthday and I wanted everyone to come out and play on Father's Day. That was a lunar eclipse rare Reply to All for me. I don't understand what possess softball players to fill up my inbox with Reply to All softball messages. As a standard in every mass softball email I send out in Jersey City I include the phrase "No mass emails please" too maintain email order and control b/c when one reply to all dog starts barking/tying away then everyone joins in to create chaos. It's annoying and unproductive. Replay to All perpetrators only really give me practice hitting the delete key immediately, as I know who the usual culprits are and don't even bother opening up their mindless messages. In fact, it starts the softball experience off on the wrong foot.

I've come with a list as to why softball players Reply to All on Softball emails:

• They are mindless
• Crave attention
• Nothing better to do than annoy others
• Too dumb to know better
• They are Rude
• Ass kissing
• Self-Serving (selfish)
  
• Looking to diss teammates or managers with power tripping back hand comments
• Ego maniacs
• Nice guys who care but sometimes go over board
  

I understand some teams have multiple managers/coaches and this Reply to All issue might be a necessary evil at times, but generally your manger/captain should be the only one reply to all and you should only respond to that email.

Try Reply to One - it might just improve communication and chemistry.