B-dub Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 No, it's pretty easy if you're coming from Manhattan. Just take the 7 train and you're there inside 30 minutes. (To be fair, it is difficult for people coming from New Jersey via car due to the traffic.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted April 29, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted April 29, 2010 58-year old from my hometowns pitches for college team about a mile from where I live now Larry Hasenfus was up at 4 a.m. By 5 he was behind the wheel of his 1995 forest green Honda Civic with 220,000-plus miles on the odometer. At that hour of the morning, it only takes the 58-year-old father of three grown children 45 minutes to make it from his North Brookfield home to the field house at Springfield College to lift weights with his fellow members of the school’s baseball team. He lifts for 90 minutes, concentrating on building strength in his legs. Pitchers need to be strong in the legs. Larry throws left-handed. He has a big, and in this day and age, elaborate windup and leg kick, reminiscent of the Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn. In prep school, with a sneaky fastball and a knuckleball that could dance, Larry once struck out 13 out of 18 batters in an important game. He also picked a runner off first base. The year was 1969. His childhood goal was to play baseball and hockey in college. He was a first-line right wing. Larry was accepted to St. Anslem College in Manchester, N.H. He did not measure up academically, thus was ineligible to play in the year and a half he attended college. It would be 30 more years until Larry learned why he hadn’t succeeded academically: He was dyslexic, undiagnosed until he was past the age of 50. “I couldn’t keep up with the papers or the reading,” he recalls in a soft voice. “I knew I wasn’t lazy. Or dumb. I had a good memory. I just couldn’t do college work. Forty years ago was a different time and place. “People didn’t know. The dream was put up on a shelf in the back of my mind. But it was always there.” In 1971, Larry found a job at a local bike shop in his hometown of Newton and discovered a calling in helping teenaged boys, which led to a career as a licensed social worker. After he and wife Karen married and started their family, they moved to North Brookfield. Larry worked in human resources for a Dudley textile company. Then he ran its small plant. Starting in 2002, Larry served three years on the North Brookfield Board of Selectman. In 2004, he ran for state representative in the fifth Worcester District. By his estimation, he knocked on 6,000 doors. He lost. He still calls the experience ‘great.’” Not so great was being laid off in 2008, at age 57. The state would provide funds for re-training. Some of his friends went to learn to drive the big rigs. Or explored careers in medical billing. Larry was intrigued by Springfield College’s School of Human Services, which meets for classes on weekends and would give him credit for documented life experience. He was accepted. “I knew I made the right decision the first day,” Larry says. “English professor Richard Andersen ran this very inspirational orientation. He talked about finding your own writing voice. I was nervous. You read a lot of books here. Write papers all the time. But he gave me confidence. He still does. And the world has changed for those of us with dyslexia. There are books on tape. Computer voice recognition programs that help me write; get my thoughts down on paper. I’ve really found a home here.” Larry’s highest mark is also his lowest: A. He is set to graduate in December. A couple of months ago, Larry started thinking hard about fulfilling his childhood dreaming and playing a sport, this time for the Springfield College baseball team. He hadn’t thrown a ball in a game in more than 40 years. At 5-foot-10, 150 pounds, gray sprouting in his once-blonde mustache, he was in good shape for a 58-year-old. He played in weekly hockey league. He knew where his Wilson A-2003 glove was stored. Larry discovered he still had his college athletic eligibility. He received nothing but encouragement from Springfield’s head baseball coach, Mark Simeone, who at 46, notes he’s never coached anyone older than himself on the college level. “I think Larry is an inspiration for the team,” he says. “Here’s a guy who has never given up and has taken advantage of the opportunities he’s been presented.” The night we talk, Larry has to hustle off from North Brookfield to practice. He’s been up since 4 a.m., but still has an indoor drill-filled baseball workout from 8 to 10 p.m. on campus. He’s been assigned to the subvarsity. The coach has let him and the other pitchers – students in their teens or early 20’s, younger than Larry’s children – start throwing curveballs. Opening day for Springfield College’s subvarsity is less than a month away. Larry hopes to pitch in relief, a contrast to a hard thrower. He talks about being outside soon, swiping his foot across, then toeing the rubber, peering in to see the catcher’s sign as the games finally begin and a dream comes true. (and this guy perhaps causes me to think of an exception to my earlier pronouncement regarding social workers... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Pleasently surprised with the Mets start to this season. Nice streak of late, going into the series with the Philthies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parisvilla Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 enit, swept my dodgers . dont know what the hell is going on in LA but we've gone from being a contender to bottom of the NL west. pitching is atrocious and defense is worst in the entire MLB in terms of errors comitted. sort it out joe!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted May 1, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted May 1, 2010 B-dub, what think you of this? Hey, New York Mets fans, think things couldn't get any worse? Next year former outfielder Bobby Bonilla goes back on the payroll at the ripe old age of 48. In 1999, Bonilla returned to the Mets for a second stint at Shea following his borderline disastrous free-agent signing in 1992. Bonilla wasn't any better the second time around, so the Mets waived him in 2000. The problem was that the team still owed Bonilla $5.9 million in guaranteed salary. Bonilla's agents worked out a deal with the Mets where he would defer the salary if the team would pay him $1,193,248.20 every July 1 from 2011 to 2035. Not a bad deal for someone who was so bad the team basically paid him to go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-dub Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 Read this in the Daily News last week and was expecting an explanation of how/why 5.9 million owed translates to 30+ million spread over 30 years. This blurb doesn't explain it either. For what it's worth, this doesn't mention the fact that Bonilla, in 1999, was only brought in to be a pinch-hitter with an occasional start, which he did a decent job of. In '92 of course he was in the prime of his career and was expected to be a star like he was in Pittsburgh. Furthermore, his first tenure with the Mets ('92 to '95, or maybe '96, I'm not sure) wasn't all that bad overall, but it was over-shadowed by the fact that the team was awful and Bonilla--mainly in the first couple seasons--had various off-the-field drama, clashing with the manager and the beat writers, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-dub Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 Pleasently surprised with the Mets start to this season. Nice streak of late, going into the series with the Philthies! Killed 'em. Niese was brilliant. I like his curve ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 Managed to get tickets for the Mets/ Yankees game Friday night. Very, very pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 Managed to get tickets for the Mets/ Yankees game Friday night. Very, very pleased. Have as much fun as you can surrounded by knuckle dragging mouth breathers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 I'm in Mass tomorrow, Burlington I think the place is called, my uncle has a meeting there. Anywhere near Boston? I can compare Boston and NY then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted May 20, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted May 20, 2010 About 10 miles away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Cool, I shall ask if we can drive the extra 15 mins then, just for a Boston souvenier. Angel Pagan is having an epic game tonight. He made an awesome catch to save at least 1 run, maybe 2. He hit an inside the park home run and started a triple play. Yet we're still losing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted May 20, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted May 20, 2010 I'm in Mass tomorrow, Burlington I think the place is called, my uncle has a meeting there. Anywhere near Boston? I can compare Boston and NY then! About 10 miles away. Depending on where you are, it might be reasonable to catch a train from Woburn (oddly enough, despite being located between Woburn and Bedford, if Burlington is named for anything in "the old country," it's Bridlington...) into North Station (which is part of the complex where the Bruins and Celtics play). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Didn't stay long enough to do anything unfortunately. We had to be back by 6 and left late, maybe next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Citi Field is fantastic. Has great seats, though I seemed to be surrounded by Yankee fans. Shame about the result but was a great day out regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 Games since Sat: Yankees 3, Mets 5 Yankees 4, Mets 6 Philthies 0, Mets 8 Philthies 0, Mets 5 Philthies 0, Mets 3 Back-to-back series wins over the reigning NL and AL Champions is fantastic, sweeping your rivals without giving up a single run is outstanding. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Roy Halladay just pitched a perfect game. Sickening. Only 20 days since the last one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted May 30, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted May 30, 2010 This has been a very good year for pitchers... quite a few no-hitters being carried into the late innings and a pair of perfectos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 Detroit pitcher retired first 26 batters and quite clearly retired the 27th, he was a good step away from the bag when the ball got to first, only for the umpire to call him safe. It wasn't even close, but even if it was you side with the pitcher, especially when his team is 3-0 up and he's 1 out from a perfect game. I would have beat the living shit out of the guy on the field, that call was a disgrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTransferWindow Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 The ump admitted he blew the call. They should change it and give him a perfect game, but I know they won't. OT but JPA just scored a game winning last minute free kick for NY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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