The Sacrifice Present – Connecting Those That Have With Those That Need

In just about every level of baseball, the word “sacrifice” is used to describe a play or a commitment a player exercises so another teammate(s)’s situation improves in the game. There is the sacrifice bunt, where a player gives up his/her at bat to advance a runner on the base paths by laying down a bunt instead of swinging for the fences. There is the sacrifice fly, where a player drives the ball in the air to the outfield far enough for a runner (after the baseball is caught) to tag and advance to another base. In a close game, … Continue reading The Sacrifice Present – Connecting Those That Have With Those That Need

Winter Clinics, Brew Tour, Post-Turkey Day Workouts, And More Baseball News

Happy Saturday morning to everyone in the Rhode Island Baseball Community. I have a few local Rhode Island baseball events happening soon to share with you that stretch from URI to Tiverton to North Smithfield. And an overdue shout out to a Rhode Island fall baseball league champion from Warwick North. Have a day and be thankful we didn’t get 5 + feet of snow dumped on us!!! 2022 Winter College Showcase Date: Sunday – December 11th Time: 9am-1pm Venue: Longplex Family and Sports Center Address: 300 Industrial Way, Tiverton, RI 02878 Colleges in Attendance: Rhode Island College, Babson College, … Continue reading Winter Clinics, Brew Tour, Post-Turkey Day Workouts, And More Baseball News

A Baseball Journey Back To The Mound, Featuring North Kingstown’s Henry Hersum

A few months have passed since I had an update to share with you regarding a very talented right handed Pitcher from North Kingstown and Rhode Island’s Prout School – Henry Hersum. Henry found out in his Spring Collegiate baseball season with Virginia’s Old Dominion University that he had sustained a UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) injury and would require season ending Tommy John surgery to repair his arm. Back in the late Spring, early Summer, I connected with Henry and his family on the injury, how it happened, and asked Henry if he would like to document his journey from … Continue reading A Baseball Journey Back To The Mound, Featuring North Kingstown’s Henry Hersum

The Clown House – A Mailbox Baseball Story, Chapter 1: The Halls Move to Hertford

Faneuil Hall always considered himself a bit of an eccentric personality.  Faneuil was named after the famous landmark by his mother, Roberta, who was discovered performing a one person act play called “Tickets, Please” on the cobblestones of Boston by famed Hollywood movie promoter Harry Shaw.  Roberta went on to star in feature films in the 1940s and 1950s and brought her son Faneuil along on her various movie sets.  There on the movie sets, little Fanny, as his mother would call him and he would despise, learned the arts and wonder of the movie prop business.  In the early … Continue reading The Clown House – A Mailbox Baseball Story, Chapter 1: The Halls Move to Hertford

Nine Rhode Island Professional Baseball Players Connect East Coast to West Coast

If you are a professional Rhode Island baseball fan, like myself, you find new and inventive ways to cheer on our Rhode Island baseball players, coaches, and teams. Case in point – the other day I was reading an article … Continue reading Nine Rhode Island Professional Baseball Players Connect East Coast to West Coast

Rhode Island Baseball Community – Need Your Photos For A Veteran’s Day Salute To Service Tribute

To this day, given all of the baseball memories I have from attending Pawtucket Red Sox games and now making new memories attending Worcester Red Sox games, the Salute to Service portion of the games clearly stands out. You feel patriotic, emotional, proud of a fellow Coventry or Cranston or Tiverton Veteran or Active service member as they show a photo, their name and rank, and their hometown on the large TV screen in the outfield. Fans are encouraged to stand for the moments our Rhode Island (and surrounding states) service men and women are announced on the big screen … Continue reading Rhode Island Baseball Community – Need Your Photos For A Veteran’s Day Salute To Service Tribute

The Baseball GOALS Project – How To Start and Run A Youth Baseball Tournament

This past weekend, while I was lugging fence posts, dumping concrete, and attempting to install level stockade fencing in my backyard, I took a moment to drift into my comfort zone – baseball! I thought to myself – “How would I start and run a youth baseball tournament here in Rhode Island?” It was a nice distraction, brief as it may have been, from a tiresome activity which I was clearing overmatched against. Maybe you or someone you know is a league director or league volunteer and thought the same thing about organizing a youth baseball tournament in your city … Continue reading The Baseball GOALS Project – How To Start and Run A Youth Baseball Tournament

Rhode Island Baseball Dugout Chatter – Narragansett Little League Fall Ball Champs, RI Riverdogs ABL 14U Champs, UCONN’s Andrew Sears Stock Rising, Peña Doubles In Astros Win

If your weather temperatures this week look like a healthy EKG reading, you are definitely experiencing the ups and downs of weather conditions in Rhode Island. Freeze warning? Come on! Right after a beautiful day to enjoy a baseball game or a harvest fair or attempt to install a fence in your yard (my Saturday activity) with warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, you hit us with a freeze warning??? My weather app says 35° and my lawn is frosted over and the few remaining leaves in my trees are falling like orangey snowflakes. So, while the sun is coming … Continue reading Rhode Island Baseball Dugout Chatter – Narragansett Little League Fall Ball Champs, RI Riverdogs ABL 14U Champs, UCONN’s Andrew Sears Stock Rising, Peña Doubles In Astros Win

The Rhode Island Baseball Community Speaks – Can A Rec Baseball Player Make It Up The Ladder Without Travel Ball?

Before I get to the responses by the Rhode Island Baseball Community, I wanted to take a quick detour and acknowledge Classical High School’s and current Houston Astros Jeremy Peña, who became the first Rhode Island High School alum to record a base hit in a World Series game in over 40 years. The last one to do it? La Salle Academy’s Davey Lopes, Los Angeles Dodgers, recorded a hit in the 1981 World Series against the New York Yankees. Technically, Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox in 2005 (Baseball Reference shows him born in Providence, RI) was the last Rhode … Continue reading The Rhode Island Baseball Community Speaks – Can A Rec Baseball Player Make It Up The Ladder Without Travel Ball?

My Latest Rhode Island Baseball Community Project – Tales From The Senior Circuit

Growing up here in Rhode Island, I would visit my mother who worked in nursing homes and assisted living centers around the South County area.  She would bring me into the patient’s rooms and I would chat with them about (what else???) baseball.  From what I can recall, the patients loved the time and the opportunity to talk to me about baseball, when they were a little boy or girl growing up here in Rhode Island or a surrounding state.  Some were knowledgeable about the current state of the game, who was playing for the Yankees or the Red Sox, … Continue reading My Latest Rhode Island Baseball Community Project – Tales From The Senior Circuit