1000 RBI? Not This Decade by Havelock Hewes

   There is a fable about a tortoise and a hare.  They had a race. The rabbit got off to a quick start and established a large lead.  He dawdled and found distraction.  Meanwhile the turtle plodded along and won the race. 
   Sometime during the 2015 season Tony Connor should pass Joe Balento's RBI record of 935.  The turtle will be passing the rabbit.  While we should all be singing about what a "jolly good fellow" our tortoise Tony is, the number 935 is close enough to a larger, rounder number to believe the real race is to the one-thousand mark.  The journey from 935 to 1000 would be a hop-skip-and-jump for a hare such as Joe Balento.  However, given Tony's conservative at-bat-per-season numbers and his age he is projected for about 15 RBI per season - a number which has him reaching the mark in 2020.
  It is unlikely that the barrier will be broken in this decade.  Unless, Joe "the rabbit" Balento remembers he plays softball.  If Joe returned in 2015, even at the conservative rate of 22 RBI per season he would reach 1000 in 2017.  But, as the proverb goes "if 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, oh what a Christmas we'd have."
  Third on the "most likely" list is Ian Parfrey, who, if The Long Island Railroad resists giving him a weekend schedule, is due to arrive at 1000 in 2022..."ifs and buts..."
 Fourth on the list, due in during the 2023 season, is the turtlish Havelock Hewes.  He is closely followed by a couple of guys who will have to run like a  rabbit and work like a turtle - Freddie Melendez and Alex Rivera.
 Seventh is Phil Kotik - who, like Balento, could become the favorite if he returned on a full-time basis.
 Chris Hall, Derek Martinez and Larry Savell round out the top ten prospects to get to 1000 first.  All will need to improve attendance to have a shot at breaking the barrier first.
 I know Tony is too honorable a man to get Eric Schulman to grow a long white beard and claim to be Connor for the few months it would take him to reach the 1000 mark.

Top 10 Candidates To Reach 1000 RBI's
Player             Current # of RBI Year Expected
Tony Connor                      927         2020
Joe Balento                        935         Not
Ian Parfrey                         510         2022
Havelock Hewes               756         2023
Freddie Melendez             425         2023
Alex Rivera                       428        2023
Phil Kotik                          701        Not
Chris Hall                          468        2025
Derek Martinez                 412        2026
Larry Savell                      676        2028            

Remembering Peter Libman by Havelock Hewes

   Peter Libman was a better-than-average infielder who played 134 softball games with us between 1994 and 2007. He was a career .404 hitter.  A close look at his statistics uncovers one of the most remarkable single seasons - albeit short -ever.  In 2001 Peter was 19 for 35 and had 19 rbi's and 7 homeruns.  Over a full season (say, 210 ab's) that would project to 114 rbi's and 42 homers.
  Peter was married to Sue Kostner and together they hosted some of our winter meetings.  Peter was a dean at a ballet school and lived in the dorms with possibly the most beautiful women ever assembled in one building.  Peter and Sue baked and cooked for us and served the most tasty eats ever at our parties.  I have a memory of a very contentious argument at their apartment in which the tree rule narrowly triumphed!
  After 1995, I saw Peter on his occasional appearances at games and at a handful of folk concerts.  I knew he had been ill.  Still, I was surprised when I got Paul Geoghan's e-mail saying that Peter had died.    He was a good listener, a great community member and, at least for one season, the most lethal power hitter in SFLOI history.

Maier, Bartman and Vernick by Havelock Hewes

   The answer is "Jeffrey Maier, Steve Bartman and Bill Vernick." The question is "what three fans decided the outcome of a game by touching a live ball?"
  During a playoff game at Yankee Stadium on October 9, 1996 Derek Jeter hit a long flyball.  Tony Tarrasco, the Oriole outfielder, settled under it in right field, when 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence and had the ball bounce off his glove into the stands.  The umpire, Rich Garcia, called it a home run, allowing the Yankees to win the game.
  During a playoff game at Wrigley Field on October 6, 2003  the Cubs had a 3-0 lead and would be in the World Series if they could hold on.  In the 8th inning, the Marlins batter hit a flyball to right which was drifting toward the stands.  Moises Alou, the cub outfielder, reached up to catch it, but Cub fan Steve Bartman put his glove out in front of Alou's, and, in an attempt to catch the ball, had it ricochet off his mitt.  The Marlins went on to score 8 runs and dash the Cubs attempt to get to their first World Series "since the year we dropped the bomb on Japan."
 During game one at PS 141, on Monday, September 1, 2014 Havelock Hewes' team scored five first-inning runs.  During one of the early innings a fan, believed to be Zach Nilva's father, standing in the gate behind firstbase retrieved a live ball.  The umpire, Havelock Hewes, awarded the runner at first, second base.  At this point he announced "the rule for this field will be 'if any spectator touches a live ball the runner will be awarded one base'"  In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the score now tied, the hitter for Freddy Melendez' team singled and the ball briefly eluded Havelock and rolled past first.  Havelock trotted over to pick up the ball, when spectator Bill Vernick picked the live ball up and tossed it to Havelock.  Freddy, now umpiring, enforced Havelock's rule and awarded second to the runner. The next batter singled and the runner scored from secondbase to win the game.
  "Hoisted on my own petard," Hewes mused after the game, "At least Bill has better hands than Maier or Bartman."  

SFL Old Timers Game

The first annual SFL Old Timers Game, organized by SFL founder Tony Connor, took place on August 21 at the Great Lawn.  Connor's team, with Dave Rosengard pitching, secured a victory over Havelock Hewes's team, with Lee Lowenfish pitching.

Participants were:
Jose Balento (1983-2011)
Marvin Cohen (1992-present)
Noel Cohen (1987-1991)
Tony Connor (1983-present)
Joe Gerber (1989-present)
Steve Gould (1983-1984)
Stu Hackel (1984-1997)
Havelock Hewes (1983-present)
Lee Lowenfish (1983-2009)
Dave Metzger (1983-present)
Dave Rosengard (1983-present)
Nick Rowlands (1997-2010)
Rich Rowlands (1984-present)
Joe Sopiak (1988-present)
Bill Vernick (1994-2010)
Bill Weinberg (1983-2006)

SFL Teams of the 1990s

1990:
P-- Dave Rosengard, C-- Tony Connor, 1B-- Jorge Loarte, 2B-- Bobby Naranjo, 3B--Larry Savell, SS--Manny Santiago, LF-- Havelock Hewes, CF-- Derek Martinez, OF-- David Speed, RF-- Jose Balento.

1991:
P-- Dave Rosengard, C-- Jose Balento, 1B-- Jorge Loarte, 2B-- Havelock Hewes, 3B-- Larry Savell, SS-- Bobby Naranjo, LF-- Alan Walker, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Jeff Miller, RF-- Glen Lawrence.

1992:
P-- Peter Bochan, C-- Jose Balento, 1B-- Jorge Loarte, 2B-- Bobby Naranjo, 3B-- Larry Savell, SS-- Kurt Hettler, LF-- John Montalto, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Havelock Hewes, RF-- Mitch Bogard.

1993:

P-- Jorge Loarte, C-- Tony Connor, 1B-- Larry Savell, 2B-- Bobby Naranjo, 3B-- Dan Schneider, SS-- Kurt Hettler, LF-- Dave Metzger, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Havelock Hewes, RF-- Jose Balento.

1994:

P-- Havelock Hewes, C-- Tony Connor, 1B-- Larry Savell, 2B-- Bobby Naranjo, 3B-- Dan Schneider, SS-- Joe Gerber, LF-- Jeff Watts, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Bill Vernick, RF-- Jose Balento.

1995:

P-- Jorge Loarte, C-- Tony Connor, 1B-- Marvin Cohen, 2B-- Havelock Hewes, 3B-- Dan Schneider, SS-- Joe Gerber, LF-- John Grieco, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Bill Vernick, RF-- Jose Balento.

1996:

P-- Havelock Hewes, C-- Marvin Cohen, 1B-- Larry Savell, 2B-- Gil Schmerler, 3B-- Bobby Naranjo, SS-- Peter Traub, LF-- Glen Lawrence, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Bill Vernick, RF-- Jose Balento.

1997:

P-- Havelock Hewes, C-- Dave Rosengard, 1B-- Tony Connor, 2B-- Gil Schmerler, 3B-- Bobby Naranjo, SS-- Joe Gerber, LF-- Rich Inserro, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Bill Vernick, RF-- Jose Balento.

1998:

P-- Dave Rosengard, C-- Tony Connor, 1B-- Marvin Cohen, 2B-- Gil Schmerler, 3B-- Bobby Naranjo, SS-- Joe Gerber, LF-- Havelock Hewes, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Bill Vernick, RF-- Jose Balento.

1999:

P-- Dave Rosengard, C-- Tony Connor, 1B-- Marvin Cohen, 2B-- Havelock Hewes, 3B-- Gil Schmerler, SS-- Rick Tovar, LF-- Mike Palma, CF-- Phil Kotik, OF-- Bill Vernick, RF-- Jose Balento, DH-- Larry Savell.

Triple Play

One of the game's very rare feats was accomplished in our second game today, in the top of the 3rd inning. Sam Melendez led off with a walk, and moved to second on a single to left by Sam Magnus. This brought up Bob Holzwasser, who got 4 hits in the first game, so he shouldn't feel too bad about this:

Bob hit a hard grounder to Freddie Melendez at second base, and Freddie flipped it to Dave Sommers to retire Sam Magnus. Sommers' throw to Joe Geller at first was in time to get Bob. While this was happening, Sam Melendez turned third and decided to head in, and it took a perfect strike from Geller and an acrobatic tag from pitcher Ian Parfrey to get him, to complete a 4-6-3-1 triple play.

A similar triple play was turned last season, with the added complication of Marvin Cohen getting the final assist to nab a runner headed home.

Anyway, the play turned the fortunes of the defensive team, who were in a 3-0 hole at the time, and scored six times in the bottom of the inning, keyed by Jim O'Connor's grand slam down the LF line, enroute to a 9-4 win.

SFL Teams of the 1980s

I thought it would be fun (for me, anyway) to put together 10-player teams for each SFL season, based on who got the most playing time. I tried to organize it by position, with some help from Hav, Gil, and Tony, though some of this is just our best guess. In the event that two players were tied for the last spot, a DH position was added. If anyone in the know spots any awful mistakes, please leave a comment below.

1983:
P-- Paula Gannon, C-- Lee Lowenfish, 1B-- Les Taub, 2B-- David Air, 3B-- Tony Connor, SS-- Bill Weinberg, LF-- Bob Morgens, CF-- Rudy Hirsch, OF-- Dave Metzger, RF-- Jose Balento.

1984:
P-- Lee Lowenfish, C-- Dave Rosengard, 1B-- Les Taub, 2B-- Havelock Hewes, 3B-- Rich Rowlands, SS-- John Decker, LF-- Tony Connor, CF-- Stu Hackel, OF-- Dave Metzger, RF-- Jose Balento.

1985:
P-- Peter Bochan, C-- Dave Rosengard, 1B-- Austen Ruse, 2B-- Havelock Hewes, 3B-- Bill Weinberg, SS-- John Decker, LF-- Dave Lagesse, CF-- Joe Picciano, OF-- Stu Hackel, RF-- Jose Balento.

1986:
P-- Peter Bochan, C-- Dave Rosengard, 1B-- Steve Nackenson, 2B-- Bill Weinberg, 3B-- Luis Rodriguez, SS-- John Decker, LF-- Tony Connor, CF-- Dave Metzger, OF-- Havelock Hewes, RF-- Milt Mankoff.

1987:
P-- Havelock Hewes, C-- Dave Rosengard, 1B-- Tony Connor, 2B-- Bob Karen, 3B-- Bill Weinberg, SS-- Rich Rowlands, LF-- Dave Metzger, CF-- Mark Allen, OF-- Richard Tedesco, RF-- David Spitale.

1988:
P-- Dave Rosengard, C-- Jose Balento, 1B-- Pico Brown, 2B-- Bobby Naranjo, 3B-- Jim Mayer, SS-- Bob Karen, LF-- Dave Metzger, CF-- Mark Allen, OF-- Havelock Hewes, RF-- David Spitale.

1989:
P-- Dave Rosengard, C-- Jose Balento, 1B-- Tony Connor, 2B-- Havelock Hewes, 3B-- Bobby Naranjo, SS-- Bob Karen, LF-- Dave Metzger, CF-- Gary Alvarez, OF-- David Speed, RF-- David Spitale.

July 4 and Notes from Recent Games

Just a notice to anyone who gets there news from the website: We will play a doubleheader (or more) at 11:00am on Friday, July 4, at the Heckscher fields.

And I thought I'd pay tribute to the incredibly strange basepath adventures of Charlie Block last week. Charlie came to bat in the 7th inning with no one out and a runner on first. He grounded out to shortstop, retiring the lead runner, but the relay throw to first went wide, and Charlie reached safely. The next batter was Sam Melendez, who hit a grounder to third. The defense attempted a 5-3-4 double play, and got nobody. Sam easily beat the throw to first, and the throw to second sailed into center field. I moved Charlie to third with a single to right. Phil Ciccone was next, and he grounded out 4-3. There was probably a play on Charlie at home, but the defense elected to throw to third. Like every other throw in the inning, this one went wild, into foul territory down the left field line, clearing the bases and turning a close 9-7 game into a 12-7 game. Well done, Charlie!

Fathers Day and Stats Update

We played three yesterday in fine weather. Freddie Melendez beat Jeff Appell 5-2 in the opener, scattering 7 hits and smacking a bases-clearing double in the first inning. In the second game, Havelock Hewes improved his record to 10-3 by beating Phil Ciccone 5-2. Ciccone was undone by a defense not containing himself that committed 7 errors. Marvin Cohen tied a softball record by getting three unassisted putouts in an inning, on a pair of line drives, one of which Cohen took in for an unassisted DP. For some reason we decided to play a 9-inning third game, which Sam Melendez won 14-11 over a committee of Tony Connor, Freddie Melendez, and Havelock Hewes. Sam Magnus drove in 5 runs for the winning team, and Ian Parfrey relieved Sam Melendez in the 9th and snuffed a potential comeback by retiring Fred Lang and the suddenly red-hot Marvin Cohen (5 hits in the last 2 weekends) on groundouts.

Also, the stat sidebar has finally been updated.

Hewes Wins Two, Sam Melendez Dominates and Mishkin Is In First Place - by Havelock Hewes

    The first half of the Memorial Weekend games were played at Hechscher Field on Sunday, May 25.
    Game one was tied at three runs a piece, when Nel Yomtov drove in Chris Pun (his first game of the season) on a fielder's choice.  The team added more insurance than Tony Connor would sell you when they piled on seven more runs in the top of the seventh to support Havelock Hewes' fine pitching performance and beat Freddy Melendez' team 11-3.
    After the game, Hewes' team added Tony Connor who pitched game 2.  The Sam Magnus team picked up Joe Geller.  There was also a four-plyer trade which sent Gil Schmerler and Tom Haskin to Magnus for Joey Escobar and Adam Wald.  Connor's team scored one in the first and it looked like that lead might hold up as Connor and Sam Melendez matched zeroes through six.  The slight lead disappeared quickly as Melendez' team clubbed six straight hits off the bats of  Sam Melendez, Ross Barkan, Dave Sommers, Freddie Melendez, Sam Magnus and Dimitri Patsalos and scored four runs.  Sam Melendez  allowed only five hits and no earned runs in defeating Connor 4-1.
  The teams were re-mixed for game three and Freddie Melendez faced Havelock Hewes in a re-match of game one.  A number of errors contributed to Hewes' team building a six nothing lead (2 earned) and they held on to win 6-2.
  The hitting stars of the day were Freddy Melendez ( 5 for 8 with 2 walks, 1 RBI, 2 runs), Dimitri Patsalos ( 4 for 9 with 5 RBI), Chris Pun ( 3 for 9 with a double and a triple and 5 runs scored) and Ross Barkan (4 for 5 with a triple, a walk, 1 RBI and 2 runs).
   Going into the second half of the Memorial Day Weekend Games (to be played May 26 at eleven am at The Great Lawn), the pennant race looks like this...
+7   Matt Mishkin  10 - 3
+6   Fred Lang  9 - 3
+4   Ross Barkan  5 - 1
+4   Tom Haskin  6 - 2
+4   Eric Schulman  8 - 4
+3   Ian Parfrey  10 - 7

The (Softball) Odyssey

An overnight rain closed the Heckscher fields last Sunday. It was a beautiful day, and there was no way we were turning around and going home. We went to DeWitt Clinton (54th Street), only to be denied by the little league. We went to Chelsea Park on 28th Street, only to be denied by tee ball. Finally we ended up at Houston Street at the East River, a few blocks south of our fall fields, sharing a turf field with a soccer game. Jeff Appell opposed Freddie Melendez, and thanks to a pair of homers from Eric Schulman, Appell's team was in a quick 6-0 hole. They scored 6 times in the top of the 4th to tie, and then a solo shot from Tom Haskin in the 5th proved to be the go-ahead run in a 12-10 win. Melendez's team put up a spirited comeback, sparked by Greg Hilska's 2-out, 2-run triple, but ultimately fell short.

Games of April 13 AKA Chris Hall Day

I don't know if I've ever seen a hitter dominate a doubleheader quite like this. Chris Hall had 7 hits in 7 at bats, scored 4 runs, drove in ELEVEN, doubled twice, and homered. Thanks to Hall's outburst, Dave Rosengard defeated Sam Melendez, 15-8, and Havelock Hewes beat Jeff Appell, 8-6.

In the first game, Hall homered and drove in 7 runs. Carl Weinberg also homered, crushing his 100th ever SFL home run to deep right-center in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The second game was a tight battle, with Jeff Appell taking a 6-4 lead into the 5th inning. He intentionally walked Ian Parfrey with two men on and two outs, and-- who else-- Chris Hall ripped a bases-clearing double to deep left-center, and was then driven in by Carl Weinberg's triple.

Havelock Hewes set down the heart of the opposing order in the sixth inning, and got a huge outfield assist from Zach Nilva to preserve the win in the seventh.

2014 stats are now available in the right sidebar. League leaders will be updated once we've played a few more games.

Defense Of Scoring Decision by Havelock Hewes

  Critical feedback from a scoring decision I made Sunday was worthy of an explanation.  Zach Nilva hit a soft liner to short centerfield. My reading of the play was that the centerfielder, Eric Schulman, got a good jump on the ball and was running to catch it.  He extended his glove, while running, and the ball bounced off his glove. This was a play that could have been scored either way.   I applied our scoring rubric of "average difficulty and average skills." I believe most outfielders would not have gotten to the ball and because Eric was running and extending his arm to catch the ball it was not an easy play.  

Regular Season Opener

Havelock Hewes prevailed over Freddie Melendez, 12-7, in the first game of the 2014 season at the Heckscher fields. Hewes helped himself with three hits and three RBI, and Carl Weinberg smacked his 99th career HR, a solo bomb to left-center.

The second game was won by Sam Melendez, 4-3, over Jeff Appell. Melendez entered the final inning nursing a 3-2 lead, but Zach Nilva tripled to left, and scored on an infield grounder by Greg Hilska. Melendez escaped without further damage when Phil Ciccone's long liner to left landed in Matt Mishkin's glove. This set the stage for Chris Hall to hit a hard liner through the SS hole that scored Eric Schulman with the winning run.

Opening Day Results

In typical SFL winter fashion, we ended up on field #2 at Seton Park without any bases, so we improvised some random garbage-- second base was an empty Dunkin Donuts box. It worked well enough. The first game went to Derek Martinez's Geezers, who defeated Jim O'Connor's Wheezers, 16-1. The rout was keyed by a monster offensive performance from Tony Connor, who doubled twice, tripled, and drove in 7 runs.

In the second game, Freddie Melendez scattered 10 hits and delivered the big blow with a grand slam HR, to defeat Ian Parfrey, 9-4.

Opening Day

Sunday, March 23, 2014. MS 141 field, Riverdale, 10:00am. At last!!

Awards Recap

This probably should have been posted weeks ago, but it's not like we've been too busy since then: The gold gloves went to Freddie Melendez (P), Havelock Hewes (C), Gil Schmerler (1b), Joe Geller (2b), Freddie Melendez (3b), Phil Ciccone (ss), and Cid Rivera, Eric Schulman, Sam Melendez, and Zach Nilva (of). Rookie of the Year was Chris Pun by a close vote over Greg Hilska. Best Pitcher was Freddie Melendez. MVP was Ian Parfrey. Anne Atkinson and Gil Schmerler were our gracious hosts once again, and due to a treasury surplus, there was pizza. No significant rule changes were implemented. We might have done something about the outfield cones but I don't really remember.

100 Days Without Softball by Havelock Hewes

   It has been 100 days since we last played.  All "most in a single season" records are safe until 2015.