Warren Spahn's Birthday

The winning-est left handed pitcher in Major League history was born on April 23, 1921.  He won 363 games in his career.  He is quoted as saying 'hitting is timing; pitching is upsetting timing." I think JD would agree with that.

Field D

Team Toro vs. Team  Jacobson    

For the first four innings the game was tied at nine runs apiece.  Early highlights for Team Toro, the visitors, included a two run  homer by Chuck Duff in the fourth frame and a homer by Don Keller, also in the fourth inning.  

Team Toro scored five in the top of the fifth with hits by Powell, Simon,  Toro, Schapler, and a two bagger by Chuck Duff.  The home team failed to score in their half of the inning but added a run in the bottom of the sixth.  At that point Team Toro led 13 to 10.  

In the top of the seventh, Team  Toro surged ahead on a strong five run performance featuring hits  by Schapler, Duff, Borowitz, Woodard, Powell, Simon and a homer by Chris Constantine.   

The visitors added three more in the top of the eighth on a Chuck Duff three run homer.  With the score at that point 22 to 10, Team Jacobson caught fire in the bottom of  the eighth to score six runs and close to within six runs of Team Toro. The six run explosion featured hits by Regis Finnegan, a double by Larry Wells, and hits by Tom Wise, and Kirk Coffman.  

Both teams fell flat in the ninth inning and did not score. The final was 22 to 16  with Team Toro coming out on top.  It should be noted that Dean Schapler was hit on an errant throw whole going into second base in the ankle but continued to play thru the injury. We hope that he is OK; he showed true grit.  It was an exciting game and a fun day at the ballpark was had by all.  

Team Toro leading hitters included. Chris Constantine with four hits with. a HR, Chuck Duff with four hits including two HR, and  Jeff  Simon with five hits. 

Team Jacobson leading hitters were  Don Keller with three hits including a HR, Les Jacobson with three hits including two doubles, Regis Finnegan with five hits including two doubles,and Ed Kline with three hits.

Submitted by 

Jeff Simon

Field B

The umpire yells out, “play ball”, not “let’s go to work” at the start of a game. That’s kind of nice, even at age 55+, we can still play.  With that in mind, you might enjoy this link to George Carlin’s classic comparison of Baseball and Football, it’s funny and PG rated. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmXacL0Uny0

Well, that was the spirit in Winter Haven, at Field B, today. There were lots of smiles and some good natured kidding, which caused laughs to flow from players on both teams. Good thing too, because the hits were not flowing.

The home team, managed by Joe D’Herin, got enough metal on the ball to score 5 runs in the 1^st and 6^th innings. In between those big innings there were some dry ones. The visiting team, managed by Bob Zelazny, kept the score close throughout the game. Defensively, it was a good thing Tommy Snider was on top of his game for the visitors. During the course of the game, Tommy fielded 5 balls, at 2^nd base, and threw out the runners. The shut down fielder also added 3 hits to the offensive side of things, which kept the "V" team in the hunt.

The “H” team had their own star, Russ “not in my house” King made some nice catches in right field. Russ also swung a hot bat, getting a triple and a HR along with a few other hits. The cry, “MVP”, was chanted a few times by the home team, in support of Russ, who was smiling like a Butcher’s dog.

The final score of the game: Visitors 11- Home Team 15.

WP: Davis

LP: Matta

Other news and notes to report: Denny Shaffer’s time of playing ball here, at Winter Haven, is coming to a temporary close. Denny will be leaving soon to spend the summer up in Ohio.  Pat Drouilard and his lovely ball playing partner, Penny, also left this week, for Canada. God bless all of you, see you next year.

 A special shout out to Ari Harris, who sold his home and is moving away; he will not be playing ball at Winter Haven anymore. We will miss you Ari, it was our pleasure getting to know you. We wish you the very best, come back and visit anytime.

Leading Hitters

Visitors:

Ron Butler, 3/ 5.

Bob Zelazny, 3/5.

Tom Snider, 3/ 5.

Home:

Joe D’Herin, 4/ 5 with a double.

Russ King, 5/ 5 with a triple and HR.

J. D. Davis, 4/ 5 with a double.

Denny Shaffer, 3/ 5 with a HR.

Herb Oesterreid,  3/ 4.

Submitted by

Nick Matta