Hardball Heaven Reunion II in St. Louis

Here are some pics from this summer's trip to St. Louis.  We stepped it up a notch this year by getting more time to visit and taking in a couple of games from arguably the best baseball town in the majors, St. Louis. 

Anyone recognize these faces?

 

This pic was during Friday night's game, which was excessively hot, but watching baseball with a Budweiser in hand couldn't have been better! 

 

 

 

 

Juan (Blind Squirrels) and Ed (Champs)

 

 

What a treat to have these two together on the same trip!  These guys are fun and have A LOT to say!
I do mean that in a good way fellas!

 

 

 

Ok, same type of picture as above, BUT from a different angle and includes Yours Truly.... Baseman!

 

 

 



 

Our view from Friday Night's game from the cathedral, Busch Stadium

 

 

I know, I know, where are the pics of the entire group?  Well, I wasn't able to get a pic of all of us at once, but we did do a group photo.  I believe Ed did and once he gets up and around to feeling better, I am sure he will share it with you all. 

 

 

Let's just say, this was a fantastic baseball weekend and St. Louis is a great town period.  Some of the events that happened......ahem Juan.......will live on in infamy during future trips for certain.  Let's just say that Juan and his crew experienced some nightmarish, but funnier than you can imagine  experiences on this trip.  We laughed our asses off!  Plus, getting to know Tommy (Hitters), Mike (Ageless), Randy (HH) and Ed (Champs, 1st meeting) even better than before was a great experience.  Others liked hearing our story that we were in the same fantasy league for quite some time and meeting up like we did. 

 

 

So, that leaves us for future meetings.  We all discussed trying to get together in Denver next year for a Rockies weekend.  Let me tell you that Coors Field is an excellent place to take in a game, but also the beauty of the state of Colorado is a cut above anywhere else we could meet up!  Hopefully, by meeting more on the western side of the country more could make it like maybe Timmy?  Chad is already here.  Plus, if you need a free B&B, there is the Porcher Palace!  Can't speak for Chad, but would have room here.  So, save, save, save to try and make a HH Reunion III happen.  You wouldn't regret it!

 

BASEMAN





Different Places Different Faces

It is no secret to the members of this league that one of my passions is watching my girls grow in life. Raissa, my youngest, has been a particular point of pride as she has provided me with countless "proud Dad" moments on the softball field. She just completed her junior year of college and this past Saturday, May 5th, she along with the rest of the Berea Mountaineer girls softball team finished runner-up in the conference tournament. A rare achievement for their program. Raissa is their lead-off hitter and had a good weekend with several hits, rbi's, and runs scored. Over the course of 6 games she played Catcher, 1B and RF. She is the primary catcher for the team but has established herself as a "plug and play" type player that can be slotted in several positions depending on the situation.

Raissa doing chemistry in the sand
between games

Raissa is also an honor student having made the Presidents list every semester she has been in college. She has learned time management and knows the value of using softball as a release from the study grind and vice-versa. She is active on campus and was invited to join Mortar Board (some type of honor society) as a Soph even though you must be a Junior to be selected. You see she had enough credits to be classified a Junior the last half of her Sophomore year.

Her goal in life is to work with animals in some capacity and is majoring in Biology. This summer she is doing an internship at Wildlife Images, a wildlife rehabilitation center,  in Grant Pass, Oregon. To say she is loving it would be an understatement.

Her are 2 recent pictures of her taken 48 hrs apart.


The first one was taken Saturday during the tournament in Danville, Ky.




The 2nd was taken Monday in Grant Pass, Or. at Wildlife Images. Feeding "Rascal" the racoon.


The "tough as nails" girl on the left morphs into the"kindhearted caregiver" on the right. Who wouldn't be a proud Dad of an individual such as this.

You guys on the left coast take care of her this next 8 weeks. You're a hell of lot closer to her than I am ... lol

Randy

Harball Heaven Reunion II

Meet Me in St. Louis

 

No, I am not talking about Judy Garland's 1944 theatrical production of "Meet Me in St. Louis", but am actually sending a precursor to what is hopefully our 2nd Hardball Heaven Reunion!  Just looking at the image of Busch Stadium above with the skyline and the Gateway Arch in the background has me rearing to go to St. Louis this summer! 

We need to make this happen again fellas and if you "Save the Date" now, WE CAN make this a reality!  I am proposing that we try to meet on the weekend of June 21-23.  Now this is just a proposal, but now is the time to start thinking about possibilities to get the most of us going.  I know summer schedules can get filled up, but if we commit now to a date, then the more likely people are to make it.  If this date is not possible, then let me know soon, so I can throw other dates out there.  Plus, it would be nice if we are able to spend a little more time having conversation then just at the game like we did in Cincinnati, two summers ago. 

I'm all in and ready to roll!  How about you!  I will also be trying to contact as many of you as I can personally to check your status if nothing is heard.  The Cincinnati trip was excellent, but this one can be even better!  I hope to hear from as many of you as possible!

So, Meet Me in St. Louis!!!

Mark

Ageless...... Priceless....

Many of us have commented from time to time that Hardball Heaven is special. Many times it is difficult to rationally define why that is.

Sometimes it is undeniably obvious.

Today I get a knock on the door and Mike (Ageless) is standing there with a box in his hand. By nature, Mike is a very reserved individual. He would much rather leave an anonymous package on your doorstep than to accept the accolades for a good deed.

He will not appreciate this post. 

Mike walks in the house with this box and hands it over to me and says "Here, you need to deal with this. You might want to check it first and make sure it is right"

At that he was ready to leave. I glanced in the package and couldn't believe my eyes! " Mike! What have you done?!"

He couldn't resist hesitating long enough to capture my reaction. His stoic expression was belied by the gleam in his eye and the glow of satisfaction that encompassed him. Then just as quickly as he came he was ready to go but not before he made sure there was no evidence of what he invested in this little project.

"Gotta go take care of a couple of projects" and off he went acting as though he was dropping off something he found abandoned at the side of the road.

This picture isn't great but I think you can get the jest of what he delivered today. 

Personalized trophies for the League Champions for 2003 to 2012 including Rick Hill awards for 2011 and 2012

Now my job is to get some addresses and do a little shipping and see that these get to their rightful owners. Be prepared to cooperate. I will not rest till all are delivered including Reds.

Why is Hardball Heaven so special?

People like Mike Jones............. that's why!!

Ten Years and Counting......

2003 Oh the events that consumed us way back then. George "W" was President, "Baghdad Bob" and the Iraqi regime was decimated, the space shuttle Columbia lifted off never to return, and the "Terminator" became Governor of California after a recall vote. The Federal deficit was a whopping 6.8 billion (with a "b")

Tampa Bay defeated Oakland in the Super Bowl. The low budget Marlins defeated the mega budget Yankees in the World Series. March Madness ended with Syracuse knocking off Kansas and LSU and USC were co-champs of the NCAA football. Yep.. no such thing as BCS way back then.

We said goodbye to Johnny and June Carter Cash, Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn, Gregory Peck and Mr Rogers.

And HELLO to Hardball Heaven !!

I won't go over that 1st season again as I have done so elsewhere in this blog. Looking back it is hard to believe that 10 years have passed and for the most part the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

6 Managers have been here all 10 years. Randy Stovall, Tommy Coleman, Mike Jones, Tim Weyel, Kerm Yerman and Ed Spinelli.

9 years - Mark Porcher, Juan Torres and Stephen Arsenian

6 years - Steve Champion, Peter Alden and Rick Hill

4 years - William Stansifer

and the new kid on the block Chad Armstrong has completed 2 years.

Excluding the 2 one and dones from that 1st season there have only been 16 people to grace the fields of Hardball Heaven. An amazing feat in and of itself.

Thought I would go back and do some cumulative stats to see how things shook out our first decade. Hope you enjoy.

I remain safely on top in total wins but there is a real battle for 2nd between Stars and Baseman. Champs and Utica are also in a real battle for 7th place.



The battle between Stars and Baseman intensifies at the winning % level as they are separated by only .001 point. A good season from Ageless or Squirrels could catapult them to 6th place.



Stars is the undisputed regular season finish leader with 2 1st place finishes and 4 2nd place finishes. Baseman and Hardballers both have 3 regular season 1st place finishes to their credit.

When it comes down to showtime there is no better than Baseman as his 5 (count em ) League Championships put him clearly ahead of the pack at playoff time.



As we embark on a new season, decade and keeper format I can't help but wonder what will be the fate of Hardball Heaven 10 years from now?

Long Live Hardball Heaven!!

Foster Parenting

Being a Foster Parent

 

As I mentioned last summer in the personal post segments that we were enjoying, my wife Anna and I were foster parents.  In all we have been able to support 5 kiddos in almost a year now.  Four of them were temporary placements, except for Alex in the photo above.  He came into our home late last February after having spent one month in NICU and another month with a family, who wasn't able to provide the time necessary to meet his medical needs.  We then provided care for Alex, who was on oxygen and having withdrawals from cocaine in his system.  This was going to be a task, but we had been called to do foster parenting.  Despite many nights of little sleep due to the detriment of the drugs, the reward of having Alex in our home is so worth it.   There's nothing like coming home to a child that is waiting to see you.  We hope to adopt him in the upcoming year, but foster parenting if full of trials and tribulations.  Biological mom has relinguished her rights, but not his biological dad.  It's a long story, so without going into great detail, we still have the upper hand in the court system even as foster parents due to dad's unwillingness to cooperate within the past year.  But, his dad continues to fight for custody despite only seeing Alex for 5 minutes ever.  He wants custody or a near relative.  We have been blessed with a foster agency that has many resources and does all it can to support the parents, a judge that is favorable toward foster parents, and friends that are praying for us.  We also now have a voice in any new court cases.  Alex has bonded to us, and we want him to be our official son!

So, to my Hardball Heaven family, I ask you to pray for us and that the Lord look favorably upon our family.  The next 6 months or so may very well be an emotional roller coaster.  We didn't go into foster parenting looking to adopt (unless the opportunity came about), but in this case it is really in Alex's best interest being that he has really only known us in his life.  Life wouldn't be the same without this little guy.

Ok, now that is serious and emotional rant if I ever would say, but since we are like family in HH, I had to share with you all.   I will however try and get a baseball related post out during the long winter months before SPRING TRAINING finally arrives!  Can't wait!  Randy, we are coming for you this season!

 

BASEMAN



 

The "Hall of Shame"

Podcasters have been spending a lot of time on the baseball Hall of Fame voting for this year. All the debate is over whether or not Bonds and/or Clemons should be voted in. There have been arguments for letting them in and arguments against letting them in. Thanks to them, NO ONE was voted in this year.

Which is fine by me. I know you can't erase the stats that the "roid boys" put up. Sooner or later the baseball world will have to acknowledge them even if they have to use an asterisk. But nothing says they have to get in as soon as they become eligible. Make them pay. Make them pay dearly.

In fact let me suggest a penalty.

Pete Rose is the epitome of a baseball player. He gave 110% as a player and still made time for his fans. I know from 1st hand experience that you can read in this post. What he did was wrong. Egregious even. What Pete did was so terrible that he was banned from baseball. They have tried to erase his existence and deny him any association with baseball whatsoever.

His crime? He bet on his damn self. Maybe he bet on other things as well who knows ... and who cares. Did he ever throw a game? Was that even an accusation?  HELL NO! He played hard on the field and apparently played hard off the field.

And for that he was not even in the discussion of Hall of Fame. Not this year, not any year.

He eventually came clean on his transgressions. Did jail time. Has had some of the best years of his life that could have been spent promoting the game he loved ripped from him like a bad spleen.

Pete has been out of baseball since 1989. 24 years for anybody that has trouble with simple math.

Pete has paid his dues. He has paid penance.

Bonds and Clemons had great careers and accomplished great things. No they didn't bet on themselves, but they did bet that if they juiced up they could improve their performance and their marketable value. They both shamelessly accepted acknowledgments for feats they performed "under the influence" .

To date neither has chosen to come clean.

So, I think the bench mark has/is being set. At a minimum they should be denied consideration to the Hall of Shame for 24 years. and counting......

When, and only when, baseball decides to come to its senses and admit one of the greatest players of all time in Pete Rose will the final penalty for Bonds and Clemons be set. They should not receive one less day for their transgressions than Charlie Hustle himself.

So I ask you MLB.... how much is enough?

Gettin Ready to Get Ready.....

What to do, what to do? I am officially in Fantasy No-Mans Land. Football is over. Made the playoffs in one and got bumped 1st round. Lost the championship game in the other. Now the wait is on for baseball.

The long and boring wait.

This hiatus is self imposed of course. I chose a few years back to forego fantasy basketball as the overlaps were just too much. For better or worse I have opted for quality over quantity. 2 baseball leagues and 2 football leagues and a break. That is my annual fantasy calendar in a nutshell.

Saw Mike (Ageless) this morning. " I guess you are all ready for the draft" he remarked.

"No not yet, but I am doing some reading and listening to a few podcasts." I replied.

And then we started talking a little about keepers and so forth and whether everyone would return this season. Good to see that I am not the only one that is starting to get baseball on the brain.

Of course there is Mark (Baseman). He has been talking about putting up a blog post. Really looking forward to that. So I know he is starting to do a little prep.

I am sure that others of you are starting to do a little pre-prep prep as well. These are the days that leave us wanting.

Here is an interesting article

MLB releases 2013 schedule with new wrinkles

Astros' move to AL creates all-season Interleague; World Baseball Classic returns

Houston to the AL West. As if they weren't looking bad enough where they were. That should be interesting. 

Looks like we have 12 good weeks before the season begins. I will keep an eye on when Yahoo opens up the league signups. Meanwhile everyone needs to be looking at who your keepers will be. Remember 2 players per team. I will do a more detailed keeper post soon so everyone will be on the same page. We may have to do some things a little different with the draft in order to handle the keepers but should be no big deal.

Not too early to start thinking about a Hardball Heaven Reunion again this season. Somebody needs to be working on that. 

Here's to the off-season

Randy