COOPERSTOWN GAME 7/17/24

Video taken on 7/17/24 Cooperstown game. Click the link below to watch it. 

 video_3E484260A2B1B741F1C1F51000C17191_video_dashinit.mp4

Matinee Players,

With threatening skies and rain all around yesterday, the Baseball Gods made sure we had warm and dry conditions when we took the field on historic Doubleday field for our annual trip to the mecca of baseball. As we were warming up the crowd starting filing in and it was obvious that we were in for a treat as a busload of summer campers filled the seats behind the home dugout, and these kids were loud! Not sure if it was his Yankee uniform or his boyish good looks, but the campers adopted Paul Cerone as their favorite player and each time Paul stepped to the plate the crowd went wild! Cheers of “Home Run Hitter” and “Paul, Paul, Paul” echoed throughout the stadium. Paul obliged his adoring fans by signing autographs and throwing baseballs to the crowd and was even interviewed by the media. When Paul ripped a base hit down the leftfield line in the fifth inning the crowd exploded and sadly, shortly thereafter it was time for the campers to go home as they all waved and shouted goodbye to their new favorite Yankee.

As far as the game went it was a close affair until McQ’s team had a big eighth inning and salted this one away to go on to the 14-5 victory. As with most of our games, this one was not about the outcome but more about the experience and sharing the field together, especially in  Cooperstown! Another highlight of this game was playing with CDMSBL legend Tom Maney in his last game of the year. As I write this Tom is having season-ending back surgery to hopefully get him back feeling like his old self. In typical Maney fashion, in his last at bat he smoked a line-drive base hit in the left centerfield gap which everyone was so glad to see.

Once the game was over, after having a quick beer in the parking lot a bunch of us walked down to the Doubleday Café and had a nice dinner to wrap up a great day!  

     COOPERSTOWN GAME  8/16/23

We had a great day on historic Doubleday field last Wednesday as the Jimmy K’s Krushers took home the 11-5 victory. McQ’s team took the early lead as they scored two runs in the top of the first, and the game proceeded smartly until the fateful bottom of the fifth. With McQ’s team clinging to a 2-1 lead we had the proverbial “inning from hell” which turned the game into a runaway. Great weather with great players was the perfect way to spend an afternoon and a bunch of us also enjoyed some cold beers after the game. (a side note regarding food in Cooperstown..Hardball Café has horrendous food which we unfortunately experienced again. If you want to enjoy some quality food in Cooperstown go to the Doubleday Café instead)   

No Matinee game this week. We are now in the midst of the 62 and 55 playoffs so we may hold off on Matinee for a week or two and then resume a regular Wednesday schedule right into the end of October. We’ll be in touch for our next game.

See the Cooperstown team picture attached.

Jim

Finally, our annual picnic will be after our last game on Oct. 11.