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2025 Memorial Day Invitational - In Memoriam
- rogergoehring
- Jun 1
- 6 min read
Tribute
What a great Memorial Day Tournament we had, plenty of action and great weather (with a little cooling drizzle halfway through the game). We had 5 on 4 to start the day but dwindled to 4 on 3 after Chuck and Brad had to depart early.
More on the game shortly, but first, I’d be remise if I didn’t mention the namesake of the Tourney as we played on Memorial Day. Always remember the service to our country by all of the people that answered the call and especially those that gave ALL!!!
In the spirit of memorializing, let us not forget the great contribution by our fellow SCP stickballers who served and were able to continue to serve the community by creating and fostering our great game of Stickball!!! With special consideration to Max Katcher, Bob Ley, Charlie Goldman, and Robert Stoakley who initiated the club/league and brought the game to SCP!! While the venue and players (and equipment) have evolved the spirit and comradery instilled by the original ‘gang’ remains the same as we enjoy game after game of our excellent past-time. Also, I would like to make an honorable mention of some of the past contributing players: Norm and Linda Lilly (hopefully to come off the DL in the near future), Ed Hance, Steve Woods, Mitch Larkin, Bobbie Belt, Keith Salter, Steve Schneiderman, Dave Scherr, Edsel Holt, Dave Miller, Eddie Holder, Carol Burns (we’re still using the fishnet catchers gear 😉). We have had players on the DL or missing from action (IR) list for extended periods but also seen them return, evidenced through such notable players as Max Katcher, John Mayhue and Moe Passannante. We have also had some special couples: Bill Spataro and Susan McBride, John and Cindy Withers, Bill and Charlotte Baker, The Mcgohan’s along with the many, many, men, women, and children that have passed though the stickball gallery throughout the years (and appear in the distribution list of this emailing) allowing us to share our great game (forgive me if I miss mentioning your names here specifically). Our stickball club has welcomed ALL and served ALL, giving a playing platform opportunity to everyone and anyone!! Many thanks to all who have made and continue to make this activity a joy to participate in, even though not recognized as such by CAC/HOA ☹.
We still use ALL the original equipment: man-hole cover home plate, street signs (Stickball Boulevard, Bronx and NY sign), bats ‘donated’ by players, cones, scoreboard, and especially the rocket launcher / bat holder 😉) – thanks to all who made those contributions!!
It is, however, gratifying after many, many weeks of play to see that the PODS around our Paperwhite ‘diamond’ do recognize us now and detour around so as not to interrupt THE GAME – many thanks to them!!
Now for the Wrap-UP:
The Guns taking on the Roses in a Memorial Day Invitational (that only a few RSVPed to, BUT a couple of players showed up that didn’t 😊) It was great having our scorekeeper back and very useful to the Wrap-Up. Denis also served as the DH joining the 4 member Guns after the Roses acquired Bo as an anchoring 5th member to combat the serious threat of Nathan leading the Guns team :-0 Both of whom win MVP honors (*) for their contributions to this event.
GUNS:
Rick (Mr. Single) – 5/5, .500, 5S, 2 RBI
Fran (Kyle Squibber) – 4/9, .444, 3S, D, 1 RBI
*Nathan (Young Gun, in his 2nd game) - 11/11, 1.000, (CYCLE) - 5S, D, 2T,
2 HR (AUTO), 12 RBI !! (drove in 12/18 runs for the Guns!!)
Brad (in his 2nd game) – 5/7, .714, 4S, T, 2 RBI
Denis (DH and scorekeeping) – 4/7, .571, 2S, D, T, RBI (missing HR for cycle)
ROSES:
Bill (Mr. Contact) – 4/8, .500, 4S, 2 RBI
Alle (in his 4th(?) game) – 6/9, .667, 2S, 2D, 2HR (1 AUTO - WALK-OFF),
6 RBI !! (missing a T for cycle)
Roger (been around awhile 😉) – 7/8, .875, 5S, D, T, RBI (missing HR for cycle)
*Bo (The Crusher) – 4/8, .500, S, 4HR!!, 8 RBI !!
Chuck (Mr. Triple) – 3/5, .600, S, 2T, 4 RBI !!
As evidenced by the stats, we had A LOT of RUNS!!! Great offensive battle. Bo crashed a HR almost to the stop sign at Little Gem and Paperwhite!! (he also put one yard, literally in the yard up the hill in right field, which we should get back from the neighbor as they previously delivered 2 of Bo’s foul balls found in their yard :-0)
The Guns started the game with a slow first innings followed by a MAX 5 run second inning to conclude the top of the first twinning (two innings that is) with Rick and Brad recording 2 RBIs and Nate pushing in a run with one of his many singles (which was fine with the Roses 😊compared to his run production to come …) The Roses could only must 3 runs in the first on a Bill RBI single and a Chuck smoking 2 RBI triple keeping the ball away from Nate scouring the field for something to catch 😊
The Guns answered with 4 more in the 3rd on a towering Nate HR and went quietly in the 4th. The Roses retaliated with 4 in the 3rd on another Bill single and a 3 run Bo dinger. That was followed by a 4 run 4th on another lined triple by Chuck just over the outstretched hands of Nate :-0
Not to be outdone the Guns amassed 9 runs in their 3 twinning with 3 in the 5th on a Nate Automatic HR followed by a 6 run (over the Max 5) 6th and final inning as Nathan fired up another HR and a 3 run scoring Triple while Fran pushed one in on his single – score as MANY as you can before the opposing team can get all 3 outs!!! …. Which the Roses proceeded to do as they answered back with some run production of their own!
The inning that wouldn’t die: Roses kept pounding the ball into the limited number of Guns fielders as they were left ‘defenseless’ by the loss of Brad and the Roses lost the continued contribution of Triple Chuck. Nate was all alone on the front line, and sometimes out in the outfield shifting positions based on past Roses hits :-0 (awesome responsibility!) Balls continuously found the tarmac of the ‘Swiss Cheese’ defense for run after run after run after run …. Primarily a Bo Grand Salami past automatic and nearly to the stop sign at Little Gem/Paperwhite (the longest shot yet at Paperwhite field !! :-0) The final nail was struck when Alan smacked a walk-off 3 run scoring HR into automatic land!!!
We all had a BLAST!!! A Fun Time was had by all – we all went away without injury 😊 and very few lost balls 😊
IN CLOSING:
To all those new to the post-game Write-Up, and even those who have been around for a while, I used to post on the WIX - SCP Stickball Blog but can’t add new picture content through the FREE site I use so I am using MS Word to create a new post with new pics commemorating the day. I did use the Wix site to create an “AI” generated post just for fun to see what the results would be. To that end I include the link to that site below which many are familiar with. Going to the site will allow for review of past write-ups and general history of SCP Stickball to include the rules. Browse the menu at the top of the site to engage the Rules, Gallery of past pics and other previous news. In the cover photo you will find a ‘Discover More’ button that will explain the origins of SCP Stickball. Scrolling down you will find the current post for THE Memorial Day writeup by our visiting spectator, Google AI / Gemini – interesting read indeed. Not sure where he was sitting or what he was watching but makes for a few chuckles…. Also, continue to browse past Write-Ups. Lots of HISTORY (though some of it has been purged due to storage requirements)!!! Enjoy!!! And feel free to SUBSCRIBE or CONTACT at the bottom of the page, I believe we can still connect using the provided free WIX domain. Once you become a member you can leave comments after you login on the cover page, the Log in option is faint but just below the menu on the right side 😉
(I hope to get the site working again for new content but we shall see, might take a few $$$$ 😉)
Follow this SCP Stickball Blog link (or if it doesn’t work -> copy/past in your favorite browser):
P.S. Additionally, there is a video out on YouTube that exemplifies the SCP Stickball League. It can be found by searching for “SCP Stickball”. Video credits go to our own designated videographer, Ed Hance!!! Produced by Roger Goehring 😊
See everyone next Monday, June 2nd at 10 O'clock!!!!!
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