On to better things: I did play softball a few times while at St. John's, for Sigma Tau Alpha, against Sigma Chi Beta (Tau lost miserably) and for Young Americans for Freedom (their team never got off the ground).
I finally got back into the groove in 2001 when I buttered my wife up and she let me play for my employer, Clifford Chance , as part of the Central Park Lawyers Softball League. Since I joined the team a few games into the season, there were only two numbers left: 10 and 29. Since I always preferred odd numbers to even ones, I picked #29 to wear. My first game was against Mendes and Mount on June 4 in Central Park near Mt. Sinai Medical Center, and we lost miserably. I caught part of the game, and came to bat twice.
I returned to Clifford Chance the following year and kept #29. In fact I had it until 2004. On September 12, 2004 the New York office played the Washington office in the East Coast Challenge. See the webpages on Netscape, Geocities and Homestead that are dedicated to the event. I was laid off in early 2005 but played as an alumnus until June 17, 2005. That year I wore #19. Besides Central Park, Team Clifford Chance (AKA the Red Dogs) also played at 148th and the Hudson River, in Chelsea, near CCNY, and by the East River at Grand Street or 10th Street. Somehow, the games by the East River were the most fun, maybe because we got to watch boats go by.
In 2006 I played for the Long Island Softball Association on fields in Suffolk County. At a practice held on March 19, the coach said that he might make me a pitcher. That meant practicing pitching underhand and trying to get the ball into a bucket behind home plate. Considering that I did not pitch softball in over 40 years, the coach said that I did OK. Before Opening Day (April 30) I visited the batting cages in West Islip and Bay Shore, as well as the school ballfields to improve my hitting. The cage in Bay Shore is family owned, and the father is Adelphia University's softball coach.
I have pictures of the 2006 season downloaded here on page 2.
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