FALL Day at Kiwanis

You're all probably sick of me writing about Ludlowe baseball. 

Well, I'm going to again. 

We hosted Fairfield American Little League (FALL) Day for our game vs McMahon on Friday. 

Many people were involved in making the day so great. Special shoutout to Keith Connors from FALL for all his help and organization. Great job as well by Ludlowe baseball parents Amy Crawford, Jennifer Gibson, and Ludlowe head coach Ken Geriak for all their involvement in the day's activities. Sorry if I am not mentioning others who were involved. 

Prior to the game, the Fairfield American players joined the Ludlowe players on the field for the National Anthem. 

The one downside of the day, the sound system did not work well. I tried to do public address for the pre-game announcements and starting lineups. Between my lack of projecting my voice, and the issues with the sound system, I couldn't be heard. I read the first couple paragraphs then we realized in the booth that nobody on the field could hear me. Remind me never to offer again. Thanks to Ben Crawford for taking over and making it work for the pre-game.  

Shoutout to Cristian Connors for his work on the scoreboard. Very much appreciated. 

As far the game, Ludlowe came away with a 4-0 victory behind a complete game from Will Meyers. 

The FALL kids had fun chasing down foul balls and bringing them back to the dugout and competing for who could return the most. 

Following the game, the FALL players came on the field for a meet and greet with the players and players (and coaches) signed baseball's, t-shirts, hats and even bags of seeds for the FALL players. 

The kids were given "Future Falcon" t-shirts and there was the Fire Engine Pizza Truck for all to enjoy. 

There were also some other giveaways, including signed baseballs by the entire team. 

It was a fun community day and I love that a partnership is being built between the Ludlowe Baseball Program and Fairfield American. 

The atmosphere was terrific. There was a vibe all around that was pretty cool. Hope everyone continues to come out and supports Ludlowe baseball! 

Falcon Pride! Never Give Up! 

Don't Mess Anything Up

Talking to our guys at third base during a Norwalk mound visit (Photo: Stacey Scruggs)

I obviously talk a lot about Ludlowe baseball and being on the coaching staff. 

Normally, I am with the varsity, doing a lot of the administrative side of things. 

On Wednesday, I got a new experience.  I had to fill in and coach the JV team. 

It was fun and nerve-racking. 

Fortunately, the kids played well and made it very easy for me. They are also a good, fun group which is very helpful also. 

It was cool to coach kids who I know and have seen play, especially those who we saw when Rob Adams and I broadcasted Fairfield American Little League in 2018, 2019 and 2020. There are some guys who were on those FALL teams who are on varsity and that's great too, but this was different. 

As for the game, we won 7-4 behind good pitching from Kieran Scruggs and Leo Hood and timely hitting from a number of people throughout the lineup. 

From a logistical standpoint, I had a couple subs to get in, and it made it easy that it was a Hood and a catcher, so I just swapped out the battery at once. 

It's also making sure I manage the kids. Make sure our pitchers are good and I don't throw them too much. Make sure people know their role in the game. I think this is where I do well because I care. Sometimes I care too much. 

I also told myself initially I was just going to let them do whatever they wanted at the plate or on the bases, then as the game was starting, I'm like, why, I know what I'm doing. So we stole bases, bunted runners over among other things. They hit the ball and got on base, which allowed me to have some fun.  

Honestly, I'm just happy I didn't mess anything up,* too much, as the title of the blog post says. I'm sure some players weren't happy with things I did or didn't do. I told them before the game play hard, and that they did.  

* I did get a runner thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a base hit. Too aggressive on my end. Totally on me, 

I'm competitive and want to win, but I also realize it's JV and it's about getting them better so they can eventually get to be on varsity hopefully in the future. 

It was a good experience for me. 

Thanks to all the JV guys for dealing with me and for helping me out where needed. 

Back to my normal, more comfortable, role tomorrow. 

Twenty-Eight

Another year. Another birthday. Yeah that's kind of how things work. 

Twenty-Eight. 

Thanks to everyone for the Facebook posts, texts, calls and in-person birthday wishes. I try to reply to them all individually. 

It was a good day. Ludlowe baseball practice and a good dinner with family. 

What would a birthday be without something Ludlowe. The kids singing happy birthday was very much appreciated. Also, embarrassing. A great group of guys, coaches and players, who I was happy to spend a part of my birthday with. 

Tonight was dinner at Outback Steakhouse with the family. Outback is definitely a staple of birthday dinners. Not always, but often. A steak and *the best baked potato ever is a great birthday meal. 

*The Outback baked potato's are really good, and I once said they are the best part of the meal, so now it's become a running joke. 

Other than that, it was a pretty chill day. Watching sports, including the Yankees on TV, a little shopping and some organizing of of my car. 

Oh and ice cream for dessert. But that's an everyday occurrence.  

Not chaotic. Which is good. 

Back to work and baseball tomorrow. 

That might be chaotic though. 

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Fitting to use that photo above. Not only for Joe Girardi wearing No. 28, but Mo being in it. Saturday was Jackie Robinson Day around MLB and Mo had been the last active player to wear 42 as he was grandfathered in when the number was retired across Major League Baseball for Robinson. 

Scorekeeping

Scorekeeping in sports, especially baseball, is very personal. It's an art, if you will. 

People have different notations for the same event, and each scorecard is different. 

I know when I read other scorebooks, I don't always know what each note means, and I'm sure people feel the same when they read the scorebooks I do. In fact, I know people don't always understand my notations. 

Everyone has scorebooks they prefer. I have one I like, but I've gotten used to having to use different formatted ones. 

They are all so different and have items in different locations or some have more or less possible information. 

Some people are tougher scorekeepers, some people are easier. 

I am definitely a tough scorekeeper. Today, and other times recently, I was called "the hit Grinch."  This is due to the fact that I call things errors that other people feel are hits. 

The thing is, I've gotten a lot easier. I used to be much tougher. Those who know my scorekeeping now probably find that hard to believe.  

An example is defensive indifference. I used to give this rather than a stolen base often if it were technically defensive indifference 

I've done baseball scorecards or scorebooks for in many different capacities. As a student-manager, as a coach, as a reporter, as a media/communications guy for a team, and I'm sure I even did the book some as a player.  

I'm going to call it how I see it, I'm not going to call something a a hit or error or whatever just because it would benefit "my team" or a player I like. 

Sure, if it's very close and could go either way, maybe I give the benefit of the doubt. Occasionally, I'm feeling very nice, but not as often as the players would like. 

I also don't change my way of thinking depending on who I'm doing the book for.

Some people might like how I scorebook. 

Others hate it. 

It's my way. 

Everyone has their own. 

 

Baseball Season

I love the high school sports I get to work with. I love watching all of them and supporting the student-athletes, coaches and everyone else on the teams. (Belated Happy National Student-Athlete Day, which was yesterday). 

However, everyone knows what Ludlowe basketball and Ludlowe baseball mean to me. A lot. 

Well, it's baseball season! 

We're two games into the regular season, sitting at 2-0, with our next game tomorrow at noon. 

It's been an interesting start to the year, with field issues to start the spring season. Good start on the field though so hopefully the winning ways continue and we have a fun, successful season. 

It's a pleasure to work with a great group of coaches and great kids. 

I enjoy being on the coaching staff and helping out our head coach, Ken Geriak, and the rest of the coaching staff, with both logistical items and giving input on on the field thoughts and ideas. 

When I can make myself useful doing actual baseball things, that's an added bonus. Getting a pitching machine helps so I can just feed baseballs into that. Also, I was able to help do some drills with our catchers at a practice. 

During the games, I do the scorebook, which I've done for years, going back to my days as a team manager. It used to be said that I was the hardest scorer out there. I'm still tough sometimes, but I've definitely gotten a lot easier and nicer when it comes to scoring decisions.  

Otherwise, it's a lot of "managing people." That can be in many different ways. Lots of talking on many different topics. It goes beyond the actual baseball. 

Despite what I said above, our job is to help these "kids" or young men as people and help them grow. 

Time to get ready for tomorrow's game and keep going on a good start to the season. 

Hurley and The Huskies

From Jersey City, New Jersey to Storrs, Connecticut, Dan, or Danny, Hurley is a National Champion! 

Hurley led the UConn Huskies men's basketball team to their fifth championship on Monday night in Houston, Texas. 

Led by 19 points from Tristen Newton, 17 from Adama Sanogo and 16 from Jordan Hawkins, the Huskies defeated San Diego State 76-59. 

UConn won all of their NCAA Tournament games by at least 15 points. Just dominance. 

So, yes, as someone living in CT, I am a UConn fan. 

The Hurley factor makes me root for UConn even more. And yes, I'm a little obsessed. Just a little. 

Let me explain. My parents are from Jersey City and know the Hurley family. 

A family of basketball greatness. 

From Bob Hurley Sr, who was a legendary basketball coach and President of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, to Danny's brother Bobby who played at Duke and with the Sacramento Kings in the NBA and is now the head coach at Arizona State. 

 

Danny's path was not an easy one, however. From playing for his father at St. Anthony, to playing at Seton Hall. Then his coaching career where he started as an assistant for his father, then became an assistant at the college level at Rutgers. 

He went back to high school to get his start as a head coach at St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey. Then it was on to Wagner, where Bobby was his assistant. Following Wagner, he spent time at Rhode Island, before coming to Connecticut. 

While playing at Seton Hall, Danny dealt with off-the court issues and having to live up to what Bobby, his older brother was doing. 

Due to that, Danny credits not only his family, but also George Blaney and PJ Carlesimo, who were his coaches at Seton Hall, for helping him get where he is today. I felt that was special how he made sure to shout them out when asked about the ride it's been for him. 

Hurley puts himself in the company of Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie as the three coaches to win championships at UConn. He also credits both Calhoun and women's coach Geno Auriemma for helping him along the way. 

At the end of the day, it's about what the players do on the court, but you need a good leader, or else there is chemistry issues, in order to be successful. 

It's UConn's fifth championship and Connecticut is once again the "basketball capital of the world."