"You don't stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing!" The BATTER UP Newsletter is published for the Sun Cities Senior Softball Dennis Farrar Editor League, and is made possible through the generosity of our sponsors. Email: editor@getnet.net March 2008 I WHO S ON DECK? SUN CITIES SENIOR SOFTBALL LEAGUE TOM WHITMORE Dennis Farrar n 1999 Tom Whitmore and his wife, Katie, planned to move from Phoenix to Sun City. But work sidetracked them and sent them to Charleston, IL for 8 years. They finally made Sun City their home last December. Tom grew up in Evanston, IL and went to Northwestern where he played baseball when Hall of Fame great, Fred Lindstrom, was coaching. After graduation he and his high school sweetheart got married and over the past 45 years have lived in many different parts of the country, including Rhode Island, Georgia, Florida, California, Washington, Oregon, Illinois and finally Arizona. They have one son and two daughters. Tom's first experience with softball came while serving 5 years in the Navy. He currently works for one of our league sponsors, Ken Meade Realty. He appreciates the way our Sun City players have made him feel at home. TOM WHITMORE Photo: Dennis Farrar Editor s Note: When you see Tom Whitmore please join me and welcome him to the game that we all love to play. I would like to thank Tom and his wife Katie for sharing a part of their lives with all of us. Editor INSIDE THIS ISSUE Annual Spring Fling 2008 p 2 Are You Ready For Summer Play? p 3 As I See It... p 3 Batter Up Newsletter Extended to April p 1 Calendar of Events.... p 5 Crossword Puzzle..... p 4 Crossword Puzzle Solution... p 8 Hear Ye, Hear Ye! p 6 Meet Our Sponsors........ p 8 Sun City Board Update. p 7 Sponsor s Spotlight.. p 5 Sun Cities Annual Hall of Fame Banquet. p 2 Sun Cities League Update p 6 Sun City General Meeting Update...... p 6 Sun City West Board Update.. p 3 Tin Cup Golf Invitational...... p 9 Umpires Corner. p 7 Welcome New Players. p 5 Where Do You Live?.... p 8 Who s On Deck? (Tom Whitmore)... p 1 BATTER UP EXTENDED TO APRIL Dennis Farrar In the past March has been the last newsletter for the season. At the February Sun Cities League Board meeting the board and I decided to extend your newsletter on a trial basis to April this year. The deadline for the April newsletter will be March 20. So, if you have any articles for the April newsletter, please get them to me. There will be a limited number of copies in the dugouts so if you have access to the Internet please get your newsletter from the web site. Also I would like to hear your thoughts to see if you would like to have an April newsletter every year.
LET S EAT! SUN CITIES LEAGUE ANNUAL HALL OF FAME BANQUET Jim McGuire As many of you know already the date of the Annual Softball Banquet has been set for Friday, March 28, 2008 at 5:00pm. Please dress, Dressy Casual. The banquet will be held in the Palm Ridge Recreation Center in Sun City West, AZ. The cost is $10. 00 per person. All tickets will be available through your manager. Catered by Classic Catering MENU Honey Baked Ham Chicken Rollatini Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes Candied Yams Green Beans Almondine or California Blend Tossed Salad w/ranch or Vinaigrette Dressing Dinner Roll & Butter Carrot Cake Coffee & Iced Tea proudly presents our 4th ANNUAL SPRING FLING 2008 MARCH 6 9, 2008 NATIONAL LEAGUE THURSDAY FRIDAY AMERICAN LEAGUE SATURDAY SUNDAY LIBERTY FIELD SUN CITY WEST, AZ COME OUT AND ENJOY THIS 4 DAY FUN & FRIENDSHIP EVENT AND SEE SOME GREAT SOFTBALL! BYOB / WINE / BEER / GLASS(ES) & MIXES ICE PROVIDED PRIZES ENTERTAINMENT Special Guest Speaker Mr. Charley Armey ( Former GM and Personnel Director of the St. Louis Rams ) TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH YOUR MANAGER Jim McGuire: Host, MC, & Raconteur Page 2 of 9
ARE YOU READY FOR SUMMER PLAY? Dennis Farrar Summer ball will be here before you know it. If you want to play ball this summer be sure you contact Bob Williams at 566-2894 (National League) or Chuck Holt at 977-7688 (American League). The first summer session will probably start Tuesday, April 15 right after the spring play that will end on Thursday, April 10. Each session should be about 15 games each so you can kind of do some planning on your calendar based on this rough calculation. The first 2 sessions will be in your own league and the last session may be mixed AL & NL. More details on this as the third session approaches. Dennis Farrar will be helping Bob Williams with canvassing players in the NL, so if you want to play let them know. Chuck Holt will probably be canvassing the AL around the same time frame. SUN CITY WEST BOARD UPDATE Art Nelson, President My hat is off to the Sun Cities Softball League and all the volunteers for the work done on the Cardiac Kids and Bosom Buddies Softball tournaments, held at Liberty Field in February. You and your supporters have raised $10,000.00 for the heart and cancer foundations that those tournaments support. It is a lot of behind the scenes work and fun. The fun part is being involved with these tournaments. Again thank you for getting involved. AS I SEE IT! Dennis Farrar We will are getting close to another season end of some great softball. Summer ball will be here before we know it, but the month of April still has a lot of softball games to play so be sure to check your league calendar at www.ourbiznet.net/azsrsoftball/calendar.htm for the schedule, and other league information. I would also like to welcome all our new players in our league. To all of us old timers, please join me and welcome them when you see them. To you newbie s, I trust that you will take an active part in our league, and not just be here to play the games. Please help and do your share of the work load by volunteering in your club and league. There is also a need to serve on committees, being a team manager or serving on your club board. You will get far more out of your league experience and help your other teammates at the same time. You can also volunteer to help at the number of special events that your club and league sponsors throughout the year. I hope that your softball experience is a good one and remember to HAVE FUN! Speaking of welcome I would like to welcome our newest team sponsor, Farrar Chiropractic & Acupuncture of Sun City West to the National League. Dr. Farrar is looking forward to a great opening season and would like to thank the Sun West Softball Club for the opportunity to sponsor a National League team. She hopes that all your ball games are a good experience and if she can help you please let her know. Finally, my wife, Terese and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter. To all of you Irish folk a Happy St. Patrick s Day, especially to all the O s and the Mc s in our league. That s how I see it! Have a good game and get home safe. Editor Page 3 of 9
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Optimistic 5. Whitish gem 9. Affirmative answer 12. Division word 13. Wind indicator 14. On My 15. Hair colorist 16. Achieved 18. Master 20. Off the deep 21. Grease 23. Lingers 27. Semicircle 30. Call of disapproval 31. Pedal a bike 32. Seek the love of 33. Emcee s speech, for short 35. Female chicken 36. Adjust 38. Plaything 39. However 40. Cry out 41. Have unpaid bills 42. Increases 45. Harness part 50. Pink bird 54. Unexcited 55. Dinghy paddle 56. Food fish 57. Harmful 58. Exercise building 59. Be next to 60. Comfortable rooms DOWN 1. Amusement park feature 2. Black stone 3. Stride 4. Long ago 5. Prolonged applause 6. Stroke 7. Initial stake 8. With little fat 9. Over there, poetically 10. She-sheep 11. Romeo Juliet 17. Lazily 19. Batman s partner 22. Game of chance 24. Sore 25. club (chorus) 26. Mailed 27. On vacation 28. Audition goal 29. Curl 31. More shy 34. Man-propelled craft 37. Morose 43. Pocket bread 44. Deliberate slight 46. Frozen 47. Peace symbol 48. Meat cut 49. Angled additions 50. Mist 51. down the law 52. Supply weapons to 53. Type of antelope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 2008 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. THE 2008 BOSOM BUDDIES TOURNAMENT IS IN THE RECORD BOOKS RAISING OVER $7,752.00 Diane Perry (left) and Larry Ott (right) serve up a bunch of hot dogs during the games at the 2008 Bosom Buddies Tournament held at Liberty Field in Sun City West on February 10, 2008. Photo by John Elfritz Playing first base, Pat Sullivan stretches to get an out as the Sun City Grand Diamonds defeat the Arizona Sunsets at the 2008 Bosom Buddies Tournament. Photo by John Elfritz Page 4 of 9
CALENDAR OF EVENTS March 6-9, 2008 Extended Spring Fling Tournament Liberty Field Sun City West National League Games (March 6 & 7) Contact Rich McAndrews at (623) 544-2837 or email Rich at rmcandrews@cox.net for more information. American League Games (March 8 & 9) Contact George Karras at (623) 584-7346 or email George at drdoddles@peoplepc.com for more information. If you are interested in playing in the Spring Fling, please contact your respective contact above. Be sure to check the bulletin boards and future newsletters for times. March 15, 2008 Sponsor Appreciation Day Liberty Field Sun City West 10:00am 2:00pm All of our billboard and team sponsors are invited to Liberty Field from 10:00am to 2:00pm to display their goods and services. For more information contact Art Nelson or Mike Hester. More information will be posted when it s available. March 28, 2008 Hall of Fame Banquet Palm Ridge Recreation Center Sun City West For more information contact Jim McGuire, Art Nelson or Mike Hester. More information will be posted when it s available. April 13, 2008 Tin Cup Golf Invitational Deer Valley Golf Course Sun City West Palm Ridge will host the noon tea and the evening banquet and dance. The tea will be at 12:00 noon. For more information please contact Jim McGuire, Mike Hester or Dick LeMoine. Other information will be posted when it s available. April 19, 2008 Palm Desert Tournament Liberty Field Sun City West Sun City West will host the Palm Desert Tournament. For more information please contact Mike Hester Ken Skinner. Other information will be posted when it s available. Editor s Note: Be sure to check the web site for any and all updates to the web calendar (www.ourbiznet.net/azsrsoftball/calendar.htm) which also includes SC Club, SCW Club, and SC League meetings, as well as other information not found in the Batter Up newsletters. Dennis SPONSOR S SPOTLIGHT Carol Bowden Two new billboards will be gracing the outfield fences this spring. Arvid and Kay Peterson's Service First Realty and Canyon State Air Conditioning and Heating have joined our sponsorship. We are, of course, pleased to have these 2 gracious sponsors join our team. Make sure you take note of the 3 new team sponsors we have gained this year. They are: Farrar Chiropractic & Acupuncture, Canyon State and King & Magee (from Windermere Realty). It is ALWAYS beneficial to the SCW Softball Club to have our members frequent the businesses represented on our team shirts or billboards. Please make sure you mention you are a softball club member and appreciate their continuing support of our club! Without them we would only be dreaming of how much better the club and field could be! WELCOME NEW LEAGUE PLAYERS Loran Swanson Larry Benjamin Joe DeBlasi Jim Montgomery Erik Peterson Jim Waltke CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME Page 5 of 9
SUN CITIES LEAGUE UPDATE Chuck Holt, President The February Board meeting spotlighted the contributions of those who take care of the web page, the newsletter, the newspaper reports, and the umpires. Ken Skinner, Dennis Farrar, Bob Williams, and Tony DiBiasio spend countless hours each week working of softball related topics. We thank them. Want to help? We need you. Three issues seem to often consume our attention. All three issues can be put to rest with your cooperation. First, league uniforms are neat to wear, and we should be proud to part of a league that emphasizes appropriate dress. Let s have a renewed emphasis on fulfilling our obligation to abide by our own standards. Second, we could be far more sensitive to helping our umpires do a better job. Let s mentor those who are out of position or who may not always understand the rules. Most importantly, let s all of us umpire and not leave the job to someone else. Third, a week doesn t go by but we hear about the misuse of substitutes. There is a perception that we are more concerned about winning than about sustaining our recreational league tradition. Please help us resolve this issue of subs if, in fact, there is something more we can do to end the perception that the system is flawed. Four players have come forth with written proposals for substantive changes in the league. One player appeared before the Board to discuss National League issues. We appreciate his candor and concerns, and the National League Committee is well equipped to deal with the issues he brought forth. The other three proposals need immediate attention. A committee is being formed and it will be canvassing players about proposed changes in schedules and league formations. Please participate in the process. We hope to have some recommendations for Board consideration at the April and/or May meetings. SUN CITY GENERAL MEETING Linda Graham, President This General Membership Meeting will be a short one. A nominating committee needs to be selected to recruit members for the election of directors in November. In addition, we may be voting on a change to the Club Rules and Regs. The proposed change approved by the Club Board has to do with limiting club membership based on a minimum skill level. This is proposed as a safety issue only. The exact wording will be posted at the Sun Bowl Field and emailed before the meeting March 10th. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. This is your club and your input is vital. The Rules and Regs. approved by the membership in December to allow a sitting board member to be re-elected without sitting out for a year has been approved by the Sun City Rec. Board. Next month, the Board will spotlight summer play. If you would like to help plan the sessions, manage, or in any way play a leadership role, please let a Board member know. Summer is a good time to get involved in league management, and we certainly need your help. Page 6 of 9
UMPIRES CORNER Ken Skinner, League Chief Umpire APPEALS: Types. 1. Leaving a base on a caught fly ball before the ball is first touched. 2. Batting out of order. 3. Attempting to advance to second base after making the turn at first base. 4. Missing a base or touching the white portion only of the double base when a play is being made on the batter-runner at first base. Live. In all games an appeal may be made during a live ball by any fielder in possession of the ball touching the base missed or left too soon on a caught fly ball, or by tagging the runner committing the violation if he is still on the playing field. Dead. The dead ball appeal may be made: 1) Once all runners have completed their advancement and time has been called. Any infielder (including the pitcher or catcher), with or without the ball, may make a verbal appeal on a runner missing a base or leaving a base too soon on a caught fly ball. The administering umpire should then make a decision on the play. When. Appeals must be made (1) before the next legal or illegal pitch, (2) at the end of an inning, before the pitcher and all infielders have left fair territory on their way to the bench or dugout area, or (3) on the last play of the game, an appeal can be made until the umpires leave the field of play. OVERTHROWS. Runners are always awarded two bases on overthrows, which go out of play or become blocked as a result of hitting loose equipment belonging to or a team member of the defensive team that does not belong on the field. Regardless of who made the throw, two bases are awarded from the last base touched at the time the ball left the hand. Direction of runners has no bearing on the award. When an overthrow is made on a runner returning to a base, the runner is awarded two bases from that base. EXCEPTION: If the runner was returning to first base and the throw was from the outfield and it left the outfielder's hand while the runner was between 2B and 3B, but the runner was between 1B and 2B when the ball went out of play, the runner would be awarded home. The award of bases is determined by the position of the front runner if two runners are between the same bases at the time of the award. Two runners between first and second will be awarded second and third; however, if two runners are between second and third, both will be awarded home. Should the umpire make an error in the award of bases, after one pitch has been thrown to the batter (legal or illegal) the umpire cannot change the award. When a fielder loses possession of the ball on an attempted tag and the ball then enters the dead ball area or becomes blocked, all runners are awarded one base from the last base touched at the time the ball entered the dead ball area or became blocked. NEWS FROM THE SUN CITY BOARD Linda Graham, President With 2008 and the Spring Softball Session well under way, the Board has had it s focus on filing required reports, collecting dues and getting acquainted with our individual roles. Getting more members involved remains our goal. The Agenda for each monthly meeting is posted at the field a week in advance. Members ideas, comments and attendance are always welcome. Our second goal is to remember why the club was created in the first place; recreation and social interaction. The friendly competition that comes with that is an added bonus. As the snow birds are already warming up their wings to fly away for the summer, I encourage each of you to find a way to contribute, even if it is just an idea or an observation. Our club will remain strong and grow with your help. Page 7 of 9
THANK YOU SPONSORS WE SUPPORT YOU! Abbott s Men Store A.E. Lewis & Sons Builders Air-By-Dean Arrowhead Honda Arrowhead Lexus Arvid & Kay Peterson, Realtors Bashas Bosom Buddies Brenda's Kitchen Canyon State Air Capital Title Agency Cranstoun Court Jewelers Daily News Sun Denny's TV Desert Rose Concrete Coating Desert Golf Cars Edward Jones Farmers Ins. Paul Tone Farrar Chiropractic & Acupuncture Florencia Pizza Golden Eagle Distributors (Budweiser) Gonstead Family Chiropractic Grandview Terrace Ken Meade Realty Larry Ott Realty Liberty Buick Lund Cadillac Newton's Automotive Northern Trust Bank Peoria GMC Pepsi Cola Bottling Group Rosie's Italian Café Sanderson Lincoln Mercury Saturn of West Phoenix Sue Pahlke Realty Sun Country Credit Union Sunshine Irrigation The Exterminator Van's Pro Shop / Ping VFW Post 10695 Windermere Realty (Corporate) Windermere Realty (Mary Inman) Windermere Realty (MaryLee Magee & Lona King) WHERE DO YOU LIVE? Mike Graham In mailing out the invitations to the Tin Cup, we have found that many of the addresses are incorrect in our database. If you have moved since you originally gave us your information, could you please email Mike Graham at webcrsn@cox.net with your new address? Since moving usually changes your rec. card number, could you also include your new rec. card number? Thanks. crossword PUZZLE SOLUTION Remember, No Cheating? Page 8 of 9
Page 9 of 9