October 2007 News Archive
 October 2nd - The new month brought in the first rainout in quite a while. It was pouring down when Sam Harrell arrived to unlock the gates at the old ballpark. Sam reported that no one showed up and the fields were unplayable.
Now is a good time to report the won-lost record of the pitchers in games that have been recapped following the end of the Winter Haven season on March 30th. On three team games, the won-lost statistic will reflect how many runs the team scored on offense against how many runs the team gave up while on defense. This is merely a statistic and does not reflect the abilities of the pitcher, since one has to take into account the defense behind the pitching as well as the offense.
 October 5th - The game was played today under cloudy skies for the most part. The weather forecasters are predicting a 50% chance of rain but that will probably occur during the late afternoon. A breeze consistently blew in from leftfield at about 5-7 MPH.
Twenty-four ballplayers comprised two teams of twelve, but 
only eleven were allowed to play on defense. The final score was 12-10 as Bobby Ayers picked up the win against opposing pitcher Don Witmer.
Cecil Vasquez hit the ball with authority in two of his at bats. He first blasted a triple gapper between leftfielder Randy Lane and left centerfielder Fred Dampier. Later in the game, Cecil connected for an opposite field double. With two runners on base, Bobby Ayers drove the ball deep over rightfielder Richard Moots for a triple. Excellent hit for a right handed batter, Bobby. After flying out in his first trip to the plate, Rusty Landahl took his old reliable Louisville Slugger TPS singles bat from his bat bag and proceeded to go three for three after that first at bat. Nice hitting, Rusty. One deep hit made both the offensive and the defensive highlights. Two runners were on base when 
Sam Harrell hit the ball over the head of defending leftfielder Randy Lane. As the runners were rounding the bases, Randy recovered quickly and relayed the ball to shortstop Jim Laffoon.
Jim turned and threw home to catcher Rich Kralik as the two runners were following each other between third base and home plate. The first runner scored but the second one was out by two or three steps. Sam ended up with a double and one run batted in on that play.
In the outfield on defense, Fred Dampier had to charge in as fast as his feet could take him to catch up to a high Texas Leaguer pop up from the bat of Freddy Gonzalez. The wind held the ball up long enough for Fred to make the grab. Sam Harrell, playing the rover position and just to the first base side of second, snagged a hard line drive from the bat of Bill Walker. Sam had only enough time to reach up and to his left to make the catch. Joe DeForge played catcher in the game this morning. He hasn't been playing due to some medical problems. Welcome back, Joe. Frank Miller returned from Byron Center, Michigan. He didn't play today but sat in the dugout and caught up on the gossip and passed along some news of his own. Welcome back, Frank. October 9th - Two of the three teams in the contest put up quite a battle in the game. Team One, with pitcher Jerry Witter on the mound, had a 14-2-11 lead going into the last inning. They rallied for three runs to bring their total to 17 runs scored.
After Team Two was held to two total runs, the third team needed six runs to tie the game. That team rose to the challenge and scored six. The game ended in a 17-17 tie between Team One and Team Three. One extra inning should have taken place but a couple of Team One players had already exited the old ballpark since they didn't have to take the field again. The final score was 17-2-17. Dick Sessink hurled for the team that could only muster two runs. Bob Swartz pitched for the team that scored 17 and gave up 17 runs. Two inside-the-park homers were hit during the game. In the first inning, Fred Dampier connected for a two run shot past rightfielder Richard Moots. As it turned out, those two runs were the only runs scored since the offense were held scoreless from 
the 2nd through the 7th innings by pitcher Jerry Witter and his crew.
Cecil Vasquez drove a ball past defending rightfielder Jack Valliere. That hit resulted in a three run homer. Two other hits were notable this morning. Doug Chamlee observed that fill-in right centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez appeared to be playing in too shallow so Doug stepped into an outside pitch and cranked the ball way over Freddy for a double. Left handed batter Richard Moots threaded the needle when he hit a grounder down the third base line. That nifty single drove in the fifth and final run of the inning. Nice placement Richard. Several runners were cut down at home plate. On a single by Marshall Bloom, rightfielder Jack Valliere threw to shortstop Jim Laffoon, who threw home to catcher Gale Doty for the out. Left centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez fielded a single by Dean Schapeler and threw to pitcher Bob Swartz. Bob relayed the ball to catcher Jose Agosto to get the runner out at home. Freddy was involved in another outfield assist when Bobby Ayers burned him for a double. Freddy threw to fill-in shortstop Jim Laffoon, and Jim threw to catcher Jose Agosto for another out at home. Rightfielder Richard Moots relayed the ball to second baseman Doug Chamlee and Doug threw home to catcher Rich Kralik for the out. The final out at the plate took place when third baseman Elvis Abney fielded a grounder hit by Cecil Vasquez and threw home to catcher Gale Doty to get the runner from third. The runner was surprised since the ball had popped out of Elvis' glove but Elvis recovered and made an accurate throw to home plate. There were other nice defensive plays, too. Jack Donnelly hit a "Texas Leaguer" past shortstop Jim Laffoon but Jim was able to catch up to the ball and make a tremendous over-the-head catch. Pitcher Jerry Witter caught at least four line drives hit right back at him. He cleanly gloved each bullet hit his way. Nice reflexes, Jerry. Two players returned to the old ballpark. Jerry Witter came down from Addison, New York and Floyd Welton drove from Jefferson City, Tennessee. Welcome back, Jerry and Floyd.  The Major League Baseball playoffs are underway. There were three Divisional Series that ended up with a three win sweep. In the NLDS, the Colorado Rockies swept the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Chicago Cubs. In the American League, the Boston Red Sox swept the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Cleveland Indians ousted the New York Yankees three games to one and will advance to the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox. That series will begin in Boston on Friday. The Arizona Diamondbacks host the Colorado Rockies in the National League Championship Series beginning Thursday evening.
October 11th - Sam Harrell set up a double header against Solivita and the games took place on "Fred White Field". The Winter Haven group will travel to Solovita within the next month or two for an away double header.
Click HERE to read about the two games that took place today. October 12th - The weather was nice and cool compared to the recent past, with the temperature dipping to 67° F at the old ballpark as the players arrived. It did warm up as the game progressed but there was a comfortable breeze throughout the contest.
A total of 24 ballplayers showed up at the field. Joel Freedman divided 
the guys into teams of eight players per team. Three players from the sitting team played defense to bring the squad to 11 in the field.
Jerry Witter pitched for the winners in the 14-10-7 game. Dick Sessink hurled for the group that scored 10 and gave up seven runs & Don Witmer threw for the team that scored seven and surrendered 14 runs. Three inside-the-park homers were hit and Freddy Gonzalez connected for two of the three. His first homer flew way over the head of defending leftfielder Randy Lane and his second 
one was hit the other way. Fill-in rightfielder Marshall Bloom had to give chase to that gapper shot.
Fred Dampier blasted his second grand slam homer in as many days when he hit one to the opposite field during the game. The ball sailed over the head of leftfielder Bob Lewis. Doug Chamlee went 5 for 5 in the contest and his longest hit was a double way over the head of left centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez. Don Witmer, Marshall Bloom, & Cecil Vasquez also hit very well today. There were a number of nice defensive plays during the seven inning game. Don Witmer pulled double duties this morning. When he wasn't pitching, he filled in at shortstop. On one play, he went deep in the hole to stop a grounder by fellow pitcher Dick Sessink. Don turned and threw to rover Sam Harrell 
for the force out at second base.
Chris Constantine, patrolling the shortstop position for one team, robbed Rusty Landahl of a base hit when he jumped high to catch a line drive. Second baseman Rich Kralik made a nice play when he caught a liner above his head that was hit by Joel Freedman. After the catch, Rich threw to fill-in first baseman Rusty Landahl to double the runner off first. Good play Rich. Doug Chamlee stopped a burning hot grounder to his third base area. Freddy Gonzalez really ripped the ball but Doug reacted quickly and smoothly to make the stop. An easy throw to first resulted in Freddy being retired in that at bat. Shortstop Cecil Vasquez ran back and ended up in the short outfield to track down a pop up hit by Joe DeForge. Left centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez applied every bit of his speed on a short pop up hit by Jack Valliere. Nice catch Freddy. Although none of his plays were particularly notable, Sam Harrell did an excellent job fielding his rover position today. He had several chances and routinely stopped every grounder except one this morning and made sharp and accurate throws to his first baseman. He even made a strong throw home in the latter part of the game. One player returned from the North today. Bob Lewis resides in Cheshire, Massachusetts during the summer months. Welcome back, Bob. October 16th - The three team contest was about as close as a game can get as each team battled for the lead throughout the game. The final score was 13-11-10. Jerry Witter recorded his third consecutive win since coming back from New York. The team allowed 11 runs while on defense. Dick Sessink hurled for the team that scored 10 and gave up 13 runs. The third pitcher in the game was Bobby Ayers. That team scored 11 and surrendered 10 runs.
In the last inning, Cecil Vasquez help assure a victory for his team when he blasted a 
solo homer way over leftfielder Kenny Duell. The winning team was the only team to score in the final frame.
Freddy Gonzalez hit another long ball this morning. He hit a gapper homer between left centerfielder Frank Miller and leftfielder Kenny Duell. The ball rolled all the way to the fence. One team scored five runs with two outs in the inning when two players blasted back-to-back extra base hits. Russ King connected for a hard liner to the right of right centerfielder Fred Dampier. Russ stopped at third base on that hit. Bobby Ayers followed up with a double over leftfielder Tim Gallagher. Later in the game, Walt Leggett hit a hard rising liner that was just out of reach of defending right centerfielder Fred Dampier. Walt ended up with a triple. Shannon Steinmetz returned to the ball field after being released by his doctor to perform physical activities. Shannon had a heart attack scare and it turned out that he had fluid on his lungs, which is a dangerous condition, too. Shannon got two hits in his first two trips to the plate and ended the day with a two for three performance. You are truely an inspiration to every one of us Shannon 
and we are all glad that you are playing ball again.
One notable defensive play stood out from all the rest. Tim Gallagher, playing left centerfield, had to charge back and reach up to catch a long fly ball hit by Jim Laffoon. Nice grab Tim. Five ball players returned to Winter Haven for the game this morning. Cal Leigh and Bob Douglas returned from Coulterville, Illinois. Russ King is down for the winter from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bill Ravo came down from Saunderstown, Rhode Island and Doug McLellan returned from Keswick, Ontario, Canada. Welcome back, Cal, Bob, Russ, Bill, and Doug. The Colorado Rockies swept the Arizona Diamondbacks four games to zero in the National League Championship Series. The 6-4 win Monday evening gave the Rockies their 21st victory in the last 22 games and they are undefeated during the playoffs.
The American League Championship Series continues this evening in Cleveland. The Indians are clinging to a 2 games to 1 edge over the Boston Red Sox. October 19th - Although the turnout was sparse, there were still enough players for three teams. It won't be long before two fields will be put into use for the games.
The final score in the game today was 11-10-8, with Jerry Witter pitching 
for the winning team. The second of three pitchers picked up a win as well. Don Witmer hurled for the team that scored 10 runs and gave up eight while on defense. Bobby Ayers was on the mound for the team that scored eight runs. That team allowed 11 runs.
The five to ten MPH wind was blowing out 
to leftfield and left centerfield. As a result, there were plenty of long hits in the contest. Bobby Ayers lead the charge with a two run homer that cleared the leftfield fence. When the ball was hit, it was a no doubter. Wind aided or not, that ball would have sailed over any 300 foot fence.
Cecil Vasquez hit a shot that flew way over the head of defending leftfielder Randy Lane. Later in the game, Cecil connected for an opposite field double. Rightfielder Bob Douglas had to give chase to a line drive that was hit by Ron Thompson. Ron stopped at third with a stand up triple. Both Jack Valliere and Jaime Rivera picked on left centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez. They each cranked a fly ball over the head of Freddy for triples. 
You are very fast, Freddy, but maybe you need to give some of the guys more respect while patrolling the outfield.
Floyd Welton 
stepped into a pitch and drove it past left centerfielder Ron Thompson for a triple.
Two guys returned to Winter Haven for the softball season. Earl Hawthorne, who resides in Newport, Maine during the summer months, retired from the playing field after the 2005 season and then stepped across the white lines as an umpire. Earl does a fine job in his volunteer duties and we all appreciate his efforts. Ed Kline returned from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He hit well today. He shot a single to right centerfield and one to left centerfield. Welcome back, Earl and Ed. The Boston Red Sox were facing elimination in the ALCS yesterday evening but they easily handled the Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field by the score of 7-1.
Cleveland heads to Boston with a three games to two seies lead. The next game is Saturday evening. October 23rd - The ball players came in droves this morning. After twenty had signed in, Joel Freedman began to direct the remaining guys over to Field E so they could conduct batting practice. In all, there were over 40 players this morning.
Following batting practice, everyone checked for team assignment and field assignment. Fred White Field and Field "E" were the two diamonds put into use today. The final score on Field "E" was 25-11, with the home team pulling 
out an easy victory. Bob Swartz recorded the win against opposing pitcher Larry Powell.
Doug Chamlee had the hot bat on that field. He hit a perfect 5 for 5 in the nine-inning game. Jerry Witter was the winning pitcher on Fred White Field. Don Witmer was on the mound for the visiting team. The home team won by a final score of 14-13 but had to score three runs in the bottom of the inning to come out ahead. The home team took an 11-10 lead going into the final frame. After the visitors scored three runs, the home team responded with three of their own. Four inside-the-park homers were hit on Fred 
White Field this morning and all four were solo shots. Fred Dampier cranked the ball to the opposite field and over the head of leftfielder Cal Leigh. Later in the game, Fred hit one over rightfielder Bob Douglas.
Chuck Duff hit a line drive shot that right centerfielder Richard Moots was unable to cut off. As the ball rolled toward the fence, Chuck circled the bases for a solo homer. Chuck also connected for a two RBI triple between Richard Moots and rightfielder Jose Agosto. Carl Leubking threaded the needle for a solo homer down the third base line. Leftfielder Ted Taylor was not playing Carl to pull the ball so he couldn't get to the ball in time to cut it off. Both Frank Miller and Don Witmer hit deep fly balls that sailed over the head of Fred Dampier. By the time the ball was relayed in to the cut off man, shortstop Ron Thompson, both Frank and Don had stand up triples. Ted Taylor returned from Markham, Ontario, Canada to play leftfield this morning on Fred White Field. The other three returnees were assigned to Field "E" for the game. Bill Hepworth dropped by from Pensacola, Florida for a game today. Fred Ducham returned from Sanford, Michigan and Ed Lupiani returned from Churchville, New York. Welcome back, Ted, Bill, Fred, and Ed. The Boston Red fans are rejoicing since the Sox are World Series bound. After trailing the ALCS 3 games to 1 against the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox wrapped up game seven in Boston on Sunday evening.
The red hot Colorado Rockies will face the Boston Red Sox in game one of the 2007 World Series beginning Wednesday in Boston. October 26th -
The weather made the playing conditions ideal for the contest this morning. By Florida standards, it was slightly on the cool side during batting practice. The warm-up jackets came off for the game and the sun remained hidden behind the clouds practically throughout the ballgame. Jerry Witter pitched for the winning team and has racked up six victories in-a-row without a loss since returning to Winter Haven. Way to go Jerry. Don Witmer pitched for Team One, which scored eight and allowed nine runs. George Radlein was on the mound for the team that scored nine and surrendered 10 runs. Team Two scored four runs in the third frame to take the lead after three innings. The inning began with the top of the batting order connecting for three consecutive hits. Floyd Welton, George Radlein, and Cecil Vasquez all got singles, followed with a bases loaded walk to Ron Thompson. Chris Constantine singled, scoring a run, and Cal Leigh knocked in the final two runs of the inning with a single. Not to be denied, Team One fought back in the fourth to tie the second team 6-6, and another two runs in the sixth gave Team One the lead outright. The big hit of the sixth inning was a grounder down the rightfield line that Rusty Landahl turned into a triple. Rusty was batting left handed but Jack Valliere wasn't playing him to pull. Fred Ducham scored on that hit and Rusty scored on a two out single by Larry Powell. Team Three came from behind to earn the victory this morning. They scored late and often. Four runs crossed the plate in the fifth and three more in the sixth. The fifth inning witnessed two inside-the-park homers. Freddy Gonzalez lead off with a solo shot to right centerfield. After John Fulton singled, Doug McLellan cranked a two run homer towards the same field. 
LEADING HITTERS: Larry Powell - 4 for 4. Cecil Vasquez - 4 for 4. Freddy Gonzalez - 3 for 4 with 1 homer. George Radlein - 3 for 4 with 1 double. Chris Constantine - 3 for 4. John Fulton - 3 for 4. Cal Leigh - 3 for 4. Jerry Witter - 3 for 4. In the outfield, Larry Powell make two sparkling catches on short fly balls that had to be charged. It appeared that no one would catch one of the "Texas Leaguer" pop ups, but Larry came out of nowhere to reach low to make the grab. Freddy Gonzalez ran almost back to the warning track in right centerfield to make a catch on a deep fly ball from the bat of Ed Lupiani. In the infield on defense, Chris Constantine made a nice stop on a sharp grounder hit down the third base line. Chris, playing the hot corner, scooped up the ball and threw a strike to first baseman Joel Freedman for the out. Geroge Radlein joined the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club today. George is retired and plays Lakeland Senior Softball. George is a Cubs fan so we can all understand his pain during the MLB regular season and the post season playoff games. Welcome aboard, George. October 29th -
The games were cancelled because of rain yesterday in Lakeland and it was misting rain when the ballplayers began arriving at the field. Since it had already rained earlier in the morning and last night as well, at least four of the guys didn't hang around to see if there would be a game today. As it turned out, the misting rain stopped and the game was played under cloudy skies. Don Witmer pitched for the home team and recorded the win against fellow pitcher Jerry Witter, who 
had reeled off six consecutive victories prior to this loss.
The visiting team jumped off to a quick start with three runs in the top of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Elvis Abney singled, Ron Thompson stroked a double to rightfield, and Chris Constantine and Ed Kline singled. Eight of the nine batters in the lineup batted in that inning. The home team answered with four runs in the bottom of the first on a single by Don Witmer, followed by doubles from the bats of Jim Laffoon and Fred Dampier. Ted Taylor drove in the final run of the frame with a single to right centerfield. Jim Laffoon slammed a three run homer to right centerfield in the second inning as the home team continued to build up a lead. After five innings were in the books, the home team was ahead by the score of 11 to 6. The visitors chipped away in the sixth frame. Carl Luebking singled and Ron Thompson and Chris Constantine doubled in the inning. Little did they know but the two runs scored were the final runs scored by the visiting team. The home eighth displayed three extra base hits in-a-row. Jim Laffoon doubled, Fred Dampier cranked a two run homer to left centerfield, and Wayne Mundy stepped into an outside pitch and tripled to right centerfield. LEADING HITTERS: Jim Laffoon - 4 for 4 with 2 doubles, 1 homer, & 1 walk. Ron Thompson - 3 for 4 with 2 doubles & 1 walk. Two very nice defensive plays occurred in the game. Jack Valliere hit a hard line drive that appeared to be a sure hit to left centerfield. Shortstop Chris Constantine began moving to his right the second the ball was hit and was 
able to reach out and make a tremendous catch on a hard hit ball.
Jim Laffoon played leftfield today. He had to charge in to make a shoestring catch on a liner from the bat of Carl Luebking. Two players returned to Winter Haven. Elmer Black came down from Howick, Quebec, Canada. He didn't bat today but graciously volunteered to catch for both teams. Elmer also doubled as the home plate umpire. John Smith returned from Ithaca, New York. John also volunteered to umpire. He worked the first base line. John is recovering from an operation and expects to begin playing sometime in late November. Welcome back, Elmer and John. The Boston Red Sox scorched the Colorado Rockies and are the 2007 World Champions. The Sox won 13-1 and 2-1 at home and 10-5 and 4-3 in Denver to sweep the Rockies.
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September 2007