Monday, May 31, 2010

Youth Baseball: Great Fields, Great Memories

Great baseball fields make great memories.

The community of Noblesville, Indiana which is about 7 miles north of Indianpolis has developed an awesome youth baseball venue. They have eight beautifully maintained fields with fences and lights. The facility also houses one of the best concession stands that I have ever seen at a youth baseball facility. They serve a large menu of food and drinks (non-alcoholic) for nominal prices. Between games, I bought 2 hamburgers, 2 hot dogs and 4 drinks for the family. I handed the concession stand worker $20 and got back $5. At a MLB stadium, I would be lucky to get back anything after handling over $50 for a similar order. It was such a pleasant surprise.

The actual fields at the Noblesville facility are very unique. The outfield area is grass, but infields are made of field turf. There is no dirt anywhere on the field. The home plate area and the areas around each base are clay colored field turf. I was concerned that kids could be injured while sliding when I first saw the field, but the kids slid over the turf very easily. My son slid head first very smoothly into second base on a steal. He came up grimacing with turf burns on his arms, but I guess it didn't hurt too much because he stole third and slid head first again.

Two years ago at this same facility my son, Nic, got his 100th career hit for the club. He was in a battle with a teammate to be the first one to get 100 career hits for the club. An elbow injury early in that year cost my son some games and made the race closer than it should have been. His teammate got his 100th hit in game one of a doubleheader on Noblesville field 8. In the second game of the double header on the same field, Nic notched his 100th hit.

Games 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65

Two years later on Noblesville field 6, Nic hit his first "over the fence" home run. He has lots of "hit'em and run" home runs, but never experienced the joy of hitting one over a fence. He crushed a 2-1 fastball to dead center field and cleared the 225 foot fences easily. He ran around the bases in record time and jumped high into the air and landed on the plate surrounded by his teammates. The 3 run homer in the bottom of the last inning with two outs gave the team hope. Unfortunately, the rally did not last and fortunately for Nic didn't get hurt celebrating at home. The night before Kendry Morales of the Los Angeles Angels hit a walk-off homer then broke his leg as he jumped onto home plate surrounded by his teammates.









The slump may be coming to an end. My son, Nic, batted .385 with 4 RBIs and 6 Runs scored in the tournament. .385 is well under his lifetime average it was an encouraging sign. His team won 2 of 3 pool play games and got the 8th seed in the 15 team tournament. They ended up beating the 9th seed in the first elimination round and then lost to the number 1 team. It was a great tournament.

The Main Point

The people of Noblesville made a great facility where great life long memories are made. I know my son will never forget this field. I know from experience.

When I played little league, we rarely had an opportunity to play on a field with a fence. Gumpert Park in Westfield NJ had three fields. Two fields without fences and one field with a fence. Gumpert 1 was the field with the fence. I loved playing on that field. At 12, I hit a ball over the fence down the line on Gumpter One. I saw the ball fly high above the fence and into the branches and leaves of the trees beyond it. As I rounded first, I heard the umpire yell foul ball. I didn't want to believe it so I continued on and rounded second, the umpire yelled foul ball again. I looked at my dad, who was the third base coach, he was already pleading my case. The umpired yelled foul ball again. I didn't get a homer, but I still remember that hit and that field. As a teenager I played lacrosse so I would not get my first "over the fence" home run until I played adult softball.

25 comments:

  1. The Japanese group which was bannered by any semblance of Japanese stars and now MLB stars Suzuki Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners and Daisuke Matzusaka of the Boston Red Sox was delegated the main ever World Baseball Classic bosses as they beat Cuba 10-6 during the debut organizing of the occasion in 2006.토토사이트

    ReplyDelete
  2. What is an outstanding post! “I’ll be back” (to read more of your content). Thanks for the nudge! 안전놀이터

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business. qqdewa

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the way you write and share your niche! Very interesting and different! Keep it coming! daftar sbobet

    ReplyDelete
  5. Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting? I'm pleased I discovered it though, ill be checking back soon to find out what additional posts you include. เว็บแทงบอล

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful! bet88

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your website is really cool and this is a great inspiring article. https://reelkorea.com/

    ReplyDelete
  8. This blog is so nice to me. I will keep on coming here again and again. Visit my link as well.. 릴게임야마토

    ReplyDelete
  9. Its a great pleasure reading your post.Its full of information I am looking for and I love to post a comment that "The content of your post is awesome" Great work. Situs QQ

    ReplyDelete
  10. This particular papers fabulous, and My spouse and i enjoy each of the perform that you have placed into this. I’m sure that you will be making a really useful place. I has been additionally pleased. Good perform! แทงบอลออนไลน์

    ReplyDelete
  11. I would like to say that this blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post. บาคาร่าออนไลน์

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am jovial you take pride in what you write. It makes you stand way out from many other writers that can not push high-quality content like you. https://toto-connect.com/

    ReplyDelete
  13. You have performed a great job on this article. It’s very precise and highly qualitative. You have even managed to make it readable and easy to read. You have some real writing talent. Thank you so much. แทงบอลสเต็ป

    ReplyDelete
  14. I exactly got what you mean, thanks for posting. And, I am too much happy to find this website on the world of Google. 오션파라다이스

    ReplyDelete
  15. The article looks magnificent, but it would be beneficial if you can share more about the suchlike subjects in the future. Keep posting. soccer scores api

    ReplyDelete
  16. Keep up the good work; I read few posts on this website, including I consider that your blog is fascinating and has sets of the fantastic piece of information. Thanks for your valuable efforts. Halteverbotszone einrichten lassen in Berlin

    ReplyDelete
  17. Because of this it is best you'll want to associated research right before making. You can submit much better publish in this manner. 메이저사이트

    ReplyDelete
  18. I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked your site to check out the new stuff you post. 릴게임

    ReplyDelete
  19. Succeed! It could be one of the most useful blogs we have ever come across on the subject. Excellent info! I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your effort very well. Thanks for the huge help. a course in miracles

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hurrah, that's what I was looking for, what a material!

    existing here at this website, thanks admin of this web page.

    Feel free to surf to my webpage - 온라인카지노

    ReplyDelete
  21. Great blog. Your post is awesome and content is very readable I will definitely share this with my colleague! 카지노사이트
    (mm)

    ReplyDelete

Followers

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails