Baseball In The Fall

To the Editor:

Baseball in the fall is special. Major League pennant races, playoffs, and the World Series all happen when the days grow shorter and the air crispier. This year many area baseball fans are rooting on the Boston Red Sox or the New York Mets as they strive to reach postseason action. Even the stately New York Yankees, who most probably will not make the playoffs this year, are playing for Yankee Pride in the last season at Yankee Stadium. It is there that Derek Jeter has eclipsed the iron man Lou Gehrig for most hits at Yankee Stadium, surpassing Gehrig’s longstanding mark of 1,269 hits last week.

In the fall of 1983 Derek Jeter was 9 years old. Back then they didn’t have fall baseball programs especially in Kalamazoo, Mich., where Mr November grew up. After all, it snows early in the Midwest. However, in the spring Derek played in the Westwood Little League in Kalamazoo. Had they had fall ball I’m sure he would have played as he’s loved the game ever since Hall of Famer Dave Winfield gave him an autographed baseball at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

It is easy to imagine that one of Derek’s coaches in 1983 at their first practice asking Derek:

 “What is your name?”

 “Derek”

 As the coached looked down his team’s roster he found “Jeter, Derek.” “OK, Jeter (pronouncing his last name “Jet-er (like the plane), Derek”, said his coach.

 “No, Jeter”, corrected Derek.

Jeter is now an American baseball idol of many youth baseball players including many of the 200 or so boys and girls from Newtown playing the greatest game man ever invented, during the final two fair weather months of 2008. This past weekend, the Cal Ripken Newtown Youth Baseball League players played the American pastime under golden fall sunshine. In Saturday’s 8-year-old division game at Sandy Hook field, Jack Dutt had a big baseball smile on his face after hitting a resounding double to left field and Jacob Steinebrey was full of youthful enthusiasm, energy and joy after he ripped a bases-loaded double of his own.

The fall league is instructional by design. During Saturday’s game, with the bases loaded, shortstop Jake Pirone fielded a hard hit ball to short and attempted to tag out the runner going from second to third, missing him as the runner passed, paused and realized he still had a force at second and threw a perfect throw to Joshua Bent who instinctively was covering the bag to get the force out. A fine defensive play by both boys on a beautiful autumn day that I am sure Derek Jeter would have been thrilled to see as much as all the parents, coaches, and fans were. I know I was.

Richard Dieckman

Cal Ripken youth baseball coach

14 MacDonald Road, Trumbull                           September 22,2008