-reporting and photos by Sal Riggio
You might notice that restaurants and especially bars are less crowded right now. Just as psychiatrist and Congress are all on vacation in August, so are many of the Villages two thousand plus softballers between seasons. Most wives have caught on to this ploy, but they go along as they know at least softball gets him out of the recliner. But with practices scheduled for next week and Opening Day just a fortnight away, the Miken Men will be returning soon. There will be the familiar faces of neighborhood teams and the new names of rec teams. The umpires will be ready to make the calls, and the sound of “High pitch!” and “Out?! Are you kidding?!” will ring out loud and clear. The great ground crews as always will work hard to make the fields “just right”, while infielders will claim the dirt is “too hard” or “too soft”. Managers will stay up late to refine their lineups, and then pull their hair out (if they have any left) when a key player doesn’t show because he went to the wrong fields. Cancelled games will be cruelly cursed. Gloves and bats will be left behind while many pitches of beer will never be forgotten. But in the end, the Senior Boys of Summer will “Play Ball!”, and that’s really all that matters.
