Pitch Hit and Run Competition

Opening Day this Sunday will feature the Aquafina Pitch Hit and Run Competition.  This is a lot of fun and it's free for boys and girls ages 7-14.

If your son is interested, register online at http://www.smileboston.com/phr.

Opening Day Details

Needham Little League Opening Day is Sunday May 1. While we do not play our first game until Monday--when we take on our arch-rival River Cats--Sunday's festivities are a wonderful way to celebrate Little League Baseball and kick off the 2011 season.

Here's what's happening:

• 10:00 Arrive at Greene's Field. Meet near the team photo area (not sure exactly where that will be yet).
• 10:15 Team photo
• 11:00 Little League Parade leaves Greene's and heads towards DeFazio
• 11:30 Parade arrives at DeFazio. Opening Day address, hot dogs, pitch, hit and run competition, raffle drawing, and other attractions.

I will distribute team photo forms at tomorrow's practice. Please fill them out before you arrive at Greene's on Sunday to ensure an efficient team photo.

More details about Opening Day will be posted on the Needham Little League site soon. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Regular Practice Tomorrow (No Scrimmage)

The rain date for last Saturday's scrimmage was going to be tomorrow evening during our practice time. For the Mets, this would have been a last-minute addition to the schedule. Mets manager Brendan Connelly put the word out to his team as soon as we were rained out on Saturday, but only a few of his players were available for a scrimmage tomorrow. A valiant effort, but it looks like we will have to wait for May 12, when we have a regular-season date with the Mets.

Tomorrow, we will hold a practice as our schedule originally indicated. We'll be at Eliot from 5:30 to 7:30.

Third and Fourth Grade Fantasy Baseball

I have put together a makeshift fantasy baseball league for Tom and some of his friends. Really, it's a way for me to get him to do some math over the summer--and it should be fun.

I've bypassed Yahoo and MLB and set up our own wiki-site for the league. Currently there are seven teams, and we're looking for an eighth or tenth or twelfth (looking for an even number of teams). Each week, I will post the number of hits, at-bats, HRs, innings pitched, earned runs, etc. for each MLB player selected in our league. Each manager (third/fourth-grader) then must compute batting average, ERA, etc. for his team. Teams are matched up each week and compete head-to-head. Teams earn points for best team batting average, ERA, etc.--and, of course for accurate calculation.

For more details, check out the site:

http://needhamfantasybaseball.wikispaces.com/Welcome+to+Needham+Fantasy+Baseball%21

Email me if your son is interested. We will hold the draft sometime in May.

Today's Practice and Scrimmage Cancelled

I'm looking at standing water covering most of the right half of the diamond at High Rock. We are hoping to reschedule our scrimmage with the Mets for this coming Tuesday 5:30 at Eliot (instead of our practice). I'll let you know when that's firm.

Opening Day Volunteer Opportunities

Needham Little League Opening Day is right around the corner--Sunday, May 1. While the Red Wings do not open the season until the next day, at home against our arch-rival River Cats, Sunday's festivities will include the annual Little League parade, the Opening Day address featuring the official 2011 playball!, the hit, pitch, and run competition, team photos, hot dogs, and many other attractions at DeFazio.

Needham Little league has just posted an announcement about a variety of volunteer opportunities for those who want to get involved.

More details about the team photo, parade, and other festivities coming soon.

This Saturday's Scrimmage v. The Mets

Accuweather.com predicts .33 inches of rain Saturday. Will it threaten our much anticipated scrimmage against the mighty Mets? It depends on when those .33 inches fall, how fast they fall, and what they do to the infield at High Rock. We will play through a little rain. We won't play through a monsoon, lightning, or a lake in the infield. The Town won't close a field on a Saturday--they'll leave it up to us coaches. I'm thinking this will probably be a gametime decision. I will keep you posted.

Rain aside, this match-up promises to be another rigorous preseason test for us. I know only a few boys on the Mets roster, but the few I know can all knock the cover off the ball. I know their manager, and it's safe to say they are very well coached. We'll have our work cut out for us. It should be a fun challenge.

We will be without the services of Josh, who knocked in the game-tying RBI for us last week, and Parker, who kept us in the game for two solid innings on the hill. Will we be missing anyone else? Please email me if your son will NOT be available.

We will hold a short practice before the scrimmage, from 12:00 to 1:00. First pitch will be at 1:00.

I hope we can get this one in!

Second Pitcher/Catcher Session Rescheduled

It turns out our original date for the pitcher/catcher session at Frozen Ropes (Wednesday 4/27) did not work for any of our pitchers or catchers. So, we rescheduled the session for this coming Monday, April 25 from 6:30 to 7:30.

I understand that Monday does not work for everyone either. Unfortunately, we will be without several players who really wanted to participate in this session. But, I think Monday is probably the best we can do before Opening Day. If enough players are interested in continuing these sessions, I'm happy to schedule more of them during the regular season.

Many of you have already let me know whether your son can make it on Monday or not. If you haven't told me yet, and your son is interested and available, please email me. These sessions are open to anyone who wants to come, regardless of pitching or catching experience.

Eliot Is Open, Practice Is On

The Town has kept Eliot open, so we are good to go for practice. See you at 5:30!

A Little Rain

The forecast calls for a little rain. Today's practice will depend on when the rain falls and how much we get. Really, it depends on The Town and whether they keep Eliot open. They'll make that call sometime around 3:00 this afternoon.

I remain cautiously optimistic. Eliot is the driest, best draining of all AA diamonds. If I had thought ahead, I would have had our grounds crew roll out the tarp, but I think we still have a fighting chance to get this one in. I'll keep you posted.

Third Scrimmage Added: Saturday April 30

We have added a third and final spring training scrimmage v. the Diamond Jaxx on Saturday, April 30 4:00 at Greene's. The Diamond Jaxx are stacked and, along with the River Cats, will prove to be one of our toughest opponents this season. Red Wings hitters will see some of the league's best pitching from them--an excellent opportunity to polish up timing before our Opening Day showdown with the River Cats.

We had a practice scheduled on April 30 from 2-4 at Newman. We will not practice for the full two hours (since we have the scrimmage at 4), but we will hold an optional batting practice from 2-3 at Newman and from there head over to Greene's for the scrimmage.

So, scrimmages the next two Saturdays: The Mets on April 23 12:00 at High Rock and the Diamond Jaxx on April 30 4:00 at Greene's.

I'm expecting much better baseball weather for these. Should be a lot of fun!

Sunday's Practice Cancelled

Today's 10 AM session is cancelled due to standing water on the diamond at Greene's.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Tuesday's practice. Accuweather.com says "rain possible." Sun is also possible then?

Reminder: Tomorrow's (Sunday's) Practice is 10:00 - 12:00 at Greene's

Please be advised that tomorrow's practice was moved a little earlier. We will go from 10-12 tomorrow at Greene's.

We've got rain. I will keep you posted with regard to field status.

Monday's Optional Practice Is Cancelled

Because the rain seemed to be aligning itself so perfectly with the days we have practice, I thought it would be a good idea to try to beat the weather conspiracy and schedule a practice on a day when sun was in the forecast. I called the league scheduler and he gave us a practice slot on Monday.

However, Monday is the first day of Passover. Even though this practice would have been optional, I don't feel right about going ahead with it.

So, we will not practice Monday. We may yet get tomorrow's (Sunday's) 10 AM practice in and Tuesday's isn't out of the question, either. But if we don't, we don't. We'll get plenty of baseball in during April.

I have updated the master schedule with this cancellation.

New England April Baseball at Its Best

40 degrees and 50 MPH gusts. It was straight up cold out there. No two ways about it. But, I liked the way our Red Wings battled the elements as well as our arch rival River Cats. The Cats, as we knew going into this evening's scrimmage, are a hard-throwing, heavy-hitting, clean-fielding outfit, and even though we weren't keeping score, the Red Wings' coaching staff was pleased that we were right there with them for four very cold innings.

Our two catchers, Noah and Alex, combined for four steady innings of work behind the plate and kept our pitchers in the zone. Tom pitched the first two innings and Parker the third and fourth. They combined for a total of 10 Ks on the evening--a solid effort against a very good lineup. Offensively, Micah rocketed a double into left center and scored on Josh's shot up the middle. Eric, who already has two shattered bats to his credit, also hit the ball well but unfortunately had to put off his much anticipated AA pitching debut when the coaches elected to call the game after four innings due to the frigid conditions. We will get a taste of what Eric has in store for us next Saturday when he pitches against the Mets.

Overall, I was very pleased with the Red Wings' effort, perseverance through the cold and wind, and persistent positive attitude. I promise baseball will very soon be warmer than it was tonight!

Upcoming Practices, Weather, and a Second Scrimmage

Practice last Wednesday was rained out, and looking at accuweather.com, we seem to have heavy rain coinciding precisely with our next two practices. We should be alright for our scrimmage Saturday evening, but the rain is supposed to start Saturday night and continue into Sunday for our practice Sunday morning. Rain is also predicted for Tuesday evening's practice.

So, I spoke with the league scheduler to see what we could do to get a practice in at some point this coming week, between days of rain. He offered us Monday from 4:00-5:30 at High Rock. I took him up on it. Monday is supposed to be sunny.

So, if The Town opens High Rock on Monday, we will hold an optional practice from 4:00-5:30. If your Red Wing can make it, great. If not, no worries. A lot of families are out of town this week, so I don't expect big numbers. For those of you who are around, I'll be at High Rock at 4:00.

Another schedule change... I scheduled a second scrimmage for Saturday, April 23 (next Saturday). We will take on the Mets at High Rock. Originally, we had a practice scheduled from 12:00 to 2:00. Instead, we will practice from 12:00 to 1:00 and then scrimmage from 1:00 to 3:00 or so.

Again, I recognize that many families may still be away for the school vacation. If you can make it to the scrimmage, great. If not, no worries at all. Please email me if your son will not be able to play on Saturday, April 23.

The master schedule has been updated with these changes.

Saturday's Scrimmage

We are looking forward to our first scrimmage of Spring Training this Saturday 4:00 at High Rock v. The Rivercats.

The Rivercats are an excellent team--well-coached, with a stacked lineup, stingy defense, and a formidable pitching staff. They will provide a good early season challenge for us, especially since we will be without the services of Will, Jack, Kenneth, and Alex.

Is there anyone else who will not be available for Saturday's scrimmage? If your Red Wing will not be there, please email me. Otherwise we are excited to see everyone in full uniform, ready to play ball.

Please arrive by 3:30 in order to warm up. We will not have access to the diamond until 4:00, but we will use one of the adjacent grass fields to throw and take BP.

Today's Optional Practice Has Moved to Eliot

High Rock is closed. Eliot is open. So we will move today's optional practice to Eliot. Same time: 4:00-5:30. See you there if you can make it.

Optional Make-Up Practice Tomorrow (Thursday) 4:00-5:30 at High Rock

If  High Rock is dry enough and open tomorrow, then we'll put in an optional session there from 4:00 to 5:30. We'll work some long toss, infield reps, pitching, and maybe take some BP. If we have enough players, we'll scrimmage.

This session is optional. Come if you can. Don't worry if you can't.

The Town will post the field status sometime around 3:00. If they open High Rock, we're good to go. If not, we'll either find another location (if there's one easily available) or call it off and wait for the weekend.

I'll update the blog as soon as I know more.

No Practice Today (Wednesday 4/13)

The Town has closed all spring fields today. Practice is cancelled.

I am fairly aggressive about playing through rain when it makes sense. I do not like to cancel practices or postpone games unless it is absolutely necessary. When the Town closes the fields, though, it is absolutely necessary. It's pretty wet out there today.

If there is any interest, I will try to organize a small, informal and completely optional practice tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon probably around 4:00 at one of the AA fields (Newman, Eliot, High Rock, or Greene's) or possibly Dwight, which tends to drain well. We could try to get some reps in before the team that is scheduled to use the field arrives. We would need to finish by 5:15 so that the team with the legitimate claim to the field can practice.

Email me if your son is interested in practicing tomorrow. Of course, this assumes the fields will be open tomorrow. If they're still closed then we'll wait for the weekend.

Schedule Change, Rain, and Tomorrow's Practice

Please note that we have moved Sunday's practice (April 17) a little earlier. We'll go from 10:00 to 12:00 at Greene's. This is to ensure that we will have enough coaches available to run practice. The master schedule has been updated with this change.

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow's practice (5:30-7:00 at Greene's). Rain will not necessarily stop us from practicing. If the Town closes Greene's Field, then we will cancel practice. However, if Greene's Field is open, we will practice even if it is raining. Obviously, parents should feel free to make the judgment call if it looks too rainy.  I will be at Greene's Field, if open, in the rain for any Red Wing who still wants to practice.

If there's lightning, we'll call it off. Major natural disasters will be case by case. But let's play some baseball if we can.

I will keep you updated about the status of tomorrow's practice on the blog, with phone calls, emails, whatever it takes.

Spring Training Report

It's been a busy few days of baseball since Thursday with three practices in four days. We've been blessed with excellent baseball weather during this stretch--even Saturday's 8 AM session, which began with frost on the ground, had our Red Wings peeling off their sweatshirts long before 9 and enjoying some early spring sun.

Coaches Gage, Shapiro, Patsios, and I have been very pleased with the progress we've seen since we started last Saturday. The scrimmage portion of today's practice revealed some impressive gains in pitching and hitting. Our pitchers are settling into much more consistency and we are seeing much more consistent contact at the plate--good improvement considering we've had only a few practices. The boys are really knocking the rust off in a hurry!

We really like the attitude of this team. The boys work hard, they listen, and they take practice seriously. But they have a lot of fun, too. It's been exciting to watch them get to know each other, enjoy each other, and come together as a team.

At the end of practice, Coach Shapiro and I talked to the team about requesting positions. We definitely do want to know each player's favorite positions. We have been asking players where they do and do not like to play. We are also getting a pretty good sense for the strengths of each player, and we are thinking about where on the diamond those strengths can best be put to use.

That said, we want every player to learn the skills and responsibilities of every position. The player who loves catcher will also get some innings at center field. So, in thinking about who will play where over the course of the season, we have two priorities: (1) everybody plays a little of everything, and (2) everybody plays a lot of what they like most. Making this work for every player during every practice and game is a bit of a puzzle. We ask that players refrain from making specific position requests during games, scrimmages, and practices. Please do not ask to play shortstop. We will make sure we know that you like to play shortstop, and we will put you there often and whenever it makes sense for the team as a whole. It might not be this inning, but it will happen.

So, this is our "don't ask, we'll tell" rule. In order for this to work, though, we need to make sure we really do know where each player likes to play.  When you have a spare moment, please send me a quick email indicating your son's 3 favorite positions (including pitcher).

Thank you for all of your support so far this season. We're off to a great start!

All Fields Open

The Town has opened all spring fields. See you at Newman at 5:30!

The Regular Season Schedule Is In!

I just received our regular season schedule form the league scheduler.  Please note that all games and practices are subject to cancellation and rebooking due to weather. We will reschedule all rain-outs. I will update the master schedule posted here on the blog as often as necessary to reflect all changes, so it is always a good idea to check and double check the master schedule.

Here is the regular season schedule of games and practices (as of April 6 at 12:42 PM) along with the playoff schedule...

Regular Season (May-June)

Please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the listed game time in order to warm up.

Sunday May  1 Opening Day parade and festivities at DeFazio (details coming soon)

Monday May 2 6:00 Game v. Rivercats at Newman (home opener against our arch rivals, the Rivercats... It doesn't get any better than this!)

Wednesday May 4 6:00 Game v. Bulls at Newman

Friday May 6 6:00 Game v. Thunder at Newman

Saturday May 7 12:00-2:00 Practice at Newman

Tuesday May 10 6:00 Game v. Seadogs at Eliot

Thursday May 12 6:00 Game v. Mets at Newman

Saturday May 14 6:00-8:00 Practice at Greene's

Tuesday May 17 6:00 Game v. Hot Rods at Greene's

Thursday May 19 6:00 Game v. Express at Newman

Saturday May 21 12:00-2:00 Practice at Newman

Monday May 23 6:00 Game v. Diamond Jaxx at High Rock

Wednesday May 25 6:00 Game v. Iron Pigs at Newman

Friday May 27 6:00 Game v. Rockhounds at Eliot

Saturday May 28 & Sunday May 29... Memorial Day Weekend - No practice

Tuesday May 31 6:00 Game v. Knights at Newman

Thursday June 2 6:00 Game v. Mudcats at Greene's

Playoffs (June)

Sunday June 5 through Friday June 10 Playoffs - TBA

Saturday June 18 6:00 AA Championship Game

Monday June 20 6:00 AA All Star Game

Town Opens Grass Fields!

The good news: the Town opened all grass fields today for the first time this spring. The bad news: the fields are still very wet.

I went over to Newman at about 3:30 this afternoon to check on our digs for Thursday's practice. The rain was coming down at a pretty good clip at that point. The entire infield was under about a half inch of water. Fortunately, the water was clear and running off the infield dirt, which indicated to my completely untrained eye that it's coming from above rather than below. This is good, right?

Open fields today are a good omen for us as we approach what could be our first practice on a real diamond. According to accuweather.com, we are due to have dry weather Wednesday and Thursday, which makes me even more hopeful.

The Town's fine print on its open fields announcement said that we can't play on any diamond with standing water--even if the field is officially open. If there's standing water on the infield, we'll practice in the outfield. If there's standing water on both the infield and outfield, we may have to cancel. But, with two dry days between now and Thursday evening, I'm inclined to think we'll be okay.

I will keep you posted with all the latest. Keep fingers crossed.

The "Rite Stuff"

Red Wing dad C.J. Kaplan (Alex's dad) wrote a hilarious piece for The Globe Magazine last year about a certain rite of passage we have now all witnessed. Check it out:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/06/13/the_rite_stuff/

Red Wings Flying High after First Team Practice

Who needs grass? Or a diamond? With the grass fields closed, nine eager Red Wings claimed a corner of turf at Memorial Field and put in a very promising first full-team session.

Infield coach L.J. Gage put our boys through dozens of reps at SS, 2B, and 1B and was very pleased with what he saw. There is always more work to be done--you can never field it cleanly or consistently enough, you can never fire it hard enough or hit the target often enough--but the boys were flashing the leather pretty well for this early point in spring training.

Hitting coach Charlie Patsios oversaw a productive batting practice at the cages. Good mechanics and good contact with soft pitches today, and the boys are ready to hit a bit more heat on Thursday.

As far as pitching, we'll have some depth this season. We've got a handful of guys who can really pound the zone already and many more with the potential. And from what I saw yesterday, we have at least two skilled catchers to support our top-notch rotation.

Most importantly, we've got a wonderful group of boys who love baseball, work hard at it, and support each other. We have the makings of a great team.

I look forward to seeing everybody on Thursday, 5:30 at Newman.

First Full-Team Practice Tomorrow

Our pitchers and catchers put in a very productive session this afternoon at Frozen Ropes. Tomorrow the Red Wings will hold their first full-team practice of the season at Memorial Field (the high school football field) from 12:00 to 2:00.

Players should have baseball pants, cleats, a glove, and yes, the cup. If your son has a batting helmet, please bring that as well.

We are look forward to seeing everyone there!

Frozen Ropes Session: What to Wear/Bring

Today's pitcher/catcher session at Frozen Ropes will be a little different than a typical baseball practice. We will be focusing only on pitching and catching. We will be indoors, on turf.

At a typical practice, we want all players to wear baseball pants, a protective cup, and cleats. However, for this Frozen Ropes session, players may wear sweats or shorts if they prefer (baseball pants are fine, too). Players should wear sneakers--no cleats. Only those players who want to do any catcher work will need to wear a protective cup. A cup is not required today for those players who only want to focus on pitching, but it may not be a bad idea for today's pitchers to begin the habit of cup-wearing, too.

All players should bring their glove. They will not need a bat or helmet as we will not be hitting today.

Please arrive 10 minutes early if you can to take care of any necessary paperwork.

We're very excited about today's session!