Anyone feel like bragging?

[Improviser]

I hit a baseball through a neighbors window. The sound of breaking glass was a glorious. I felt like Sluggo from the Nancy cartoon strip.

You hit a Home Ruin[sic].

 

[storrsroars]

Ran track for UConn 08-13'.

Blutarski-level matriculation.

 

[Hoophound]

Funny story to add to this. My dad, now almost 75 years old, is a lot like Clark Griswold. People love him, he’s excited about odd things and always smiling. He’s an extremely intelligent person and he has some McFly tendencies as well. He’s a little nerdy. He’s also a terrible athlete. He always took huge pride in my ability to play sports and actually win tournaments etc. My dad grew up very poor. His parents were farmers and he lived in a small cabin that my grandfather built with logs he dragged out of the VT woods himself. He went to UConn on full scholarship after being Valedictorian of his high school class. To him, UConn was the promised land. It was beautiful and thriving. It was by no means a rural campus to him. The weather was milder and there was always something to do. As time went on, he met my mother at UConn, graduated, got married and made a success of himself. He bought a nice house and he shed some of his insecurities from being a poor, nerdy outsider. One insecurity he didn’t shed was his panic when forced to throw a ball or catch a pass. He just had no exposure to sports growing up. As I grew up, he would toss a ball with me or pitch to me and he was learning along with me. One day, my brother and I were hitting baseballs in our front yard and trying to hit the ball out of the yard into the street. A couple of other kids were with us and their dads came to pick them up. Before you knew it, it was a home run derby of boys and dads. My dad, who was inside, had no idea what we were doing. He walked out the front door and one of the other dads handed him the bat and said “you’re up”. My brother immediately grabbed a ball and was sure to give dad a perfect, easy pitch. All I said to my dad was, “watch the ball hit the bat”. My brother tossed it and dad took a huge and somewhat awkward cut at it. He blasted the ball out of the yard, over the street and deep into the woods on the other side. It was a monster shot that would have cleared any high school baseball field fence. He was the hero of the day and I was so happy for him. This was 35 or something years ago.

I saw him last week and we were talking with some of my friends at a wedding. My buddy said, “what was the best day of your life?”. This of course was prompted by the wedding being a big day for the couple. We all mentioned our big moments. When it was my dad’s turn he said, “The day I met my wife, the day my sons were born and the day I hit a baseball so far out of the yard it was never found”. I slapped him on the back, my eyes welled up and I had to take a walk. I had no idea it meant as much to him as it did, but I’ll never forget it or how proud I was of him in that moment. Sports play big roles not only in the lives of people that play them, but also of people that are awful at them. Fortunately, my dad got his moment to shine. Tell your kids to encourage and be kind to the kid picked last.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Funny story to add to this. My dad, now almost 75 years old, is a lot like Clark Griswold. People love him, he’s excited about odd things and always smiling. He’s also an extremely intelligent person and he has some McFly tendencies as well. He’s a little nerdy. He’s also a terrible athlete. He always took huge pride in my ability to play sports and actually win tournaments etc. My dad grew up very poor. His parents were farmers and he lived in a small cabin that my grandfather built with logs he dragged out of the VT woods himself. He went to UConn on full scholarship after being Valedictorian of his high school class. To him, UConn was the promised land. It was beautiful and thriving. It was by no means a rural campus to him. The weather was milder and there was always something to do. As time went on, he met my mother at UConn, graduated, got married and made a success of himself. He bought a nice house and he shed some of his insecurities from being a poor, nerdy outsider. One insecurity he didn’t shed was his panic when forced to throw a ball or catch a pass. He just had no exposure to sports growing up. As I grew up, he would toss a ball with me or pitch to me and he was learning along with me. One day, my brother and I were hitting baseballs in our front yard and trying to hit the ball out of the yard into the street. A couple of other kids were with us and their dads came to pick them up. Before you knew it, it was a home run derby of boys and dads. My dad, who was inside, had no idea what we were doing. He walked out the front door and one of the other dads handed him the bat and said “you’re up”. My brother immediately grabbed a ball and was sure to give dad a perfect, easy pitch. All I said to my dad was, “watch the ball hit the bat”. My brother tossed it and dad took a huge and somewhat awkward cut at it. He blasted the ball out of the yard, over the street and deep into the woods on the other side. It was a monster shot that would have cleared any high school baseball field fence. He was the hero of the day and I was so happy for him. This was 35 or something years ago.

I saw him last week and we were talking with some of my friends at a wedding. My buddy said, “what was the best day of your life?”. This of course was prompted by the wedding being a big day for the couple. We all mentioned our big moments. When it was my dad’s turn he said, “The day I met my wife, the day my sons were born and the day I hit a baseball so far out of the yard it was never found”. I slapped him on the back, my eyes welled up and I had to take a walk. I had no idea it meant as much to him as it did, but I’ll never forget it or how proud I was of him in that moment. Sports play big roles not only in the lives of people that play them, but also of people that are awful at them. Fortunately, my dad got his moment to shine. Tell your kids to encourage and be kind to the kid picked last.

this is awesome.

 

[nomar]

My last year playing baseball (Babe Ruth), I stole home twice. The first time was a busted squeeze—but the second time I just took off and beat the pitch. On my own. Took some guff from the coach but it was worth it. I can still remember the feeling today.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Okay, wasn’t going to trump y’all,* but you asked for it.

In Little League caught both ends of a double header in 95 deg. heat, and in the second game hit 2 HR driving in 7 runs … which we we lost 19-7. Coach gave me both game balls.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Funny story to add to this. My dad, now almost 75 years old, is a lot like Clark Griswold. People love him, he’s excited about odd things and always smiling. He’s an extremely intelligent person and he has some McFly tendencies as well. He’s a little nerdy. He’s also a terrible athlete. He always took huge pride in my ability to play sports and actually win tournaments etc. My dad grew up very poor. His parents were farmers and he lived in a small cabin that my grandfather built with logs he dragged out of the VT woods himself. He went to UConn on full scholarship after being Valedictorian of his high school class. To him, UConn was the promised land. It was beautiful and thriving. It was by no means a rural campus to him. The weather was milder and there was always something to do. As time went on, he met my mother at UConn, graduated, got married and made a success of himself. He bought a nice house and he shed some of his insecurities from being a poor, nerdy outsider. One insecurity he didn’t shed was his panic when forced to throw a ball or catch a pass. He just had no exposure to sports growing up. As I grew up, he would toss a ball with me or pitch to me and he was learning along with me. One day, my brother and I were hitting baseballs in our front yard and trying to hit the ball out of the yard into the street. A couple of other kids were with us and their dads came to pick them up. Before you knew it, it was a home run derby of boys and dads. My dad, who was inside, had no idea what we were doing. He walked out the front door and one of the other dads handed him the bat and said “you’re up”. My brother immediately grabbed a ball and was sure to give dad a perfect, easy pitch. All I said to my dad was, “watch the ball hit the bat”. My brother tossed it and dad took a huge and somewhat awkward cut at it. He blasted the ball out of the yard, over the street and deep into the woods on the other side. It was a monster shot that would have cleared any high school baseball field fence. He was the hero of the day and I was so happy for him. This was 35 or something years ago.

I saw him last week and we were talking with some of my friends at a wedding. My buddy said, “what was the best day of your life?”. This of course was prompted by the wedding being a big day for the couple. We all mentioned our big moments. When it was my dad’s turn he said, “The day I met my wife, the day my sons were born and the day I hit a baseball so far out of the yard it was never found”. I slapped him on the back, my eyes welled up and I had to take a walk. I had no idea it meant as much to him as it did, but I’ll never forget it or how proud I was of him in that moment. Sports play big roles not only in the lives of people that play them, but also of people that are awful at them. Fortunately, my dad got his moment to shine. Tell your kids to encourage and be kind to the kid picked last.

*except this one

 

[Beaner]

You always remember the screwups in life in much greater detail than the victories.

Yup. 26 or so years ago, my American Legion team was ahead 3-2 with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 9th. I was brought in to close it. I proceeded to get the first batter to fly out to deep right/center. The runner on 3rd tagged up and scored to tie it, while the runner on 2nd advanced to 3rd. My coaches had suspected the runner who scored left early, so we decided to appeal. I stepped off the mound, airmailed our 3rd baseman, and watched in horror as the winning run crossed the plate. To add insult to injury, the ump confirmed that the runner did, in fact, leave early. Ouch.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I completely forgot a player-coach success. At law school we had an annual softball tournament. The team I joined as a 1L lost among 8 or so teams and the Law Review team won. Turns out, they always win, for at least a decade. So I started recruiting. By my 3L year I had an ace squad, including 2 guys from Law Review who had previously committed to play on my team. First game we played short with two outfielders and won big. Ultimately we rolled through every game and handily beat the Law Review team. Felt like something that needed doing.

 

[the Q]

Yup. 26 or so years ago, my American Legion team was ahead 3-2 with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 9th. I was brought in to close it. I proceeded to get the first batter to fly out to deep right/center. The runner on 3rd tagged up and scored to tie it, while the runner on 2nd advanced to 3rd. My coaches had suspected the runner who scored left early, so we decided to appeal. I stepped off the mound, airmailed our 3rd baseman, and watched in horror as the winning run crossed the plate. To add insult to injury, the ump confirmed that the runner did, in fact, leave early. Ouch.

Ugh. Brutal bro.

I went 0 for 4 with 2 GIDPs in the conference championship game in college in a game we lost 3-2 and didn’t get an ncaa bid.

just awful.

 

[bcisco]

As the head coach of a 7/8 grade girls travel basketball team beat a team coached by Rebecca Lobo.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Got this in the mail today... my son's report card.

 

[oldanintheway]

Oh Boy, After 52 years get a chance to brag because I am given permission to! lol! Let's see, hit 750 my last year in LL. 2nd Place in old MSG in Freshmen NYC Catholic HS. 880 relay championships. Got 2nd because I stepped off the inside lane of the steep banked curve of the 11 lap to the mile track the Garden had and lost my stride, my teammates none too happy, Christ the King HS of Queens took 1st. 3rd place Senior year Indoor Catholic HS 60 Yd. Hurdles.
Before playing for UCONN, in HS Football, Senior year, 1st of 2 games where I scored 4 TDs.(God, hate to use "I", "I" so much but "I" have permission correct? still laughing....)
OK, here goes.... H.S. Co-Captain. Wingback & Safety/Corner. K & PRT. Against La Salle Military Academy on L.I. Opening 85 yard Kickoff Return for TD, 2 Pt.conversion run, They Punt, 75 yard return for TD, 2 Pt. conversion run, later 2nd of only 2 passes thrown to me, one a 75 yarder beautifully thrown ball(QB played at Brown) directly over my head in full stride, 2Pt. Pass Reception conversion, later a 3 yard "gimme" TD run, 2 Pt. run conversion. 32 Pts. total.
Against Blessed Sacrament of New Rochelle, 2 weeks later, 3 pass receptions, 3 TD's 65, 45 and 20 YDS. and 1 20 Yd. Run. 24 Pts. Next week against our rivals, St. Anthony's of Smithtown, L.I., they had a Banner strung across the goal posts we entered under: "$100 Reward for ....(aforementioned QB), and "$200(a lot of dough in '69) Reward for ....(me)", (Don't think that would be allowed today....) Well, they got me. 1st Pass reception early in 1st period hit me High and Low, woke up to hazily seeing a silhouette of a DB & LB dancing around against the sun yelling "We Got Him!, We Got Him!' Ambulance took me to hospital, Nasty Concussion and stretched knee ligaments. One of the dads got me to go see Dr. James Nicholas, who was Joe Willie Namath's specialist at the time, and NY Jets head Doc I believe, got me this heavy knee brace, said "Do these exercises...." Laid on the top bunk all week and did what I was told. Didn't practice all week. (No such thing then of "Concussion Protocols") Following Saturday, against St. Mary's of Greenwich, Ct. for League Championship was taken off D, only played O, 2 pass receptions, a 65 Yd. TD, and an 8 Yd. TD. Undefeated 8-0. That night my parents threw a "Everyone come back to our house for a party", a room my carpenter father had just barely finished, (concrete floor, no carpet yet, so was perfect) We lived a 100 Yds. from the Bay on L.I. so all the kids went down to the water while the parents partied at the house. Drank Saki that night, hung over just a wee bit as we stepped on the early morning bus that was taking the senior class to D.C. for the Senior Trip...and where I said hello to Gary Beban, the UCLA QB, who we met at the FBI Building who was also taking the tour and had been drafted by the Redskins I believe. And got to meet Joe Wille at Shea during pre game warm ups as one of The Daily News All Star kids a week or two after that (lost to the Raiders I believe, but sat on the sidelines-very cool, HOFer Fred Blintinkoff almost fell into my lap)
But Here is the Best Part of that whole HS Glory Days thing... It was 1969 and Vietnam was raging and we all knew somebody personally, or knew someone who knew someone personally who didn't come back.
So..., My parent's first born, of 5, My older brother Ray, was a US Army Sentry Dog MP who walked the perimeter of the firebase camp at Ban Me Thout about 30 clicks from the Cambodian Border, with his German Shepard "King John". Ray had survived his 12 months "in country" and was awaiting his flight out of Cam Rahn Bay back to the states figuring there was no way he would ever see his younger brother play HS football that year. But got to Honolulu, then Seattle where he "hitched" a transport ride just leaving for the East Coast. Got to Newark, to The City, LIRR out to little Bayport, L. I. (When it still stopped there).
After my mother's steak and eggs cooked pre-game breakfast, I left early for my usual weekend early morning job of kitchen cleaning at the local yacht club, (hey, I got a $20 bill.) Then on to the St. Mary's of Greenwich game. Unbeknownst to me, Ray had just made it to our home, just before everyone left for the game, my 2 sisters made a "Welcome Home Sign". He was there in his uniform in the stands. That day, my Glory Days game was just a background, fun and joyous though it was, it was the day my parents first born, came back from Vietnam-alive and well. Now That, That was a Good Day.
Let's wrap this up, '72-"Yale Week"-1st game of year, fighting for starting wide out opposite Greg Andrews, one of our co-captains, Ray Tellier of Notre Dame(West Haven?) is QB, running 7 on 7 passing drills, quick slant underneath the inside backers, Ray fires me perfect pass on the run catch it clean with both hands, full speed in stride, just as I turn with both hands on ball an inside backer, He who shall Not be named, hits me hard up high, my hands pinned against against my pads, my feet go flying out from under me, my head smashes to ground first, I'm out cold, but was it the head hitting the ground or that my left thumb caught underneath my pads, and snapped completely off(like Paul Newman in "The Hustler"). Kinda woke up in more pain than I ever felt, I tried to turn I guess to look at my hand, but good 'ol Tom Pike who was the Head Trainer then, turned my head away and said "Don't Look", my thumb was hanging down by my elbow. My season was shot and... He who shall Not be named never came to visit me in the hospital. (Not that I hold a grudge to this day or anything.)
So one more brag came out of this...didn't train or run much for 2 months, they fused my thumb back together. End of the season, late November, on the practice field under the lights near where the track is now about, I think. Played Dartmouth "Sub-varsity" is what they called it then. No more Frosh teams.1st year Freshman could play varsity. Dartmouth was on a 3 Consecutive Year IVY Championship roll then, so had some good guys playing on the "Sub-Varsity" along with the Frosh.
Under the lights, very little practice or even running, caught 14 passes with 2 TDs. (1 may have been called back but I'm counting it!) My Glory(One) Day at UCONN.
End of Brag, In '72 we ran a Pro-Split Back, pretty much "traditional" offense, 1973 new coach from BU comes in, runs the "Delaware" wing T" Run, Run , Run. And with our starting QB transfer from BC hurt in the 1st game of the year vs. Lehigh, and having 2 talented but raw true Freshman QBs and the New England College Player of the Year in our backfield we run.
No complaints, one the greatest UCONN teams ever 8-2-1. Played along side great guy who ran for over 1200 yds. I believe, now on Board of Directors with Green Bay. In 1974, 4 and 6, same "O" but no New England Player of the Year, guys quit, injuries. Very last game up in Worcester against Holy Cross, '74, caught a 2Pt. conversion against Little All-American John Provost, conversion out of the "Delaware Wing T". My scoring total at Uconn? 2 Pts.
Oh, yeah, my older brother was there.

And That's a Fact Jack!

 

[chris06052]

Had a hole in one at Goodwin . I was giving my opponent a stroke on the hole . He knocked his shot like 2 ft away and then I made my ace to halve the hole

 

[mauconnfan]

Yes, played in 1980 but we fell off. Housatonic and Manchester both very tough in ‘79 and 80. In fact, we beat Manchester in 79 to make regionals as an 8 seed in an 8 team tourney. We upset 1 seed Mass Bay CC. And I recall you guys upsetting the ‘78 basketball team. That was huge for you guys. Good times and good memories.

Willie Gonzalez at Manchester nice player continued to play against him in GHTL later on. That’s a real nice year you had in ‘78 though good stuff!

 

[chris06052]

I was in a Sunday night church b ball league back in h.s. , not sure if anyone on our team went to that church but we were the worst team just bunch of friends playing but beat one of the better teams and they just walked off court not even shaking our hands .

 

[Zanzman]

That knuckle ball was legit.

They had the dumonds, symkowicz, Alex Hurley (who always an absolute monster despite being about 5’4)

Plus they had future UConn lb Dana deleston who’s dirty and spiked our 3B on the NECK stealing 3b.

And they had an endless supply of pithing

dery, capella, Natalie, it was like a never ending door of good solid arms.

Deleston went to east catholic

 

[Bezzz]

 

[storrsroars]

You could bring home Bs without getting scolded?

 

[the Q]

Deleston went to east catholic

East Hartford legion.

They were ridiculously loaded

 

[JamesinGR]

Willie Gonzalez at Manchester nice player continued to play against him in GHTL later on. That’s a real nice year you had in ‘78 though good stuff!

What high school did you attend and who did you play for in GHTL. I played one season with New Britain Travelers, then moved to FL. Those were great years for GHTL. Billy Chapoulis was an animal at the plate! Also, one of my coaches at Tunxis played several years - Kevin Richler. My Southington HS teammate also played, Tommy Banner. He went on to UNH and then into Orioles system. Brings back many memories!

 

[mauconnfan]

What high school did you attend and who did you play for in GHTL. I played one season with New Britain Travelers, then moved to FL. Those were great years for GHTL. Billy Chapoulis was an animal at the plate! Also, one of my coaches at Tunxis played several years - Kevin Richler. My Southington HS teammate also played, Tommy Banner. He went on to UNH and then into Orioles system. Brings back many memories!

Played for Maloney ‘77 was all Colonial league 3B senior year Tommy Banner was definitely the SS on that all league squad nice player. Was born in Bradley Memorial. Later played a little softball with Skip and Pat Desorbo great guys. GHTL was Katz Sports Shop. We beat New Britain HS my senior year to stop a 48 or so game winning streak. The one guy I played with from New Britain you may know was Mike Bordiere (Did Bordierie Insurance sponsor the Travelers?) a SS who played on Meriden Twilight League team Areaco’s and I think later some Katz Sport Shop. Our CFer for Katz when we won it all was Steve Christie of Southington and we had a 2nd baseman from there too and I’m so old his name escapes me, great kid too dammit. My brother played with the Mets but ended up back with us on Katz but played for a years also with Chapulis and the Bristol Cassins.

Agree great memories!

 

[JamesinGR]

Played for Maloney ‘77 was all Colonial league 3B senior year Tommy Banner was definitely the SS on that all league squad nice player. Was born in Bradley Memorial. Later played a little softball with Skip and Pat Desorbo great guys. GHTL was Katz Sports Shop. We beat New Britain HS my senior year to stop a 48 or so game winning streak. The one guy I played with from New Britain you may know was Mike Bordiere (Did Bordierie Insurance sponsor the Travelers?) a SS who played on Meriden Twilight League team Areaco’s and I think later some Katz Sport Shop. Our CFer for Katz when we won it all was Steve Christie of Southington and we had a 2nd baseman from there too and I’m so old his name escapes me, great kid too dammit. My brother played with the Mets but ended up back with us on Katz but played for a years also with Chapulis and the Bristol Cassins.

Agree great memories!

I played with Steve Christie and his brother Pete from little league forward. Pat DeSorbo played first base for us at SHS. Was your second baseman Tom Busset by chance? He was our second baseman. Yes, Bordiere’s dad was our sponsor. When you played for Cassins, were either Spec or Ty Monaco on the team? They went to Bristol Eastern and Spec played with us one season at Tunxis. Regarding Maloney, remember a guy named Larry Cellela? He moved from Meriden to Southington and we were buds until we grauduated.

 

[JamesinGR]

View attachment 68217

Really goofed off in the 3rd quarter, eh Michael?