Ballplayer Awaits Call To The Pros; Braintree Slugger, A Star At Trinity, Is Being Scouted

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Mike Ranieri is in the midst of his longest waiting game ever.

This time, the slugging baseball player isn’t stepping out of the batter’s box and playing games with an opposing pitcher.

His wait is for a ring on the telephone at his Braintree home or a knock on the door. You see, Ranieri is on the outside looking in. He is waiting for a call from Major League Baseball.

Four nights a week he puts on a uniform and plays center field for the All-Dorchester Sports League baseball team in the Boston Park League. And he keeps his ears and eyes open. Read more

Bill Stewart, Boston Park League Baseball

Generation After Generation: The Boston Stewarts – A Lot To Live Up To

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Open the photo albums and you can see the Stewarts. Turn the page and listen to their stories – you’ll begin to feel the family’s traditions.

Bill Stewart can remember his grandpa’s stories. Bill heard them time and again. Stories of big games, great athletes, magical stadiums. Sports are a big part of the family tradition. But while lots of families hand down stories of legendary athletic events witnessed, the Stewart family hands down stories of participation, beginning with Grandpa Stewart, “Bill Sr.,” who was a National Hockey League (NHL) referee and a National League (N.L.) baseball umpire.

Generation After Generation: The Boston Stewarts – A Lot To Live Up To, by Dan Herbst, as appearing in Referee Magazine.

Colorado Silver Bullets

Bullets Seek Silver Lining

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Forty years have passed, but they are still in a League of Their Own. The sight of women on the grass at Fenway Park seems as foreign today as it did when they wore skirts and high socks in the 1950s.

But one can see why the popularity of the all-female Colorado Silver Bullets is growing as they criss-cross America and Canada, making a statement that is much stronger than the movie of the same name. Their 6-0 loss to the Boston Park League All-Stars yesterday was not unexpected. What was surprising was that 5,200 went home convinced they’d been a part of history. Read more

All-Star Game hero and Mass Envelope Manager Jim Mello receives a congratulatory hug from his mother following his explosive game-winning home run in the last of the eight at Fenway Park.

The Boston Park League

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After 65 years of continuous existence, the Boston Park League has been many things to many people. The only thing that it remains for all those who have played and the present players, is family.

Read The Boston Park League, by John Hinds, as appearing in Boston Red Sox Scorecard Magazine.

Kelliher is Ready for Park League Season

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The Boston Park League, the nation’s oldest amateur baseball league, begins its 65th season tomorrow, and as usual, Milton resident and Mass. Envelope general manager John Kelliher will be part of the proceedings.

When Mass. Envelope won the league title last year, it marked Kelliher’s 11th Park League championship as either a manager or GM in a career that dates back to 1939, when he played for the old Hurley Club of Roxbury after graduating from Roxbury Memorial High.

“I’m retired from the MBTA now, so I’ve got more time to devote to baseball,” said the former Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers farmhand, “and I’m really looking forward to this season. Each spring, I kind of get rejuvenated because of baseball.” Read more

Cloudy future for Park League

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America’s oldest organized amateur baseball league — the Boston Park League — begins its 64th season tomorrow at 8 p.m. at Kelly Field in Hyde Park when the defending champion Towne Club meets the ADSL/Avi Nelson team in the traditional league opener.

Nine teams will play a 32-game schedule, according to Park League president Bob Powers, who, despite optimism about the caliber of competition, expressed pessimism about the league continuing to stay afloat financially after the 1993 season.

“We’re still attracting some of the top players in the Greater Boston area and beyond,” said Powers, “but their opportunity to play in this league beyond this year may be in jeopardy. We’re facing serious financial difficulty because of major reductions in funding {from the City of Boston} and services.”

According to Powers, the league — which consists of former professional players, current college and past college players and a few high school standouts — will survive financially this year, “but if we don’t get a corporate sponsor or find an alternative method of funding, the chances of survival past next year are slim at best.” Read more

Towne Club Takes 1991 Park League Title

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Chris Higgins pitched a complete game and catcher Tim Finnegan went 2 for 3, including a homer and single, to lead Towne Club to a 12-0 victory over Avi Nelson/ADSL and the Park League championship last night at Casey Town Field in Dorchester.

After losing the first game of the best-of-seven series, 3-1, Towne Club, rattled off four straight victories to take the title. Read more

Park League Rolls On: 63d Season-Opener Set For Tonight

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The Boston Park League, the oldest organized amateur baseball league in the country, begins its 63d consecutive season tonight at Kelly Field in Hyde Park, where last year’s champ, Hyde Park Sports, hosts Triple D’s of Jamaica Plain, last year’s runner-up. Read more

Hyde Park Rips Triple D’S, 8-1, Leads Park League Finals, 2-0

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B.J. Flynn was sending the runner all the way. Flynn, the Hyde Park Sports manager and third base coach, was determined to tie the game.

Trailing, 1-0, to Triple D’s with two outs in the fourth inning, Hyde Park Sports had runners on first and second. Richie Figueroa clubbed a single to left, and Flynn began pumping his arm in windmill fashion. He was sending runner John Mazzocca all the way.

The throw from left fielder Jay Adams got to the plate about the same time Mazzocca did. But as catcher Mike Ferraro reached to tag Mazzocca, the ball squirted out of his glove and scooted away.

Mazzocca was safe, and Barney Earle came in to score behind him after the ball had gotten loose. Hyde Park had more than tied the game. It led, 2-1, and went on to cruise to an 8-1 victory last night at Stewart Diamond in Roslindale to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Park League championship series. Game 3 is 8 p.m. tonight at Kelly Field in Hyde Park. Read more

This Player Doesn’t Act His Age; 46-Year-Old Krupnick Hit .392 In Park League

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If anyone can appreciate 46-year-old Harvey Krupnick’s performance in the Boston Park League this summer, it’s longtime friend and Massachusetts Envelope general manager John Kelliher.

“I played baseball in this league until I was 38,” said Kelliher, “and by that time I knew I had to stop because I couldn’t do it physically anymore. But Harvey’s eight years older than that and he just hit .392 for the season.”

Mass. Envelope missed the Park League playoffs by one game after a slow start, but Krupnick, a resident of Framingham who coached the Holliston High team to the Eastern Massachusetts Division 2 title last spring, didn’t miss a beat all season long. Read more