New Era Begins For Park League; Mortimer Directs The Show

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Back in the late 1950s, he was a spindly kid playing first base for Boston English High and for various Park League clubs at night. Today, after many years in both sandlot and organized ball, Walt Mortimer is the new executive director of the Park League.

“Some of the happiest days of my life were spent playing in this league,” Mortimer said. “Along with a lot of other interested alumni,’ I’m trying to help in any way I can to keep it going.”

Mortimer acknowledged that the league has had some rough sledding in recent years, particularly since the onset of Prop. 2 1/2 . “But with a lot of dedicated people pitching in, we have kept going, and I feel that this year I can say the outlook is better than it has been for some time.”

Mortimer said that the league will have nine solid entries, the same number as last year, with the season’s opener pitting defending champion Mass. Envelope against the Dick Conley Club on Monday, May 21, at 7 p.m., at Caseytown Field in Dorchester. Read more

Mass Envelope Rebounds, 10-6

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Mass Envelope did just about everything it could last night to lose the opening game of the Park League championship baseball series.

It walked 12 Conley batters. It committed four errors. It threw infield ground balls into left field.

Mass Envelope, the defending Park League champion, should have lost. It didn’t. Read more

Park League Gets A Commissioner: Hal Kallenberg

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For Hal Kallenberg of West Roxbury, there will be more responsibilities this summer than last, but otherwise his lifestyle will be about the same – he’ll be attending a Park League baseball game, or two, just about every night.

The difference is that Kallenberg – ex-player, ex-umpire, ardent fan – has been named “commissioner” of the Park League.

It’s the first time that the league, at age 54 the oldest sandlot league in the country, has established such an office. It is part of a continuing effort by current and former Park League participants to keep the league operative. Read more

Baby’s Window Shatters As Mass. Envelope Wins It

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There were two outs last night in the seventh inning of the seventh game of this long Park League championship series. The league sponsor pushed his way into the crowd behind home plate to pick up the trophies from the scorekeeper for the quick postgame presentation.

A woman pushed her way through the crowd to the scorer’s table.

“I live in that green apartment building over there,” she said. She was very upset. “Someone hit a ball through my window. There’s a baby in the room, glass everywhere . . .”

“Report it to City Hall,” the scorekeeper told him, and that was that. This was a baseball game! Read more

Triple D’s Prevent Sweep, 14-4; Seven-Run First Staves Off Mass. Envelope In Park League Final

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Pitcher John Casey had just beaten Mass. Envelope, 14-4, last night to keep Triple D’s alive in the Park League playoff finals, and he had looked good doing it.

Well, he looked good if you excluded the four triples he gave up.

And the seven-run lead his teammates gave him after the first inning.

And a fastball that wouldn’t draw a speeding ticket from an Alabama state trooper.

“That’s what happens when you lose your fastball after three innings. You pitch and duck,” Casey said. “What the hell, you either win or lose, and if we beat them every inning we’re not going to lose the game.” Read more

Kelliher Keeps Park League Hopping

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The Boston Park League has been on the brink several times during its sometimes stormy 52-year existence, but John Kelliher is one guy who never has feared that it would go over the edge.

Kelliher, the dean of league managers, always has been the ultimate optimist, fully confident that there are enough people who cared and that somehow the league would stay alive. And, despite some squeakers, so far he has been right.

“The Park League means so much to so many people that I can’t believe they would ever let it go down the drain,” Kelliher said. “There are so many men successful in business and the professions, who remember and appreciate their own pleasant years in the league, that they will pitch in and help out.”

Kelliher himself obviously is of that ilk. Except for three years of service during World War II, he has been affiliated with the league for 40 years, as player, manager, general-manager – and helpful recruiter of talent for other teams as well as for Mass. Envelope, his own ballclub. Read more

Park League Planning Clinics

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The Boston Park League owns the national record for longevity of sandlot baseball leagues and is taking steps to prolong the mark.

The league, which opens its 52d consecutive season with four games tomorrow, is planning a series of clinics for teen-aged players, many of whom may eventually play in the league.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to keep baseball interest in the city alive, especially among the young fellows,” said John Kelliher, the general manager of the Mass. Envelope entry and a man who has been involved in the Park League for more than three decades. Read more

Triple D’s Thrive Under Playoff Pressure

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Four times during the regular season, the Great Scott ball club of Brighton faced the Triple D’s of Jamaica Plain and all four times, Great Scott came out on top en route to a stunning 24-4 record, one of the most impressive in the Park League’s 51-year history.

How, then, does one explain the Triple D’s four games to one triumph in the championship series? Read more

Terry Bardoff is Happy First In Park League

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Terry Bardoff wishes to be treated “like any other umpire in the Park League,” and that’s the way it has been and is going to be as far as team managers are concerned.

Be that as it may, there is an inescapable difference, because Bardoff is the first woman umpire in the history of the 51-year-old league. All hands are agreed that there is no sound reason why it hasn’t happened sooner, but that’s the way it is. So, Bardoff is, in a sense, a trail blazer, although she doesn’t regard herself as such. Read more

A Park Leaguer Making His Breaks

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When Vin Russomagno tells his story, his voice strains to acquire a third- person tone.

The dislocated elbow. The unexplained seizure. The broken cheek. The stretchy valve in his heart. It doesn’t make any sense to him. After all, he is 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds of muscle. Such ailments are reserved for the frail among us.

But Russomagno, an outfielder-first baseman for Great Scott of the Park League, thinks he may be over that now. Given a medical go- ahead to resume normal activities two weeks ago, he’s hitting .552 with 10 RBIs in 10 games. And, going into his senior year at Brandeis, he may yet get his shot at the major leagues.

But it has been a perplexing, frustrating two years for him.

After hitting .351 his freshman year and making the All-New England team, the pro career that seemed well within grasp blew up in his face. Suddenly, everything bounded out of his control. Read more