The old pictures of the 1956 and 57 league and the 57 picture of the Eagles are a treasure for me. It was a shock to see myself as an ungainly kid again and to see my dad as a vibrant 32 yr old. He had just been promoted to Sergeant in the NYPD about that time. He retired after 38 years as a Deputy Chief Inspector and moved to Hollywood FL later on. He loved being part of the Little League.
Those were the days when people got what they earned, and worked for what they wanted. I remember the tryouts too...and my dad saying "Just because I'm a manager doesn't mean that you get on my team" I remember that I REALLY wanted to do well to get on a team with REAL uniforms...tops and bottoms and winding up on the Cubs my first year with a T shirt and baseball pants. I tried a lot harder after that to get on the Eagles!
I never could hit a curve...and Ritchie Cseckits (Sp?) really intimidated me with his fastball where it seemed that he hopped up in the air to fling the ball in. I remember that he cut the sleeves off his uniform too...big arms...next time I saw that was on Roger Maris!
I remember that Pete had one of the best curves I had ever seen...sorry that it hurt his arm later on...I do remember that one of the Venezuelan players commenting on his "magnifico cuerve". I also remember Phil Placencia's mom trying to make the Venezuelan players welcome (she was one of the few people in Glen Oaks that spoke Spanish) and cheering "Arriba Venezuela!" at the game.
I was always an outfielder...couldn't really get in front of a hot shot on the ground in the infield so...but I do remember throwing pitches into a bushel basket for months so that I could be a pitcher...Pitchers were the kids who got all of the glory (or so it seemed when I was 11). I finally had a chance in a game when my day brought me in from Center Field and I struck out the side...three in a row! I still had that box score sheet for YEARS! I think that Pete was the catcher. That was my only real success as a pitcher, and I realized that center field was my real place....
the blog is a great one and brought back a flood of memories.
Thanks again
Bob Raben Jr
63
Honolulu, HI
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