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EXTRA INNINGS
Summer
Volume 18
Number 4
1. First and foremost, count your blessings and
be thankful for all the
good things in your life and especially if you and yours
are enjoying good health and that you feel well enough to
play Senior Softball, the game we all love.
2. We still need guys who will volunteer
their time to help run the various leagues. It's a thankless
job, but someone has to do it, otherwise there is no Senior Softball.
So, please volunteer your time and try to help out. If I can do
it, any one of you can certainly do it.
3. Team parity is still a problem in most leagues.
We all want to win -- but do we want to win by a lopsided score?
I know I don't -- I'd much rather win a close, well-played game.
We're supposed to be playing softball to have fun,
get some exercise
and meet a lot of guys
in our own age bracket (who may have the same ailments as we do)
-- but we should not be
playing softball to win at all costs.
4. Once again, I give my respect and admiration to the guys in their 70's and some in their 80's who are still playing softball -- most of the times they are playing against guys who are 10 years or more younger than they are. May the Good Lord continue to bless them. I think we all hope that we will still be playing softball in our 70's and 80's.
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The Tuesday Morning 60 and Over
Senior Softball league began 20 years ago. Wow, how time
flies. The original teams were the West Orange Embers,
Nutley, Roxbury and Morris. The 2010 season was a huge
success and included eight teams that played
doubleheaders in West Orange and Randolph.
The season ended with a playoff mini-tournament with the
top four teams playing against each other and the bottom
four teams competing against one another. After the
mini-tournament was completed, Gene Stracco, the League
Commissioner, hosted a terrific catered barbecue. The
barbecue was a huge success, with many of the players’
wives bringing delicious desserts and helping to serve
food and also with the cleanup and we thank them for
that. Everyone left the barbecue with a full belly,
including the Mayor of Randolph, who stopped by to say a
few words and to praise all the Senior Softball players
for the devotion to the game. Gene Stracco presented
Paul Oliver with a plaque for his devotion to the
league.
Gene Stracco held two meetings with the league Managers
in January 2011, to discuss league rules, develop
schedules, and make plans for a successful 2011 season.
A discussion was held in regards to starting a 67+
league on Thursday mornings and we are hoping that
league will start in July 2011. The theme for the 67+
league will be to play to win, but not at all costs –
and to be respectful and careful of the older players.
Many players in that league will be in their 70’s and
some will be in their 80’s – May God bless them all and
may we all be alive and still playing softball in our
80’s.
MORE THAN JUST PLAYING SOFTBALL
To most seniors, playing softball is fun and
something they enjoy. To others, helping those less
fortunate is just as important. That is the goal of some
of the Over 50 and Over 60 Senior Softball league
players. Jerry Yaros, Joe Serrao, and Bob Hutcheon
volunteer their services at the St. Vincent dePaul Food
Pantry in Perth Amboy. They are some of approximately 90
volunteers that serve over 300 needy families every
Saturday morning with supplemental groceries.

REUNION
December 16, 2010
Hi Everyone:
I spoke to Stephen Gross today as we had exchanged
Christmas cards and I suggested we get together for
lunch or dinner. Stephen called me and said let’s do it
and we agreed after the holidays would be best.
It’s a shame that Al Schneider is down in Florida---when
I look at the pictures of the Parsippany team from 1991
thru 1993, it’s sad to see that some of the guys have
passed away and some I don’t hear from anymore. Below is
a recap of the players:
Deceased and our prayers are offered up to them:
Ed Manthey Eugene Doyle
Mike De Ceglia
Bill Vanderwende is still playing softball down in
Middlesex County and I saw him at the 70+ State
Tournament in Old Bridge, which the Morris County team
won.
Dave Semplenski I used to see in the Livingston Shop
Rite, where he was a security person---have not been in
the store recently, but he did tell me he doesn’t play
softball anymore, because he was having trouble with his
eyes.
Rich Lindstedt, Alex Strashinsky and myself are still
trying to play softball, although it seems to become
more difficult with each passing year. Hopefully the
Good Lord will allow us to continue playing a kids’ game
for many years to come.
Please let me know if and when you are available and if
anyone wants to try to contact and invite Tony De
Stefano, Bill Ury or Larry Beer, please feel free to do
so.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Tony C.



Seniors Enjoy Successful Season
The inaugural season of the North Jersey Senior
Softball League has recently concluded their regular
season play.
During the regular season, it was a two team race for
the division title. The Parsippany Pride and the
Montvillans were tied for the division lead when they
met in head to head competition to decide the regular
season champion.
The Pride, led by the strong hitting of Ed Manthey, Rich
Lindstedt and Tony Ciavatta enabled Parsippany to tie
the game at 8 after the Montvillans had jumped out to an
early lead. The Pride took control of the game in the
late innings when the bats exploded as Gene Doyle, Al
Schneider, and Bob Stull all had run scoring hits as
the Pride eased to a 23-8 victory over the Montvillans.
The commissions of the North Jersey Senior Softball
League invite anyone who will be 50 or older during 1992
to play a game on Sunday Morning September 8 at 9 a.m.
at the Lincoln Park Boro Complex on Route 202 in
Lincoln Park. The game will act as tryouts for the 1992
season when the league plans to expand from eight to
twelve teams. Any Parsippany resident who wishes to play
and needs more information can call Al Schneider at
335-3828.
The final standings for the 1991 North Jersey Senior
Softball League.
Wins Losses
Parsippany 12
1
Montville 12
1
Pfizer
8 5
West Morris 7
6
West Orange 7
6
Lincoln Park 3
10
Morristown 2
11
West Milford 1
12
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