Spring is a time for the start of the baseball season. As an avid fan of the sport I look forward to watching my favorite teams, the Yankees and the Red Sox. Yes, that’s correct. I follow both teams. I grew up in Massachusetts during the years of the great Carl Yastrzemski. And my son is a diehard Yankees fan, having grown up in the days of Derek Jeter. I enjoy rooting for both teams and the game of baseball in general. T.J., my son, really only roots only for the Yankees, but I haven’t disowned him for it.
One of the highlights of the start of the baseball season for me is the Cranbury Plainsboro Little League Friday Night Lights. This year for three consecutive Fridays (May 2, May 9, and May 16) the Little League baseball and softball teams play ball under the lights at Plainsboro Park at 7 p.m. This is a great night of community and fun with the kids and their games as the center of attention.
The highlight for me will be the Friday, May 16, game when the Little League baseball majors Yankees take on the Phillies. The Phillies are coached by my son’s former coaches, Ray Cella and Jim Caracappa. The team is sponsored by Peter Zanghi, who is well known as the person responsible for the start of Little League baseball in our area. The three of them have been generously donating their time for more years than I’ve had the pleasure of living in Plainsboro.
And every year I look forward to an E-mail from Coach Ray inviting my son T.J., who is now 17, to come to the event and coach the team for the evening. Ray always invites his former players to take over his team for the night. I know I certainly look on in delight as these giant boys who used to play for Ray and Jim tower in height over the current Little League team and often over Ray and Jim.
It’s a fun night for me to catch up on how Mr. ‘Z’, Ray, and Jim’s current team is doing, and what the players will do in district all-stars. I run into old friends like Bill and Euna Brossman, and we trade stories on what our sons are up to today and reminisce on the “old” days of Little League with Ray, Jim, and Mr. ‘Z’. Hopefully we will have three beautiful nights of weather in the coming Fridays. I hope everyone in the community will stop by.
Say hello if you see me. I think I still have an old CPLL hat from my coaching days somewhere. I’ll be around the backstop cheering on all the boys and girls to make the play, hit the ball, and run to the next base. Springtime is baseball.
Tim Hitchings
Plainsboro
