Softball Sunday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6-e-vWgfw&list=UUPY19uNjg3_ajzHXxCvNs8Q



Well this could have been any summer day in 1994. My mom and dad, just before my mom's health started to deteriorate (the first sign of things to come was her labored breathing, in fact you can hear it while she films), they used to take young Kyle everywhere-- to the beach, Maine, New Hampshire and to the playground; any park really even down to the ball field once in a while where we had our "softball Sunday."

We had been playing softball with friends and family on Sundays since high school, those games highlighted by our monster clash games "jocks vs hicks" back in 1986 and 1987. From 1988 until about 1992, we had a steady but small group of players. "Softball Sunday" really gained momentum in 1993 and by 1994 we had so many players sometimes we either had to make four teams or it literally looked like we were selling tickets to customers to watch us play. This video shows a typical Sunday in 1994. Myself at shortstop, shirtless in the June heat. Jim Hyland. Kevin Trull. Johnny Mofford. My brother, Dave. Andy Cizmar. Rod "Hollywood" Roosa. Paul Emerson. Paul Mallet. Christine O'Meara. Those are just some in the video as my mom sweeps through the field with camera. Honestly the "softball Sunday" games were as much a social gathering as they were a sporting event. Kids drank their beers or smoked their weed. You would often see Rich or Brams in the outfield with a coosy and a beer at their feet. Myself, I never drank during the games. Alcohol, sun and activity combined gave me headaches so I just simply enjoyed the sport and played my hardest-- often diving and sliding and jumping as if I were still on Varsity baseball team. Many of the former jocks played like me. Once a jock, always a jock. Anyway, girlfriends came out to watch, some had kids and young parents would make a day of it. The meet-up time was generally 11 am and by 11:30 teams were divided up. People came and went all day, some to play an inning or two, some just to stop by, chat and say hi. By 4 o'clock the games would end and people drifted off back to their homes or to the bar to continue drinking. I think 1995 was the last full summer of "softball Sunday". By 1996 people were moving, getting married or starting families. No one seemed to have the time anymore. People were getting older and could no longer deal with morning hangovers. Some guys took up golf. I guess it was... just time. Change was in the air. A new chapter where softball and gatherings was no longer the focal point of Sundays. By 1996, I know longer cared just about the moment. I realized I had to do something. I went back to Umass and enlisted in the writing program. I started to learn the HVAC trade to better myself for the future. I met my future wife in 1996. I guess 1995 was the last hurrah, the end of an era.

In the spring of 2013, I tried to bring to life "Softball Sunday" once again. I remember driving around Randolph in the spring looking at fields. Many of our old fields had fallen to ruin. I called my friends, old and new. I was on Facebook at the time and people were excited about it. Based on what I heard from Facebook friends, there were going to be like 50 people showing up. People who were never even associated with our "Softball Sunday" were spreading the word. I was actually fearful that so many people would turn up that no game would actually be played, that it would be one big Facebook party. In the end, only a handful of people showed up, mostly my friends. We recruited three teenagers who were playing catch nearby. It was a cold but good day. You could see how the last 17 years may have caught up to some of us. I thought it was a good building block to one more "softball Sunday" run. The following Sunday, I alone showed up and waited an hour, begrudging the death of softball Sunday.