• Tuesday-What'sUP June 20 - 10:14 pm

What could be more synonymous with summer than kids playing baseball? I'm not certain where the young pitcher in the first shot is from, but all three photos were taken by Stanley Spruce, who mentioned in his Guest Gallery album, that the kids in the black Wolverine shirts are from the L'Anse/Baraga area. That's Alex in the second shot, hitting the ball and if you look closely at the upper left of the photo, near the top of the chain link fence, you'll spot that ball sailing into play. Could be the hit that sent Sean (Stan's son) to third base in the bottom photo. He seems to be eyeing home plate, planning his next move to score a run! Professional baseball has it's advantages as far as entertainment, but to me nothing is more exciting than watching a Little League game! :->

We continue to take nominations for photos for the 10th anniversary Pasty Cam Calendar. Please take a minute to nominate your favorite photo. You could start in the Cam archives, or perhaps in the WOW (Wallpaper of the Week) section of pasty.com. Just find your favorite photo, cut and paste the link in an email, and send it to 2007Calendar@pasty.com.

Spent a lot of time as a kid at Little League baseball games. My dad coached and my brother played. Exciting stuff.

The top picture is from the Red Sox and was played at Jarvi Field in L'Anse. The middle picture was taken when the Wolverine's played at the Baraga Armory Field. The bottom picture is when the Wolverine's played in Alston, and yes my son did score on a hit by another player, if you look, Alex is coaching third base. I am also the Baraga County Little League Secretary, a prior Coach,(Women's, T-ball and Minor Leagues). I too enjoy watching a kids game, just seeing the joy on my son's face when he caught a flyball or when one of his teammates does something to help the team, the look on their faces says it all...Teamwork!

I love baseball, a wonderful, non-violent sport.

where I grew up in Detroit, we could walk about 8 blocks to a park. It had a swimming pool and an iceskating rink. Also a lighted hardball diamond with bleachers. We could walk there any summer evening and watch the semi-pro teams play baseball.

Most sadly, I don't think anything like that exists in the city anymore.

When I was a small kid in Gladstone, I dearly wanted to play Little League. Back then you had to try out, there was none of the "everyone gets to play" stuff. I was terrible. I could hit some, but had a terrible time fielding the ball. I even tried as a catcher, but after the ball bounced off the face mask several times, the coach pulled me aside and let me know I wouldn't make the team. I just couldn't catch the darn ball! I found out later in life that my vision problem (strabismus)was the problem. I had no binocularity. I just don't see the world like most folks. So Gladstone went on to have powerhouse teams without me, and I had to learn to amuse myself in books. Whenever I see kids having fun at little league, I always have a tinge of regret at not being able to play.

A few rambling notes:
Baseball is not dead..Last week we went to see our granddaughters play in Riverview, Mi behind their high school and there were 16 teams playing on 8 diamonds.

While growing up I played Americal Legion baseball in Lake Linden..One afternoon we were defeated by Baraga at the Alston diamond and had a no-hitter pitched against us..That evening I played as a substitute for the Torch Lake Merchants against the Keweenaw Air Force Base @ Calumet and we lost to them and that was also another no-hitter against us. Can anyone top that, losing end of 2 no-hitters, one baseball and one fast pitch softball on the same day!!!!!

Maija,
I Love Baseball also...but non-violent?

You have a player returning to his minor league team today after a suspension for throwing his bat at an umpire. A Big Leauge Manager last week berated a young kid and then sent him back to the minors because he didn't hit a player on the opposing team with a pitch when he was ordered too.

Sports are by nature violent...even the "non-violent" ones!

Oh...Yeah....

How Bout them Tigers!!!!

Richard....God works in strange ways. Your interest in books is a gift to those of us who have read your great tribute to the South Range..and Painsdale......I wish you didn't have the eye problem but I appreciate what you did to overcome your handicapp...I think that is a lesson for all us in life.

Stan.. I remember well the Baraga Armory field and the diamond in Alston, both my sons played little league there some 27 years ago, Alston being their home field. Lots of memories...